A one-episode documentary on former Toronto mayor Rob Ford will be released on Netflix this June. “Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem” will chronicle Ford’s tenure as mayor from 2010 to 2014, as well as take a look at the scandals that surrounded his infamous political career.
“Mayor of Mayhem”, directed by Shianne Brown, will be the second installment in Netflix’s eight-episode Trainwreck series. According to the streaming platform, the anthology will revisit some of “the most gripping, bizarre — and sometimes even horrifying — events that once dominated the mainstream media”, everything from tragic festivals (hello, Astroworld), political scandals, and media hoaxes to reality TV disasters.
The Ford saga will air alongside other episodes like “Balloon Boy”, about a 6-year-old trapped in a UFO-like balloon floating over Colorado, and “Poop Cruise”, about toilets overflowing as a stricken ship limps towards a port to Cozumel, Mexico.
Ford served as MPP for Etobicoke North for a decade until he was unexpectedly elected mayor in 2010, securing 47% of the vote.
“Widely dismissed as a joke by other politicians and the media, he defies critics with a shocking victory,” the Netflix episode summary states. “But his administration soon becomes a slow-motion disaster, as an avalanche of scandals and allegations of hard drug use lead to an international media frenzy.”
In 2013, a video surfaced of Ford smoking from a crack cocaine pipe while seemingly intoxicated. Ford eventually said that he had “made mistakes” and admitted to smoking crack cocaine, “probably in one of my drunken stupors”.
He withdrew from the 2014 mayoral race after learning he had a fast-growing cancerous abdominal tumour. After an 18-month battle, Ford passed away at 46 years old. This will all be covered in the 49-minute episode, which will air on Netflix on June 17.
The documentary won’t be the first time Ford’s life is dramatized. A 2019 movie called Run This Town offered a somewhat fictionalized take on Ford’s personal and work-related controversies during his final year as Toronto’s mayor.
In 2024, episode 4 of Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent featured a scene of a mayor who smoked crack — again, a (not-so-subtle) reference to the late Rob Ford.