Courtesy of IMDb TV
Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion CEO John Cambridge is not happy after watching Bug Out, the four-part docuseries on IMDb TV, Amazon’s premium free streaming service.
The series chronicles the events of August 2018, when reports surfaced that some 7,000 living bugs were taken from the Insectarium, 8046 Frankford Ave. in Holmesburg
The “buglary” became big news nationally, with the loss estimated at $50,000. Northeast Detectives, a private investigator and U.S. Fish and Wildlife began investigations.
Disgruntled employees were said to have taken the bugs, with video showing them carrying out the critters in covered bins, presumably to sell on the black market. No arrests were made, though.
Ben Feldman began looking into the caper. What he found out led to his directing a four-part series, about 2 hours and 20 minutes in length. The series suggests that the bugs were not stolen. Rather, they were the property of several employees of the animal care department who quit and took their belongings with them.
Cambridge said the series makes him look “detestable.”
“That is not me,” he said. “I’ve poured my heart and soul into this place”
Others, in Cambridge’s view, come out looking better. He complained that former director of operations Chrissy Rzepnicki is made out to be the “Mother Teresa” of the museum.
Steve Kanya also is portrayed positively, in Cambridge’s opinion. Kanya opened the Insectarium in 1992 at the site of Steve’s Bug-Off, an exterminating company he founded in 1975. He later became business partners with Cambridge, but they had a falling out, and civil litigation gave Cambridge the museum.
While Cambridge does not like the way he was portrayed, he was buoyed by people reaching out to him to offer support. He is also happy the Insectarium did not take any hits. He rewatched the series with the staff and gave his side of the story.
“The team we’ve got right now is awesome,” he said.
Cambridge said good things are happening at the Insectarium, with 250 people attending a New Year’s Eve party and $6,000 raised for Ukraine during an event last Thursday. The museum will continue to offer after-school programs and a summer camp and welcome school trips and other visitors. ••
