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'Balloon Boy' Parents
Pardoned by Governor

Dec 23, 2020 4:31 PM CST

'Balloon Boy' Parents Pardoned by Governor

'Richard and Mayumi have paid the price in the eyes of the public'

(Newser) - President Trump isn't the only leader who has announced a wave of pre-Christmas pardons. In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis has pardoned the parents behind the "balloon boy" hoax in 2009, the Colorado Sun reports. Richard and Mayumi Heene claimed that their son Falcon, then 6 years old, had...

Writer Claims
to Have Solved
Balloon Boy
Mystery

Writer Claims to Have Solved Balloon Boy Mystery

Robert Sanchez catches up with the Heene family, 10 years later

(Newser) - It's been nearly a decade since America's attention was briefly fixated on "Balloon Boy," aka Falcon Heene , the Colorado 6-year-old thought to have gone up in the basket of the massive balloon constructed by father Richard Heene. For hours, the media broadcast video of the balloon'...

ABC Nearly Paid
Balloon Boy $10K

Jan 11, 2010 3:00 AM CST

ABC Nearly Paid Balloon Boy $10K

Backed off when judge ruled family couldn't profit from hoax

(Newser) - ABC News was just about to pay the family of "balloon boy" Jason Heene $10,000 for a video of their stunt and an interview before a judge ruled last month that the family couldn't profit from their hoax. "ABC pulled the story because it didn't want the...

Balloon Dad
Heene Gets
90 Days

Dec 23, 2009 11:49 AM CST

Balloon Dad Heene Gets 90 Days

What's worse, he can't parlay stunt into cash for 4 years

(Newser) - Richard Heene, the mastermind behind the Balloon Boy stunt, will be cooking up his schemes behind bars for 90 days after being sentenced today. After his sentence—a mixture of hard time and work release—is complete, he’ll serve four years of probation, ABC News reports. The lowest blow?...

Worst
Parents
of 2009

ROLE MODELS

Dec 23, 2009 9:11 AM CST

Worst Parents of 2009

Not surprisingly, Nadya Suleman and the Gosselins make the list

(Newser) - 2009 will always be the year we first met Octomom, Jon and Kate’s divorce played out in the tabloids, and David Hasselhoff ruined Thanksgiving. And those aren’t the only bad parents of the year—the New York Daily News remembers the worst:

Richard and Mayumi Heene: Convinced the

...

Balloon Boy
Parents Acted
Alone

MEDIA NOT IN CAHOOTS

Dec 22, 2009 10:50 AM CST

Balloon Boy Parents Acted Alone

Sheriff finds no evidence of conspiracy in hoax

(Newser) - Despite rumors that balloon boy parents Richard and Mayumi Heene may have worked with others, possibly media outlets, to stage their runaway balloon stunt, they pulled it off on their own, say authorities. Police examined computers, video cameras, and tapes taken from the couple's Colorado home and found no evidence...

Cut Balloon Boy
Dad Some Slack

frank rich

Oct 25, 2009 11:00 AM CDT

Cut Balloon Boy Dad Some Slack

He's the 'inevitable product' of our era

(Newser) - A little sympathy for the Balloon Boy dad, please. Yes, he "grotesquely" put his kids through hell, but he’s also a fitting emblem—and the “inevitable product”—of our time, writes Frank Rich. Richard Heene gave us a fake spectacle that reflects our era much as...

Balloon Mom Told
Cops It Was
All a Hoax

MOVE OVER, JON & KATE

Oct 23, 2009 7:22 PM CDT

Balloon Mom Told Cops It Was All a Hoax

Documents show Heene parents knew 6-year-old was in house all along

(Newser) - The mother of the 6-year-old boy once feared missing inside a runaway helium balloon admitted the whole saga was a hoax, according to court documents released today. Mayumi Heene told sheriff's deputies that she and husband Richard "knew all along that Falcon was hiding in the residence" in Fort...

Thanks for the Ride, Falcon

Brandon Keim

Oct 23, 2009 1:52 PM CDT

Thanks for the Ride, Falcon

(Newser) - Just about everyone seems to hate Richard Heene, but the emotion just proves how powerfully the balloon boy hoax gripped our collective imagination. “Had Richard called 911 and reported that he’d last seen his son near a Greyhound bus station, almost nobody would have cared,” writes Brandon...

Be Balloon Boy for Halloween

Oct 22, 2009 5:38 PM CDT

Be Balloon Boy for Halloween

Canadian company hawks costume

(Newser) - It was inevitable: a Canadian model airplane company is selling “Balloon Boy” Halloween costumes on its website. For $19.99, you get a 38-inch mylar balloon with a small gondola. Supply your own helium, cardboard box, and string, notes ABC Denver. "Now you, too, can enjoy all the...

Heene's
Motivation:
2012 Apocalypse

BALLOON DAD

Oct 21, 2009 9:49 AM CDT

Heene's Motivation: 2012 Apocalypse

More bizarre background on 'Balloon Boy' dad Richard Heene comes out

(Newser) - Richard Heene’s totally sensible motivation for his balloon hoax: He “believes the world is going to end in 2012," explained a lawyer for one of Heene’s researchers, who police recently interviewed. "Because of that he wanted to make money quickly, become rich enough to build...

FAA Starts Own
Balloon Boy Probe

Oct 20, 2009 8:33 PM CDT

FAA Starts Own Balloon Boy Probe

Flight delays at Denver airport during caper could result in fines

(Newser) - The Federal Aviation Administration is the latest agency to start its own investigation of last week’s Colorado balloon circus, with authorities looking into delays at Denver International Airport during the craft’s flight. And while local law enforcement wants criminal charges against the Heene family, any FAA violations would...

Stunts Worse Than Balloon Boy

FAME WHORES

Oct 20, 2009 11:45 AM CDT

Stunts Worse Than Balloon Boy

Yes, Richard Heene is bad—but is he as bad as, say, Tonya Harding?

(Newser) - Right now the world is against balloon boy mastermind Richard Heene, but perhaps everyone will forgive and forget after revisiting five even worse publicity stunts, compiled by Brian Moylan for Gawker:

Lauren Cleri: On Fox reality show Moment of Truth, she admitted to cheating on her husband—and didn't even

...

Heene Wore
a Bra, Wrote
Theme Songs

BEST OF BALLOON DAD

Oct 20, 2009 8:55 AM CDT

Heene Wore a Bra, Wrote Theme Songs

Internet yields veritable treasure trove of Balloon Boy family background

(Newser) - Richard Heene wanted to make his family famous, so it's no surprise that the Internet yields a wide variety of background info on the balloon boy dad—from the hilarious (Heene wearing a bra) to the not-so-hilarious (former run-ins with the law). Read on for more:

TMZ unearthed two audio

...

Sheriff: TV
Paid for
Balloon
Stunt

Oct 20, 2009 6:08 AM CDT

Sheriff: TV Paid for Balloon Stunt

Unnamed outlet blurs entertainment-news lines, says Alderden

(Newser) - A shady TV operation may have already paid the Heenes for its balloon boy stunt, the Colorado sheriff investigating the case has indicated. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the unnamed outlet paid the family for the launch and may be complicit in the hoax. An agreement from the...

'Swap Wife'
Calls Heene
Mad Wiz
With Temper

Oct 20, 2009 2:52 AM CDT

'Swap Wife' Calls Heene Mad Wiz With Temper

'My dad can really yell,' son told her

(Newser) - The "swapped wife" who lived with the Balloon Boy's family as part of a TV reality program described dad Richard Heene as a mad scientist with a short fuse. Sheree Silver said Heene screamed at her, and son Bradford said: "My dad can really yell, can't he?" Silver...

Balloon Family Feels
'Under Siege': Lawyer

Oct 19, 2009 4:56 PM CDT

Balloon Family Feels 'Under Siege': Lawyer

Lawyer says stunt has turned into a "nightmare for the family."

(Newser) - Richard and Mayumi Heene are likely regretting the hoax they staged using their 6-year-old son and a balloon: With criminal charges looming and public opinion turning against them, the family feels “under siege,” their lawyer said today. The FAA has opened an investigation into the incident; it has...

Balloon-Boy Stunt Not So Strange for Wacky Dad

Oct 19, 2009 9:24 AM CDT

Balloon-Boy Stunt Not So Strange for Wacky Dad

Unsurprisingly, Richard Heene is a shameless self-promoter

(Newser) - With the balloon-boy debacle now exposed as a hoax, the spotlight has turned on Richard Heene's wacky and not-so-camera-shy behavior. The 48-year-old amateur scientist/wannabe reality TV star tried his hand at acting and standup comedy in the early '90s in Hollywood. And though that ended up being a "total...

We All Share
Blame for
Balloon Boy

WHOSE FAULT IS IT?

Oct 19, 2009 7:10 AM CDT

We All Share Blame for Balloon Boy

Emotion-ravenous audience devoured fake tale

(Newser) - Falcon Heene's media-hungry dad isn't the only culprit in the balloon boy hoax that put the 6-year-old at the center of a giant international lie. We may be just as much to blame for our ravenous appetite for more thrilling "reality" TV events, "glued to 40-inch hi-def images,...

How I Helped Plan
the Balloon Boy Hoax

first person

Oct 18, 2009 3:12 PM CDT

How I Helped Plan the Balloon Boy Hoax

Scheme was a campaign to return to reality TV: researcher

(Newser) - Balloon boy Falcon Heene's father, Richard, planned the hoax because he wanted to return to reality TV, claims a former research assistant. Heene "was often driven by ego and fame," Robert Thomas says in an interview with Gawker, which the website acknowledges it paid him for. "...