TCO Throwback! Hot Coffee

TCO Throwback! Hot Coffee

From True Crime Obsessed by True Crime Obsessed

March 22, 2026 · 51 min

About this episode

The episode revisits the infamous McDonald's coffee case and explores the true story behind it.

Hey Fam! Our bonus episodes are coming back in April... BUT WE COULDN'T WAIT! We wanted to share this throwback episode because IT'S WILD, but also because we talked about it in our recent episode about Andrea Yates and we thought... LET'S GIVE HER ANOTHER LISTEN! Have fun, enjoy, and whatever you do DO NOT GOOGLE THE PICTURES!!! Seinfeld mocked it. Letterman ranked it in his top ten list. And more than fifteen years later, its infamy continues. Everyone knows the McDonald's coffee case. It has been routinely cited as an example of how citizens have taken advantage of America's legal system, but is that a fair rendition of the facts? Hot Coffee reveals what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald's, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the effort, and to what end.

People in this episode

Host: True Crime Obsessed

Topics covered

  • legal system
  • media attention
  • coffee case
  • Stella Liebeck
  • McDonald's
  • public perception

Keywords

  • McDonald's coffee case
  • Stella Liebeck
  • legal system
  • media coverage
  • Hot Coffee documentary

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: McDonald's

Books & works: Hot Coffee

More episodes of True Crime Obsessed

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the True Crime Obsessed podcast page.