Netflix’s Bad Vegan introduced millions of viewers to the bizarre and disturbing saga of Sarma Melngailis and Anthony Strangis. But while the documentary offered a detailed account of the infamous fraud that led to Melngailis’s downfall, it only scratched the surface of what became of Strangis after his release from jail.
Since exiting Rikers Island in 2017, Strangis has allegedly morphed from junk food–loving con man to a self-proclaimed behind-the-scenes player in right-wing politics. His claims—and the murky digital footprints he’s left behind—paint a surreal post-prison reinvention that reads like fiction. But new documents, screenshots, and eyewitness accounts suggest that, once again, Anthony Strangis may have embedded himself in another strange world: the American conservative movement.
Life After Rikers: A Disgraced Con Man in Search of Reinvention
Strangis Returns to the Shadows
After serving time for defrauding investors and employees of the trendy New York City vegan restaurant Pure Food and Wine, Strangis was released in May 2017. His five-year probation was transferred to Massachusetts, where he lived with his mother. Those who knew him say he spent much of his time playing video games—just like he had during the height of his relationship with Melngailis, when he told her he was off on covert missions or protecting national security.
According to his sister, Coulter, Strangis’s reality during those years was far from what he claimed. “He was just playing Call of Duty in his bedroom,” she said. She also noted that her brother had long fabricated alternate realities inspired by pop culture. “The ‘meat suit’ thing? He stole that from Supernatural,” she said. “My mom used to call him Loki and me Thor… because Loki is a trickster.”
A Legacy of Lies
This wasn’t new behavior. Coulter remembers Strangis making grandiose claims going back to his twenties, when he lived with their father in Florida. “He would tell people he was a Navy SEAL with a massive inheritance coming,” Coulter said. According to his first wife, Stacy Strangis, his father would back up the stories.
And when Strangis first appeared in Melngailis’s life—through Alec Baldwin’s Twitter mentions—he had a whole suite of pseudonyms: Mr. Fox, Mr. LongBottoms, and eventually, Jack Slater.
The Katie Hill Scandal and Strangis’s Alleged Political Involvement
A Phone Call with a Curious Revelation
One phone call between Melngailis and Strangis—partially featured in Bad Vegan—offers a glimpse into Strangis’s strange post-prison pursuits. In the full version of the conversation, which sources familiar with the exchange say included more than Netflix revealed, Strangis claimed he had prior knowledge of the intimate photos that led to the resignation of U.S. Representative Katie Hill in 2019.
Strangis reportedly told Melngailis that he had known about the photos before they were published on the conservative blog RedState—an assertion that seemed absurd given his criminal background and past delusions of grandeur. But then came a document that changed everything: a marriage certificate.
Married to the Source
On August 10, 2021, Strangis married Jennifer Van Laar, the RedState writer who broke the Hill story. The wedding, held in Las Vegas, was not publicly reported, and Van Laar has never explained how she obtained the images that ended Hill’s congressional career.
If Strangis had indeed inserted himself into the right-wing ecosystem, it would be a dramatic—and dangerous—evolution of his chameleon-like tendencies.
Twitter Avatars and Digital Footprints
The Rise of “Jack Slater”
Strangis’s reinvention was supported by a flurry of new digital activity. After his release, accounts tied to the name “Jack Slater” began surfacing on Twitter. These accounts posted right-leaning political content and sometimes messaged women with overconfident bravado that bordered on aggressive.
One such user, Laura Black, who tweets under a pseudonym about libertarian and anarchist issues, received strange messages from an account claiming to be “a former strategist and private contractor.” The user bragged, flirted, and displayed a strange mix of charm and menace.
Another user, @BeyondReasDoubt, recognized Strangis from screenshots used in Bad Vegan, recalling a conversation with someone she now believes was him. “He told me lots about himself and wanted to meet up,” she tweeted.
Strange Affection and Digital Intimacy
On October 14, 2019, Van Laar responded warmly to a tweet by @JackSlater__, saying, “Needed that today.” In the same thread, she posted a GIF with the message: “You’re my favorite person in the whole world.”
Four days later, she published the RedState exposé on Hill’s “throuple” relationship with a staffer, complete with personal photographs. Additional photos—some involving nudity and drug use—were published by the Daily Mail days later. Hill resigned on October 27, citing an “appalling invasion of privacy.”
Was Strangis Pulling the Strings?
Texts and Tensions
In the wake of Hill’s resignation, Melngailis tweeted her support for Hill, expressing concern about the weaponization of private photos. Strangis texted her shortly afterward.
“Katie Hill had to be removed. Her seat will prove to be important down the line,” he wrote. “Powerful people decide things like that.”
Melngailis’s response was scathing:
“This bullshit like you know stuff. One day feel free to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you’re not bullshitting or delusional, whilst you shapeshift on a unicorn.”
Strangis replied with a sarcastic monologue about being a “nobody,” full of self-deprecation and eerie deflection.
Four days later, on November 1, 2019, the infamous Netflix phone call took place. During the conversation, Melngailis asked again about the Hill texts, and Strangis doubled down, claiming he knew about the photos before their release and implying he now worked as a political strategist. Politics, he said, was just another con—“a racket”—and he was part of it now.
Reinvention, Probation, and Bodyguard Work
Early Probation Termination
Van Laar reportedly offered Strangis a contract to serve as her bodyguard after she began receiving death threats for her role in the Hill exposé. Strangis used the contract in his appeal to be released early from probation. The request was successful, allowing him to relocate to California and potentially begin this new chapter in earnest.
Public Silence and Private Movements
Neither Strangis nor Van Laar has addressed their marriage or how she came into possession of the controversial photos. Their silence has only fueled speculation, especially as screenshots and public records continue to link Strangis to the online personas that seem deeply entrenched in right-wing discourse.
In spring 2020, the Jack Slater account posted selfie videos of Strangis ranting about COVID-era toilet paper shortages in Stop & Shop stores, appearing increasingly agitated and unhinged.
The Power of Reinvention—and the Danger of Believing It
From Pure Food to Political Theater
The original Bad Vegan scandal involved deception on an almost operatic scale. Strangis convinced Melngailis he could grant her and her beloved dog immortality, fund her business, and protect her from shadowy enemies—so long as she kept sending him money. It was a masterclass in coercive control, wrapped in spiritual mumbo jumbo and gaslighting.
Now, with his pivot into political intrigue, Strangis appears to have swapped one arena of manipulation for another. Whether he truly has political connections or is simply inserting himself into yet another system to exploit it remains unclear.
Sarma’s Stand
Melngailis, who hoped Bad Vegan would help shed light on abusive relationships involving coercion, continues to push back against Strangis’s post-prison claims. “One day feel free to prove… you’re not bullshitting or delusional,” she told him bluntly in their last messages.
Her view seems shared by others close to the story. Alec Baldwin, whose online exchanges indirectly brought Melngailis and Strangis together, offered a biting assessment: “You listen to those phone calls and you realize what a nut bag he is. It’s a miracle he’s not wearing cement shoes at the bottom of the river.”
Conclusion: Delusion, Manipulation, or Strategic Rebirth?
Anthony Strangis’s journey from convicted fraudster to self-billed GOP operative could be dismissed as another performance by a habitual liar. But his marriage to Van Laar, his digital presence, and his own brazen claims suggest that—even if built on fiction—his reinvention has real-world consequences.
In an era where politics often overlaps with entertainment, and online personas can become powerful weapons, figures like Strangis find fertile ground. The question isn’t just whether he’s lying—it’s whether he’s being allowed to lie, once again, unchecked.
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