Wanderlust World Wanderlust World The "bum fights" phenomenon originated in the early 2000s in the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. Producers paid homeless or impoverished men to fight each other or perform dangerous stunts, filmed the encounters, and distributed the videos online and on DVD.
The first widely circulated release appeared in 2002, sparking national outrage over exploitation and violence. Several producers faced criminal charges; platforms removed the content. The term now broadly refers to any exploitative staged fights involving vulnerable people.