My Grandfather Charles Manson: Disney+ Cashes in on the Manson Industrial Complex

By Anthony DiMaria

The Manson family murders are among the most notorious crimes in United States history and are known around the world. Media coverage of the slaughters has spawned an industrial complex morphing into its own separate genre for nearly sixty years.

On July 22, 2026, yet another Manson film was produced and distributed globally by Hulu, Disney+ and Smuggler Entertainment. It’s created quite a buzz on the internet, legacy news, and was showcased on a six-story electronic billboard on Sunset Boulevard. It reads: MY GRANDFATHER CHARLES MANSON...Discover a New Side to His Dark Side.

For some this might be interesting, even titillating. But for our family, this is yet another reminder that our personal family tragedy is treated as cotton candy entertainment for the masses. Jay Sebring, a revolutionary Hollywood figure until his untimely demise at the hands of the Manson family, is our flesh and blood. My uncle to be precise.

Our family has attended dozens of parole hearings for over two decades to speak for Jay and all the victims who remain silent in their graves… and in unified support of all the victims’ families in an ongoing fight for justice.

Sometime in the early months of 2024 I was contacted by filmmaker Alexandra “Allie” Orton requesting an interview for a documentary she was producing related to Charles Manson. Alexandra was respectful and I politely declined the interview expressing the realities that Manson-centric narratives perpetually exploit the victims, are painful to victims’ families, and create pernicious cultural repercussions.

Ms. Orton informed me her project was different in that the documentary involves an entirely unique story and that the victims would be treated with unprecedented regard. I reminded Alexandra that any story involving the Manson murders, with its focus on the killers and their crimes, is sensational and exploitative in its very nature.

“Until the victims are revealed in their true human dimension, all Manson narratives are parasitical cash grabs,” I said. I went on to inform her that the victims, our flesh and blood, are treated as insignificant props in the mass peddling of their own slaughters.

We discussed a few other things and eventually Ms. Orton shared that her project involved a young woman who recently learned Manson was her grandfather through a DNA test. She added it would follow her journey discovering and processing this new information.

Again, I reiterated the project seemed Manson-centric and that the victims will ultimately be disregarded (“… whether you believe so or not”). We politely signed off and I agreed that she could contact me in the future if she liked.

On August 8, 2024, I delivered a victim impact statement (on behalf of Gary Hinman’s family as a family representative) at Manson killer Bruce Davis’s parole hearing. Less than two days before the hearing the Hinman family was informed “media attendance” was approved. I assumed this would be a reporter.

I recall at the beginning of the hearing there was some confusion as to who the media representative was and precisely what her capacity was since the media person originally granted approval was a man named Eric Cook with Smuggler Entertainment. With prodding from the commissioners, it appeared that Sophia Arguelles was swapped in for Eric Cook. No further information was provided. The commissioners paused the hearing to determine if the switch from Mr. Cook to Ms. Arguelles was appropriate.

This was an unusual occurrence that I had never experienced in any other hearing before. I jotted down their names and production company on my prepared impact statement, along with additional notes throughout the hearing as I always do.

When the parole hearing was reconvened, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation determined Sophia Arguelles of Smuggler Entertainment may observe. The hearing resumed and continued as planned.

The next morning I began to wonder if Sophia and Smuggler were involved with Alexandra Orton’s documentary.

I emailed her and she responded with the following:

Hi Anthony,

Yes, Sophia is the filmmaker I mentioned to you, who recently discovered that Manson is her grandfather. Eric is a producer who helped her request access to yesterday’s parole hearing, and Smuggler is the production company involved. (I’d have to refresh myself on what info I sent to you and what I sent to Kay, but they’re a production company with a documentary wing, and their producers have made the Lionel Messi docs for Apple Plus, the Oscar doc Free Solo, etc.) Sophia wanted to attend yesterday’s hearing so that she could listen to the victims’ impact statements that you and others gave. It’s my understanding she just listened to the hearing as an observer. She was the only person granted access, so I did not hear any of the content myself. I haven’t had a chance to speak with her in depth since the hearing, but she spoke to me briefly yesterday and she shared how moved she was by all of your statements. She actually asked me to drop you a note to thank you for your words. She said she was very impressed by your statement, and she hopes you are well. Sophia mentioned that she came away from yesterday with a much deeper appreciation for the toll the parole hearings must take on all of you.

Allie

I spoke with members of Gary Hinman’s family and, naturally, we were disturbed and upset. We then expressed these concerns to the CDCR. I then requested a transcript of the entire Davis hearing. Upon its arrival I noticed the transcript was labeled “Corrected” and that there was no transcription regarding the interaction involving the Cook/Arguelles confusion. This struck me odd as our families go through a rigorous vetting process and strict fifteen-day deadline to request attendance.

I didn’t give it much additional thought until last week when I viewed the trailer for MY GRANDFATHER CHARLES MANSON. The concerns I originally expressed to the film’s co-director Alexandra Orton regarding exploitation, sensationalism, and victim disregard appear to be prophetic. I say “appear” since I have not seen the documentary, nor do I plan to. But the predictable cash grab, self-promotion, and insatiable bottom-feeding frenzy remain entrenched in the Manson murder industrial complex although the narratives bud and fuse upon demand- “Hollywood Babylon... DA Hero Complex... Helter Skelter... Manson’s Not Such A Bad Guy, He’s Just Misunderstood... CIA Deep state... Conspiracy........”

Now with MY GRANDFATHER CHARLES MANSON, the twist is “nature vs. nurture” and “transgenerational trauma.” Thus the adage, “Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.”

Well, here are a few facts to name a few:

• Being stabbed with a butcher knife and carving fork over two dozen times while your wife is stabbed to death in the next room over forty-five times

• Butchering a full-term pregnant woman while her unborn child slowly suffocates for 20 minutes in her womb

• Slicing an innocent man’s face in half with a machete

• Shooting a man in the abdomen in hopes of killing him

• Cowardly tying up a loving couple on peaceful Sunday night and knowing they will butchered like lambs to the slaughter

• Killing an innocent man with four other cowards using blunt objects and knives like a pack of jackals.

TALK ABOUT TRANS-GENERATIONAL TRAUMA.

But there’s money to be had! And spotlights to bask in!

Before the release of the documentary, Sophia Arguelles changed her last name to MADDOX, which is Charles Manson’s last name on his birth certificate. The name change is quite baffling, especially since Sophia describes being “devastated” and “sobbing” after learning Charles Manson was her grandfather. She reiterated the devastation and sobbing fits during her promotional tour. Suspension of disbelief is in order here. Again, “Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.”

So, Sophia Arguelles Maddox, Alexandra Orton, Smuggler (apt) Entertainment (apt again), Hulu, and Disney+ all want their piece of the Manson pie. Laughing all the way to the bank. And not just figuratively, but literally.

The other night a friend sent me a clip from a Manson podcast (The Spahn Ranch Channel 2011 on YouTube) in which the host revealed that Sophia Arguelles and her father Daniel attended an event called “Family Jams Day 6” on August 12, 2023. It’s an annual event in which Manson groupies, supporters, and apologists get together for the sole purpose to party on the “anniversary” of the killings. There’s food, beer, even live music. Now, I guess it’s “Don’t let the facts – or even killing sprees – get in the way of a good time.”

There’s pictures and videos memorializing the celebration. Daniel Arguelles is up on stage singing with the band while Sophia is smiling and laughing with the fans. Evidently there were even autographs dispensed.

Hey Sophia, Allie, Smuggler, Hulu, Disney+… is it too late to put that footage in your film?

And while the profiteers plunder their spoils, I ask, “At what cost? And to whom?”

Shame.

For those of us who loved... who love... who are haunted... who fight for our flesh and blood... who fight for justice – this is what matters most: Gary Hinman, Steven Parent, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Sharon Tate, her unborn child, Rosemary LaBianca, Leno Labianca, and Donald Shea.

They for us, remain always, the facts…

Anthony DiMaria is a director and the co-author of Jay Sebring: Cutting to the Truth