I felt utterly powerless. Tonight on 20/20 ` a massage that went so wrong. He's a professional. I should just trust him. He's doing this for some reason. A predator whose victim came to him. He started to move his hands sort of lower and lower down. Going online to adopt a child. Did you name the baby? An unthinkable... A few minutes later, a baby's crying. ...con. There was never a baby. And it was all a lie? > And it was all a lie? > It was all a lie. And a mini-movie about the meaning of the word 'home'. It's where we can be ourselves and dress like this. Are we really ourselves? Home is another dimension. It's, like, the Fourth Dimension. Kia ora. I'm Sonya Wilson. You tell yourself that it won't happen to you; that you would never be a victim. But how do you really know how you would react if you were sexually assaulted? It's very different when the moment arrives, as Liz Cronin found out. Victims of sexual assault cannot usually be identified by law. But Liz chose to forgo her right to anonymity in order to tell her story to 20/20. Here's Emma Keeling with a warning for us all. INTRIGUING MUSIC Liz Cronin's waited 17 months for this day. We're driving to court. She wants to see a man punished. Would you see people that looked`? Men that looked like him? Yep, um, I'd see men that looked like him, and it would send me into a bit of a panic. You know, white and shaking. Soon she must face him again. You think you'll be able to look at him? Look him in the eye? Hmm, we'll see. We'll see how I feel when I'm actually in there. We'll see if the nerves get the better of me or not. The memory's still fresh. FOREBODING MUSIC He'd taken my underwear and thrown it on the floor A massage that went so wrong. He was sweating away and grunting away, and I was just there, like, 'Oh my God.' You know, like, 'This isn't happening to me. This isn't happening to me.' She wanted to tell 20/20 how she became a victim of sexual assault. Everyone's said, 'Why? Why didn't you just leave?' And I thought, 'Well, I don't know.' (CHUCKLES) That's a good question. It just didn't seem that simple at the time. REFLECTIVE MUSIC I plan to get rid of some of that stuff. Liz Cronin's facing one of the biggest weeks of her life. Can I hand you coat hangers? But she's also packing up with the help from dad Lucien, preparing to leave for her big OE. Crocs are so gross but so comfy. The 24-year-old is a psychiatric nurse. She's intelligent, confident, but this assault has changed her. Would you say you're trusting? > Would you say you're trusting? > Yes, I... would have said that, yeah. What's changed? What's changed? Um, I think I'm just a little bit less naive now than I was before. Across town, the man she blames for this is heading to court ` 59-year-old Cunbin Zhang, accused of 17 charges of indecent assault. What do you think of this man? > I think that he's awful. I think that he takes advantage of vulnerable people. He obviously sized me up and saw that I was someone that he could do this to. Um,... (SIGHS) he's just a pervert. He was doing it for his own sexual kicks. I don't know what led him to the point where he felt like that was an acceptable thing to do, but I hope that he's punished. It was back in December 2012 when Liz went to a mall for a massage. The judicial system has been slow, much to Liz's frustration. You're waiting to go on your OE, so everything is on hold? Uh, not wanting to go overseas until it had all finished because I wanted to make sure there, um, that there was somebody there, uh, to be a witness in court. Were you surprised when Liz told you what had happened to her because she's a strong woman? At first, uh, until she explained the circumstances, what had happened, and I've sort of come to understand how` what a vulnerable situation she was in. When somebody takes your clothes away, they make you vulnerable, and it does strip away, um, I think, your ability to... to respond as you normally would be when you're` when you're` when you're clothed; when you're yourself. So, what did happen that Friday night in a massage shop? Her story is a warning to us all. I got introduced to the masseuse. He took me into, uh, the back room of the shop. He was not in the room when I removed my clothing. Um, he didn't actually give me a towel or anything to cover myself. I found one in the room and covered myself. Liz had had massages in the past. I still had my underwear on, but I'd removed my bra because I was expecting a back massage. He seemed very friendly. Um, he didn't speak a lot of English at all. So most of the communication was by gestures. It was all very normal for about 10, 15 minutes, and then he started to move his hands sort of lower and lower down on my back and started pushing down my underwear with his hands. Alarm bells? Yes, I was a little bit sort of uneasy at that point, but I didn't really wanna say anything cos I thought maybe he was just trying to get the muscles lower down on my back. After that, um, he... massaged my legs, and that was OK. He kept coming around and looking at me, and then going... Which, to me, indicated, 'I'm not looking. I'm not looking.' Then he pulled my underwear right off. He didn't ask me or anything. He just was saying, 'OK, OK,' as he was doing it. So I was a bit shocked, and then I... I didn't really know what... I didn't really know what to think about what was happening. Did you say, 'What the hell are you doing? Stop.' No, I-I didn't. I`I was shocked, actually, and I still was sort of thinking to myself, 'He's a professional. I should just trust him. 'He's doing this for some reason that isn't immediately obvious to me.' Um, And I-I just didn't... I didn't wanna cause a scene, I suppose. I thought that it would be fine, and it wasn't fine. Liz was in denial she was being assaulted. So he massaged my buttocks. He starting massaging my legs. He massaged higher and higher, and I thought, 'It's a full body massage. Maybe it's different where he's from.' And then he... touched my... genitals with his finger and... almost, like, it could have been an accident, but it definitely made me jump, and I got my towel and sort of firmly tried to wrap it around myself. Then he came around again and did the whole, 'Not looking. Not looking.' Then what happened? Then what happened? He started to massage my, like, upper-chest area. Then he grabbed my breasts and started to knead them. And it was` It happened very quickly, and I didn't... I was absolutely, absolutely shocked. I... just said, 'No, no,' an-and sort of tried to cover myself. Then he started to try and massage... my pubic area, and I was, 'No, please. Do not do that at all.' Were you quite firm with him? Were you quite firm with him? Yes, I was firm. Like, 'Don't. Don't do that. Don't do that.' And he sort of, like, looked at me, like, 'Oh, you know, what? I don't know what your problem is,' um, and grabbed my breasts again, and I was, 'No, please don't grab my breasts.' Surely, you thought, 'I need to get out of here'? I did think that. But I was also in this weird 'deer in the headlights' mode, and I didn't know what to do, really. I mean, I could have gotten up and tried to run or something, but my clothes weren't there. I was completely naked, um, and I had this tiny, completely insubstantial towel, um, and I was a little bit afraid that if I tried to run away, he'd attack me or something like that. I felt like he had sort of groomed me or something over the very short period of time that I was in there. But it's continuing? It's still going? Still going, so then he decided he would massage my... the front of my legs again, and I thought, 'Well, that's got to be better than him massaging my breasts.' And so I covered myself up with a towel, um, and then he spread my legs. Like, uh, forcibly bent them at the knees and spread them so I was completely exposed to him, and I was just desperately trying to cover myself up with a towel so that he couldn't see anything. He was really going for it, and he was sweating away and grunting away. And I was just there, like, 'Oh my God.' You know, like, 'This isn't happening to me. This isn't happening to me.' And I knew... I-I didn't know, really, that I was being sexually assaulted, but I also... I didn't want it to be happening to me. I guess I just tried to` tried the denial route. Like, just block out what was happening, and I just was looking at that clock there. Like, 'Oh, you know, the hour's gonna be up soon. 'It's gonna be up soon, and then he'll leave the room, and I can put on my clothes, and I can leave.' The massage was over, but Cunbin Zhang wasn't finished. Right at the end, he picked up my underwear and tried to put it back on me, and I was, like, 'No, no. I can put on my own underwear. I'm quite capable of that.' Um, and he... he still kept trying to sort of force them up my legs. You know, as soon as it was over, it was, like, that was it. I was` I was snapped out of that mode, and I was` I was back to being myself again. So I kicked him out of the room, put my clothes back on quickly, and then just bolted out of there. So, before that, you didn't think you could leave? I really didn't. So I felt, look, if I'd gotten up and tried to leave, I don't know what I thought would have happened, but I felt like something might have happened. You felt completely vulnerable? You felt completely vulnerable? I did. I felt utterly powerless. I really, really did. I've never understood, really, that victim... um, you know, how people feel. I just wanted it to be over. I closed my eyes and tried to pretend it wasn't happening, and I never really got that before. I thought, 'Why wouldn't you just deck them or something?' But I understand now. At the time, that seemed like the safest thing to do to protect myself. After the break ` an arrest and more shocking details. I had a feeling, or a gut feeling, that I thought there were other women out there. INTRIGUING MUSIC He's a professional. I should just trust him. He's doing this for some reason. In shock and confused after an hour-long ordeal on a massage table, Liz Cronin went home and told her flatmates what had happened. I said, 'I think I've just been sexually assaulted.' they're, like, 'What do you mean?' I explained to them a bit more. Everyone was really shocked. They were just, like, 'That was definitely sexual assault. 'You know, you need to do something about this.' The next day, Liz went to the police. Detective Damon Wells took her statement. < Did you believe her? < Did you believe her? Absolutely. I had no reason not to believe her. She was, um, articulate. She spoke well. Um, the story that she told me was, yeah, there was no reason to disbelieve what she was saying, and everybody that comes in has a right to be believed. The day after, Detective Wells went to the mall and arrested Zhang. He wasn't happy when I arrested him and placed handcuffs on him. He was pretty agitated at the time. For legal reasons, I can't tell you the name of that massage business. but I can tell you Zhang arrived here in 2010. Two years later, he was hired and did some sort of in-house training. How much? Well, even police don't know. They think it was minimal. The scary thing is that, in NZ, anybody can open a massage business and anybody can practice. You should never assume your therapist is qualified. INTRIGUING MUSIC This is the tape of Zhang's police interview with Detective Wells. He is speaking through an interpreter. I showed him a photograph of Liz, and he told me that he didn't know her. Later on, he then remembered her, but essentially, the crux of what he was telling me was that he would never touch a woman on her chest, her breasts. Any private areas or the insides of the thighs. Zhang denied he took her underwear off. But towards the end of the interview, his story changes. Zhang denied all the allegations. You were massaging her legs. That you pulled her legs apart and again touch her in her genital or pubic area. She lie? She lies. OK. Detective Wells was suspicious. I had a feeling, or a gut feeling, that there were other women who'd had this happen to them. This just doesn't happen as a one-off, generally, in my experience. So I put a press release out, or a media release, and... on the following Monday I believe that it was, and within a week, a week and a half, another three women phoned me. And, subsequently, I spoke to all of them and laid charges against Mr Zhang for all of those women. The alleged assaults happened over a month-long period. Were the women's stories similar? Were the women's stories similar? Remarkably so. Also talking about, uh, the style of massage; that he would laugh and pant heavily when` when massaging them, especially in inappropriate places. And, when inflicting pain on them in some cases as well, he would have this laugh. So they all described the same person. Now, these four women came from all walks of life, and none of them knew him, and none of them knew each other. REFLECTIVE MUSIC So here we are at court, 17 months later. Cunbin Zhang is facing 17 charges of indecent assault, and Liz wants to see him brought to justice. I just wanna show him that he chose the wrong girl and that he is not gonna get away with what he did. The trial took a week, but the waiting isn't over. Now it's down to the jury. So, what was it like walking into the courtroom and seeing him again? So, what was it like walking into the courtroom and seeing him again? Uh, I hadn't seen him in so long except for his picture in the paper. I-It was a bit odd, but this time, I was the one up on the stand, and he was... he was below me, and I was the one more in the position of power. So that was good, but he... he eyeballed me and, um, he just stared at me with no expression on his face. When Detective Wells rang with the verdict, Liz's mum was recording. Yeah? Oh... Guilty. Oh, thank you so, so, so much. That's... Oh. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. It's` Oh, I'm so glad. I'm so glad. < What was Zhang's reaction to the verdict? He was impassive, really. He didn't` He didn't move. As they were reading out ` there were 17 charges and guilty on 14 of them ` his expression didn't really change at all. He just stood there and took it. It took courage for Liz to come forward. At times, she's blamed herself; felt foolish. As I head to her parents' house, I'm hopeful that has changed. Hello! I would say well done, but it's more, 'What a relief it's all done.' I know. I'm so glad. I'm so stoked. Relieved? Relieved? Yes. (CHUCKLES) 100% relieved. You know, it's such a good outcome. You've been waiting two days for this verdict. Did you think...? I was worried. I didn't know what they were up to in there. I was shaking and white. Every time the phone rang, I was jumping like I'd been electrocuted, and it was a... a really tough two days. Now Liz is free to go on her OE and start living again. Do you think this last year and a half has changed you? Yes, absolutely. It's been hellish at times, actually. I didn't really have any concept before of what sexual violence... you know, what kind of, uh, consequence it can have. The verdict won't erase what the victims have endured. However, Detective Wells hasn't completely closed this case. Is there any point for other women to come forward if they recognise Zhang? Absolutely. We're not gonna say, 'Mr Zhang's in jail now. Everybody else doesn't matter.' We can go and reinvestigate and if it, you know, ends up that he's offended against them as well, then we'll follow that court process again, but more than happy to do that. Cunbin Zhang will be sentenced in July. If you need to talk someone about this man, please contact your local police station. Next up on 20/20 ` adopting through the regular channels can be long and drawn-out, so some couples in the States are logging on to the web to get a child. So the Dziekanskis decided to write a heartfelt ad on Craigslist. We want a child more than anything in the world. We are not rich, but we can give that child anything or everything they may need. It's a growing trend ` wannabe parents going online to adopt a child. Legal? Yes. Guaranteed? No. Welcome back. Mark and Tracy desperately wanted a baby. Tracy could not have kids, so they posted an ad on Craigslist ` that's America's equivalent of Trade Me ` hoping to adopt a child. Heather Taylor reached out to the couple, saying she was pregnant and looking for a home for her unborn baby. It all sounds too easy, right? Well, wait till you see what happened next. UPBEAT MUSIC Even before they got married, Mark and Tracy Dziekanski, living in a kid-friendly community outside of Chicago, talked about having children. Can't wait to have a little girl and put her in the sundresses and fix her hair. But Tracy was unable to conceive. And going through adoption agencies can be an ordeal. It takes so long, and it's so expensive. So the Dziekanskis decided to write a heartfelt ad on Craigslist. We want a child more than anything in the world. We are not rich, but we can give that child anything or everything they may need. It's a growing trend ` wannabe parents going online to adopt a child. Legal? Yes. Guaranteed? No. Finally, the Dziekanskis get the answer they'd been waiting for from a pregnant mom almost a thousand miles away in North Carolina. She knew that she couldn't take care of this baby. Heather Taylor lives in this trailer and is struggling to make ends meet. She's willing to give Mark and Tracy her baby. So, it's time to go shopping. We got a few of the items and all the equipment and whatever else the baby needed here. The local Babies 'R' Us wasn't the only place the Dziekanskis were dropping cash. Naturally, during the pregnancy, there were some financial expenses that she said she needed money for? And we didn't hesitate. I mean, you know, you wanna keep her healthy. She's carrying our adopted baby. Weeks later, Heather unexpectedly goes into labour. Tracy is actually on the phone as Heather rushes to the hospital. She's having a C-section, and I'm on the phone with her in the delivery room. I mean, you could hear the heart rate and everything. And then a couple of minutes later, there's a baby crying. 'Oh my gosh, Tracy. It's a girl.' 'I love Mommy.' That the one with 'Daddy loves me'? Yeah, 'Daddy's sweetheart'. Did you give the baby a name? Did you give the baby a name? We did. Anna-Rosemary. Anna-Rosemary. Heather now says she needs more money for Anna-Rosemary's expenses. The total tab now around $1500. Diapers, formula. I said, 'As long as it's for the baby, I don't have a problem.' I said, 'As long as it's for the baby, I don't have a problem.' We don't hesitate. And then Heather sends you this. Yeah. That's all real. We pretty much lost it. We were just in awe. You know, we were just, 'Oh my gosh, this is real. That's our baby.' Love the wrinkles on the back. Now they are just anxiously waiting for Heather to come from North Carolina to Chicago to drop off little Anna. But where was she? Oh, it was one thing after another. Her brother was in a car accident. She missed her plane. The baby had breathing problems. She didn't want to fly; she wanted to drive. Then Heather drops a bombshell. She's changed her mind; that her mom was gonna help out; that She would be able to afford to keep our Anna. Devastated and now suspicious, Tracy goes back to Craigslist and contacts other couples, wondering, 'Is this a scam?' Sure enough, she hears from a woman named Nicole who says Heather was giving birth to her baby too. I lost it. I'm, like, 'Oh my gosh, this isn't real.' No, it wasn't real. The pregnancy, the sounds of a newborn crying in the hospital room, those photos, all part of an elaborate and heartless scheme. There was never a baby. And it was all a lie. And it was all a lie. It was all a lie. Detective David Flynn from the Pitt county sheriff's department says Nicole, the North Carolina victim, got these photos as 'proof' of Heather's fake pregnancy. So she's pretending here to be pregnant? So she's pretending here to be pregnant? That's correct. I'm not sure what she used to` to make her belly bigger. Nicole declined our request for an interview, but she did tell our affiliate how far Heather took the con job. So, who is Heather really? Well, she's no stranger to the law ` arrested for writing bad cheques and identity theft. Speaking with Heather Taylor's family, she's had a long history of making up stories. We told her, 'If you can start paying us back every month some of the money, I won't press charges.' But just like the baby, the refund was never delivered. I said, 'You're full of it. We're done.' I said, 'You'll be hearing from the detective.' How could these couples not have known? Heather was very convincing with her story. She provided a lot of specific details that lend of a lot of credence to the lie. Why was she doing this elaborate hoax? It feels like she wanted to live a different life, and enjoy the fantasy and attention. And attention she got. Authorities say the suspect solicited people on Craigslist claiming to be pregnant and needing money. She was arrested and charged with a felony. She was given 36 months' supervised probation. and she had to seek mental treatment. She was also ordered to pay restitution. I guess it isn't even the money that hurts the most. The emotional toll that this took on them, you really can't repay them for that. How could you be so cruel and mean and deceitful to do this to somebody? I was just heartbroken. It's like the baby died almost, or` It's like the baby died almost, or` Right. I mean... Oh gosh. For` For months. Our little Anna would be a year old. Despite their awful experience, the Dziekanskis haven't abandoned their dream of parenthood. Soon they hope to start fostering to eventually adopt a child. And you believe in your heart it's definitely gonna happen? And you believe in your heart it's definitely gonna happen? Yes. There's no doubt in my mind. That baby's gonna have nothing but the best. Next up on 20/20 ` who knew working in the skincare business was like working for the mob? When the proprietress of Skin Refinery appears to be at the centre of an alleged plot to whack the guy next door, Gabriel Suarez, who runs Smooth Cheeks, it's unusual. It almost seems surreal. How surreal? LA County sheriff's department is still peeling the masks. In 18 years, you've never seen anything like this? In 18 years, you've never seen anything like this? No. It starts out with an alleged victim, who turns out to be a suspect victim. And then a witness who, in your mind, turns out to be... And then a witness who, in your mind, turns out to be... ...suspect. Welcome back. West Hollywood beauty-salon owner Dawn Daluise was recently arrested, accused of hiring a hitman to kill one of her rival beauticians, Gabriel Suarez. She is awaiting trial and has pleaded not guilty. So did this successful businesswoman go from designing the perfect facial to allegedly designing a murder? Before life as an upscale facialist, Dawn DaLuise ` no, not Dom Deluise ` Dawn DaLuise left the sleepy Florida bayou in hopes of becoming an LA model. Nylon and lacing it coquettishly for Frederick's of Hollywood's way-risque lingerie catalogue, semi-undressed for success. But rather than trying to live on her looks, she studied accounting and figured she ought to live on the looks of others. As an aesthetician, she developed a client list alleged to include Jennifer Aniston and Nicki Minaj. Only now she's sporting the latest in jailwear. No one ever said blue is the new black. The 55-year-old DaLuise was now world famous. The elite aesthetician arraigned on solicitation of murder charges, facing a possible nine years in prison. Talk about losing face. I'm not real familiar with what a facial is, but I imagine it has to do with somehow making your face better. I don't know. In West Hollywood, by order of the city council, it is illegal to declaw a cat. But what you do to your own body is your business and theirs. The beauty industry is extremely competitive. For cosmetic surgery, for hairstyling, for skincare, for a mani, a pedi or a Brazilian, celebrities are willing to pay through the nose, and the battle for them is fierce. Ask the man who cut Madonna's hair and Pamela Anderson's and Jon Bon Jovi's. I opened my salon here. You open across the street? You have violated me in a very, very serious way. I'd walk across the street, and I'd say, 'Listen, are you...?' Excuse my French, but, 'Are you out of your f... mind?' Yet law enforcement doesn't get much aesthetician-on-aesthetician crime. So when the proprietress of Skin Refinery appears to be at the centre of an alleged plot to whack the guy next door, Gabriel Suarez, who runs Smooth Cheeks, it's unusual. It almost seems surreal. How surreal? LA County sheriff's department is still peeling the masks. In 18 years, you've never seen anything like this? In 18 years, you've never seen anything like this? No. It starts out with an alleged victim, who turns out to be a suspect victim. And then a witness who, in your mind, turns out to be... And then a witness who, in your mind, turns out to be... ...suspect. It was a friend of his who asked Detective McCauley if he'd speak to DaLuise, who'd been operating Skin Refinery at this address for years. Among her offerings was something called a galvanic facial ` a favourite of her then friend and client, Edward Feinstein. They put a mask over your face. It's a little bit of a Hannibal Lecter mask. It's a little... (CHUCKLES) overwhelming. Over the years, DaLuise and her business had been talked up in a few glossy magazine beauty round-ups and in the tabloids. Dawn had a public spat with Nicki Minaj. It was all over the news. When Detective McCauley phoned her, DaLuise said her tyres had been slashed recently and that she was being cyber-stalked ` harassed online. There had been Craigslist ads that were posted ` solicitations for sexual encounters that listed her address and her phone number. And did she have any idea who might be responsible? She believed it was Gabriel Suarez. Did she feel like he was a competitor and therefore this was why she felt he might be doing such things? and therefore this was why she felt he might be doing such things? Yes. > It's kind of crazy. His response was in general, 'I don't know her.' He came off as very credible to me. DaLuise seemed aghast that Suarez had moved his business practically next door, even though Suarez had Smooth Cheeks focused on a different end of the skincare game. I liked the name Cheeks cos I do a lot of waxing too. It's kind of double entendre. It has cheeks and, you know, cheeks. DaLuise thought Feinstein would back her with the cops. But with a prior conviction for identity theft, Feinstein flipped, telling them the cyber-stalking was actually DaLuise's plan to frame Suarez. She wanted me to pretend to be Gabriel, send her fake texts, post Craigslist ads. She wanted it to seem like she was being stalked so she could say it was Gabriel. She asked you to do all these things? She asked you to do all these things? Yes. He provided me with texts that seemed to indicate that Ms DaLuise had asked him to lie to me. But it was another one of Feinstein's texts that would get Dawn DaLuise on page one and TMZ and give new meaning to the phrase 'if looks could kill'. These photos from a bar in nearby Big Bear suggest that Geile friended DaLuise on more than just Facebook. But DaLuise's apparent text led cops to get proactive on the facialist. Ms DaLuise was actively seeking somebody to take care of Gabriel. When you use the phrase 'take care of', I have a feeling it doesn't mean 'to get a nice facial'. Probably not. Probably not. BOTH LAUGH The conclusion was that she had solicited a murder of Gabriel Suarez. Definitely caught me off guard that my life would be in danger for doing skincare. (CHUCKLES) So the aesthetician who had told police she was being cyber-stalked found herself going from facial to 'disgracial' in less than a month's time ` arrested on March 5th and charged with solicitation of murder. JUDGE: Not guilty plea is entered? JUDGE: Not guilty plea is entered? Yes, Your Honour. Chris Geile hasn't been charged with anything. In a sit-down with KABC, he denied being Dawn's hitman of choice. I was just totally astonished. There were no services to engage. At this point, he is more of a witness than he is a suspect. Edward Feinstein was not so lucky. On March 12, Feinstein planned to sit down with 20/20. While we waited,... police came to his home to arrest him. We caught up with him a week later ` after his release. I'm the one that originally told the police when they contacted me about Dawn's ruse, so for me to be named a suspect was just mind-boggling to me. Police had decided DaLuise had been maliciously stalked by Feinstein. DaLuise attorney Philip Dube is confident the case against her will be dismissed. It's absolutely ridiculous. For now, the case lies in the mountain of evidence ` 220 gigs worth on Detective McCauley's DaLuise hard drive. Do you feel confident at this point in your investigation that you know who did what to whom? No. No. I'm so relieved to hear you say that. ALL LAUGH This is the craziest thing I've ever seen. This is the craziest thing I've ever seen. It is. The only ones not laughing are Gabriel Suarez, still trying to imagine why someone might want him exfoliated permanently, and Dawn DaLuise, still sitting in stir after a competitor got under her skin. My goodness. Uh, next up on 20/20 ` celebrity moochers and the short film about the meaning of the word 'home'. High-earning celebrities can get besieged in real life by gimme gimme gimme moochers, especially family. And they don't just ask for a fridge; they want the whole house. Just ask Oprah Winfrey. UPBEAT MUSIC When I was making $22,000 a year, people always needed $50. Then when I moved to, like, $50,000 a year, everybody always needs $500. Now nobody needs anything less than $50,000. Welcome back. Celebrity moochers ` Oprah Winfrey admitted that she is regularly asked by friends and family for money, and $50,000 is usually the figure. From Kobe Bryant, whose mother sold his childhood memorabilia at auction, to Gossip Girls' Leighton Meester, who sued her mother for custody of her younger brother after she allegedly spent money meant for her brother's medical bills to pay for her own cosmetic surgery. In pop culture, freeloading friends make for comedy magic,... Sweet. ...such as Seinfeld's Kramer. His whole life is a fantasy camp. Do nothing, fall ass-backwards into money, mooch food off your neighbours and have sex without dating. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But high-earning celebrities can get besieged in real life by gimme gimme gimme moochers, especially family. And they don't just ask for a fridge; they want the whole house. Just ask Oprah Winfrey. UPBEAT MUSIC When I was making $22,000 a year, people always needed $50. Then when I moved to, like, $50,000 a year, everybody always needs $500. Now nobody needs anything less than $50,000. Who could forget this epic giveaway? You get a car! You get a car! You get a car! But when it comes to an ex-stepmother, even the famously generous Oprah has her 'be your best self' limits. Barbara Winfrey married Oprah's father, Vernon, and lived with him in this $1.4 million house that Oprah bought them. When they divorced, Oprah asked her to move out. You're a billionaire. God has blessed you to be a billionaire, and this is what you do? Oprah, according to a spokesperson, offered to split the proceeds from the sale of the house or to buy her a more modest home. Reportedly, what she asked in exchange was that Barbara Winfrey sign a confidentiality agreement. But for this ex-stepmom, talk isn't that cheap. She knows I know the story. I know the story. And to set me out now, why shouldn't I just tell my story? Here's a true story. Family can be more avid than anyone to raid the bank of a big name. Why do you think relatives of the famous are so eager for their money? It's tough because they're family. It's like you become royalty. Brett Erlich expertly dices and slices the zeitgeist for the YouTube show Pop Trigger and has his own solution for the money-minded mooch-tastic. There should be a celebrity family union, and they should negotiate different rates. So in much the same way that, like, your agent gets 10%, maybe your mom gets a house, your sister gets a car, your cousins get fancy sneakers, and that's it. And we cut them off after that. He might agree. FLASHY MUSIC These days, Shia LaBeouf can be seen trysting the night away in 'Nymphomaniac', or putting this 'I am not famous' bag over his head. Cool, bro (!) Still, he was flush enough to loan an uncle a sack of cash ` $800,000 worth. After the loan wasn't repaid, Shia came here, to this courthouse, to make his debtor say uncle. Author of 'Celebrity, Inc.', Jo Piazza knows all about stars and their money. The uncle said that he has been giving Shia and his mother, who is a single mom, financial support for years and that he never asked for repayment, so he didn't really expect that he had to repay the loan that Shia gave him. I want to help you, I do, but I am not some alien ambassador. I'm a normal kid with normal problems. A reported $5 million salary for 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'? No problem. An $800,000 relative misunderstanding? Big problem. Shia did not expect that money to be a gift. WHIMSICAL MUSIC But for a celebrity, flinging an alleged family moocher off the money train can lead to some highly unflattering consequences, so Sharon Osborne's declared about her brother. All he does is earn money from selling lies and foul things about myself and my family. He sold five different stories on me to the British press. Why? Because the pair had a falling out after their father's death, and she pulled the financial plug after years of supporting her brother, whom we were unable to reach for comment. All I did was give him money. I employed him. I gave him whatever he wanted. Amends would imply that there's something to be mended. What you did can never be fixed. Fresh-faced and effortlessly glamorous, 'Gossip Girl' Leighton Meester wanted to pay for her ill young brother's healthcare needs. Only, the actress claimed, the $7,500 a month she sent his way healed her mother's money cravings instead and was allegedly used for, among other things, mom's cosmetic surgery. When the actress went to court, a judge put a new face on things, ruling that Constance Meester had zero right to mooch off her daughter's dough. There's a real sense of entitlement from famous people's relatives. They seem to think that they did a little something to contribute to that person becoming so rich and famous. And therefore they think they deserve it. There is nothing like a good lie. You lie, the person accepts it completely and you walk away going, 'Lie accomplished.' Dane Cook could do a less-than-hilarious monologue about his half-brother, who wholeheartedly lived off his earnings, embezzling millions over a four-year period while serving as Cook's business manager. That half-brother was sentenced to no-kidding time in the state pen. Some have even tried cashing in on precious rewards for a job well done. Basketball star Kobe Bryant stepped in days before his mother was to have auctioned off close to 100 items from his career. She did wind up selling a couple of Kobe's high school jerseys, a 2000 NBA All-Star ring and an additional championship ring he'd previously given to his father. They settled their differences, his parents apologised publicly, but before that, Kobe tweeted out feelings that others in the public eye can relate to. gfx And more importantly, how do you keep your mother from selling that sand? It's difficult. CASH REGISTER DINGS Now, for anyone of an alternative sexuality, the concept of home can mean different things. It's not always a place you feel happy and secure. In a private tent at Auckland's Big Gay Out, young NZers open up about their personal experiences. Are we rolling? Are we rolling? We're rolling. We're totally on TV. Look into the camera here. SERENE MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES You go. You go. You go first. You go. You go first. OK, home... home isn't a place. Home is a person. We've been together for 16 years. So far, it's going OK. ALL CHUCKLE My dad is the only one that has been fully accepting of me, and he lives up in Kerikeri. So I'm homesick every day. There's just no room for all of us in this booth. There's just no room for all of us in this booth. ALL CHUCKLE To me, home is a safe space. You know, things like homosexuality, abortion, things like that are very taboo in my culture and my family, and to be the one to stand out hasn't been easy. Being a transgender woman. Um, my trans community, my gay community, you know, that's also my home. Home is a grinder. Home is a grinder. Home is a grinder? Home is a grinder. Home is a grinder? (LAUGHS) It's where we can be ourselves and dress like this. Are we really ourselves? Home is another dimension. It's, like, the Fourth Dimension. A couple of years ago, things weren't safe. I... I was raped by a guy I knew. I was a young lesbian and I... Home wasn't safe for me. My parents didn't understand, and now that my parents do know how I feel and that there's no lies any more, I can really be myself. For me, home is the only place that you can be you. So home is... is a sacred place. It's almost the equivalent to a heart. Look. OK. Mmm. At times, I don't feel home because of my se-sexuality. (CHUCKLES) Because I don't belong. But, yeah, just belonging... somewhere. To feel safe. Security. Love. Peace. And finding myself. SERENE MUSIC Very cool, eh? Uh, Queer Selfies was made through a crowdfunded initiative called Loading Docs. And we're going to be showing some more of these short docos, all different, over the next few weeks. If you want to see any of tonight's stories again, head to our website. You can also email us. Or, of course, go to our Facebook page, and let us know your thoughts on tonight's show. Well, thanks for all your feedback, particularly on our Facebook page. We really appreciate it.