‘Cheer’ Is Back. Here’s Where the Jerry Harris Case Stands.
The Emmy-winning Netflix documentary series returns for a second season on Wednesday without its breakout star, who is awaiting trial in a case involving child sexual abuse imagery.
By Sarah Bahr
Jan. 11, 2022
Updated 11:08 a.m. ET
Last month, Netflix announced a surprise second season of its Emmy-winning documentary series “Cheer,” which follows a national champion cheerleading team from Navarro College, a small-town Texas community college.
While the new season shifts the focus to a fresh group of cheerleaders, one recent graduate remains in the news: Jerry Harris, the Navarro cheerleader whose “mat talk” and constant optimism in Season 1 made him a talk-show darling, has cast a shadow over the show. Twin teenage boys sued Harris in September 2020, accusing him of sexual abuse. He was also arrested that month on federal child pornography charges and remains in custody.
The nine-episode season addresses the case from the start and includes an hourlong episode featuring on-camera interviews with Harris’s former cheerleading teammates from Navarro; the team’s coach, Monica Aldama; the brothers who are suing Harris; their mother; and the USA Today reporters who broke the news.
Here’s what to know about the accusations against Harris, who is now 22, the status of his case and where Season 2 picks up.
What is Jerry Harris accused of?
In September 2020, the twin brothers, who were then 14 years old, filed a lawsuit in Texas accusing Harris of sending them sexually explicit messages via text and social media, demanding they send him nude photos of themselves, and, while at a cheerleading competition in 2019, asking one of them for oral sex. Harris befriended the boys when they were 13 and he was 19, USA Today reported. Harris, of Naperville, Ill., was arrested by the F.B.I. in September 2020 and charged with production of child pornography.
In a voluntary interview with the F.B.I. after his arrest, Harris acknowledged that he had exchanged sexually explicit photos on Snapchat with at least 10 to 15 people he knew were minors; had sex with a 15-year-old at a cheerleading competition in 2019; and paid a 17-year-old to send him nude photos.
In the months that followed, federal agents interviewed other minors who said they had had relationships with Harris. In December 2020, they filed additional charges against him including four counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of receiving and attempting to receive child pornography, one count of traveling with the attempt to engage in sexual conduct with a minor and one count of enticement, for a total of seven counts related to five minor boys. The indictment says these acts took place between August 2017 and August 2020 in Florida, Illinois and Texas. If convicted, Harris could face 15 to 30 years in federal prison.
How has Harris responded to the accusations?
In December 2020, he pleaded not guilty to the multiple felony charges. Harris’s lawyer, Todd Pugh, did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Where does the new season of “Cheer” pick up?
When we left the Navarro College team at the end of the first season, it was after they had won the 2019 junior college division of the National Cheerleaders Association and National Dance Alliance Collegiate National Championship in Daytona, Fla. Cue a “Today” show invite, an “Ellen DeGeneres Show” appearance and an “S.N.L.” parody.
Season 2 began filming in January 2020 but came to a halt amid the pandemic shutdowns. The 2020 national championship was canceled because of Covid. Filming resumed in September 2020, tracking the team’s journey to the 2021 championship in April. (We won’t spoil it here, but if you want to know how they fared, well, we won’t stop you.)
This season, the series follows the new cheer team as they get ready to compete against the rival Trinity Valley Community College. It also follows a few cast members from Season 1 (Gabi Butler, La’Darius Marshall, Lexi Brumback and Morgan Simianer all return).
It addresses new challenges the team has faced since it claimed the 2019 title, including the departure of the head coach, Aldama, to compete on “Dancing With the Stars” in Los Angeles. She made it to Week 7 out of 11, but was 1,500 miles away from her squad when the allegations against Harris became public in September 2020.
How does “Cheer” address the allegations?
After Harris’s absence is mentioned in Episode 1, the show devotes almost the entire hour of Episode 5 to examining the case. It includes interviews with the twins, who discuss their decision to go public and the fallout from the accusations.
The episode also includes interviews with Harris’s former teammates, who struggle to reconcile the bubbly, positive cheerleader they thought they knew with the crimes he is accused of committing. Aldama reveals that Harris wrote her a letter in which he said he hoped to become a motivational speaker one day.
The one person we don’t hear from is Harris. In the press notes for the series, the “Cheer” director, Greg Whiteley, said he hadn’t talked to him, adding that Harris’s lawyers had prevented it. Netflix said Harris’s lawyers declined to comment for the series.
Where is Harris now?
Harris has been held without bond at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago since his September 2020 arrest after a judge suggested he would pose a danger to the public if released. No trial date has yet been set. A case status hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/11/arts/television/cheer-season-2-jerry-harris.html?searchResultPosition=1

This story, (from a FoxNews outlet,) reports that CDC has clarified that story to say that the recent study shows that 75% of the deaths of people who were vaccinated suffered from at least four comorbidities. https://www.foxnews.com/media/cdc-director-remarks-comorbities

That's something different than saying 75% of all people whose death is attributed to COVID suffered from at least four comorbidities.

38-10 in a game, as they say, that was not as close as the score would suggest

So did someone make a mistake, or did Montana prank their in-state rivals?....there was one of those PR ads during the first half for Montana.

This is already getting real ugly.

Kind of hard to transfer back, at least psychologically...and kind of hard to transfer to a program that was struggling last year, was on life support for the off season and is going to continue to do struggle for a couple of years.

Calgary also signs former Penn State and Mississippi State QB:
https://saturdaytradition.com/penn-state-football/former-penn-state-qb-lands-new-opportunity-in-the-cfl/

Changing the subject ever so slightly, UCLA football backed out of the Holiday Bowl 4 1/2 hours before kick-off today.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2021/12/27/mens-basketball-uc-davis-at-hawai-i-cancelled-due-to-covid-19.aspx

One place that I am surprised left town not to return was Nation's Giant Hamburgers. You could always tell when the dorm menu was particularly disappointing by the line at Nation's. I know no one will believe me but when it opened hamburgers were $.65 and cheeseburgers were $.75. That was also when keyboards had the symbol for "cents."

No, there was not a hitching post out front.

Lord, I feel old.

BUMP

By my math the mean donation is $30.00 and some change, the mode and median are $20.00.

2 to 3 "average" donations and we've got this wrapped up before Christmas!

Slack's game at UCR schedued for last Sunday the 19th was apparently canceled at the last minute because of COVID issues with the Highlanders. https://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbkb/2021-22/releases/20211219qmka34

BUMP

We need to bump this to the Active DIscussions box until the goal is met!

BUMP!

Scroll on the second line in AggieFinn's first note. It's a link to the payment site. These young whippersnappers with their internet tricks!!

Thanks for doing this.

Go Ags!

State 1-AA Final: Cathedral Catholic 33, Folsom 21

Then there's that school in South Bend, IN, that, at least prior to the pandemic, had a tackle football intramural league.

I was actually pictured in the Aggie for participation in an IM sport. Lot of people wrapped their garbage with that issue.

...and with the re-hire of Tedford, Haener withdrew from the transfer portal,
(which makes you wonder why he entered it before knowing who the next coach would be, unless it was to go back to Washington,)

One of the great memories of my time at Davis was playing IM sports. Great exercise, great opportunity for social interaction. There was a spring touch football league in which several teams had varsity players. As close as I ever got to intercollegiate sports. I think I still have a bruise or two.