December 15, 2025
SHARE
CANADALAND
#1280 Who Drugged James Cameron? A Titanic Mystery
 Somebody had taken a pound of PCP and dumped it into the chowder. We have a pretty strong suspicion who it was, although it was never proven. -James Cameron
Jesse Brown
Host & Publisher
Julian Abraham
Reporter
Bruce Thorson
Senior Producer
Caleb Thompson
Audio Editor
max collins
Director of Audio

The mystery of who drugged the cast and crew of the blockbuster Titanic is Hollywood lore. In 1996 James Cameron shot part of Titanic in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, when someone dumped PCP into the clam chowder the team was sharing on the last night of shooting. Over 50 people ended up in hospital.

There was a police investigation but the case was never solved. Over the decades theories as to who and why have sprouted. These range from disgruntled caterers to vengeful bikers to insurance scams.

Canadaland decided to take up the case and look for the answer: who spiked the Titanic chowder?

Host: Jesse Brown

Credits: Julian Abraham (Reporter) Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Caleb Thompson (Mixing & Mastering) max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor and Publisher)

Additional Writing and Production from Rick Courtney.

Fact checking by max collins

Additional music by Audio Network

More information:

Further Reading:

“Grips are doing wheelies in wheelchairs” – Variety

James Cameron Recalls the Night the Titanic Crew Were Spiked with PCP – CBC

James Cameron on CBC’s The Q – Video

Sponsors:

MUBI: To stream great cinema at home, you can try MUBI free for 30 days at mubi.com/canadaland.

BetterHelp: Visit https://BetterHelp.com/canadaland today to get 10% off your first month.

Douglas: Douglas is giving our listeners a FREE Sleep Bundle with each mattress purchase. Get the sheets, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors FREE with your Douglas purchase today. Visit douglas.ca/canadaland to claim this offer

Cant get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.

If you value this podcast, support us! Youll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. Youll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, youll be a part of the solution to Canadas journalism crisis, youll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.

More from this series
“Our Reddit fucking sucks.” -Jesse Brown
April 13, 2026
The history of Canada’s weirdest and most prolific interviewer.
April 6, 2026
Look, we’ve all fallen for it at some point, right?
April 2, 2026
“The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion.” - Tarek Mansour, co-founder and CEO of Kalshi.
March 30, 2026
“People who made very serious allegations were not even talked to by the RCMP, and for some reason the tribunal says, that's not discriminatory.” -Journalist, Laura Robinson
March 23, 2026
" In my psychosis all my memories were distorted. So I was like, oh my gosh, I went to the White House when I was little. Obviously I was trafficked there for abuse to world elites." -Anthony Cesar Douglas
March 16, 2026
“There are many agents from the regime within Toronto and other cities documenting our faces and our presence.” -Bahar Almasi
March 9, 2026
"You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." -Morpheus
March 5, 2026
all podcasts arrow All Podcasts
CANADALAND