Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Aussie brand's viral AI slop, Bretman Rock vs. Vanessa Hudgens + "toxic" celebrity mom group saga

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MINI SCROLL: Aussie brand's viral AI slop, Bretman Rock vs. Vanessa Hudgens + "toxic" celebrity mom group saga · Mini Scroll

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  Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
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  culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
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  media, the creator economy and the digital space every Monday
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  through Thursday and sometimes Fridays like today.
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  I'm your host, Lauren Meisner, the founder of the youth digital
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  media brand Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini Scroll,
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  everyone, a Friday mini scroll. Let's just get into the stories
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  for today. This is a weird 1 today.
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  OK, I feel like sometimes the Friday mini scroll the vibes are
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  weird and my first story that I have for you guys is the
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  weirdest story I have possibly maybe not ever reported on, but
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  it's up there. It's so fucking weird.
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  OK so this Australian brand called called Genes W is going
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  viral for basically becoming 100% AI slob.
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  If you're Australian, I'm sure you guys will be familiar with
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  Genes. WI was not Obviously I've lived
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  here for almost 10 years but I wasn't familiar with it.
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  However, I did ask a bunch of my Australian friends if they knew
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  what they all did. They all said it was like a
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  staple brand for them growing up.
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  One of my friends actually described them as a brand that
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  rich kids wore growing up. I don't know if that's totally
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  accurate. If you guys are Australian,
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  please let me know what you guys think about that.
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  But yes, they are this Australian brand.
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  Like I said, they were kind of a staple, I guess in the 2000s,
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  twenty 10s. They've been around since the
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  70s apparently and they are going viral all over Reddit and
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  now also TikTok because they relaunched a few months ago.
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  I'll explain it, but they relaunched a few months ago and
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  their entire website and social media presence now appears to be
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  almost exclusively AI slop. So last March, the brand went
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  into administration and then in September 2025, a few months
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  later, they sent emails out to their database.
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  And these emails looked like spam.
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  You can actually find them on Reddit.
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  I'll put a screenshot here. They looked like spam saying
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  that they were returning as online only.
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  So the e-mail said, we've missed you.
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  Classic jeans W favorites are back online September 25th.
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  Dear jeans W customer. Oh, that's nice and personal.
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  I think that's definitely really good e-mail marketing protocol.
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  Thank you for your continued support and loyalty.
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  We're excited to announce that Jeans W is officially reopening
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  online on September 25, and we're bringing back your classic
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  favorites from the comfort of your home.
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  You can now rediscover the timeless pieces you love.
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  And the text literally has like 4 spaces between each word.
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  So at the time, this is what the Australian Financial Review
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  wrote. Jeans W will emerge from
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  voluntary administration and be handed back to its former
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  owners, the wealthy young family from Hong Kong, in a deal that
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  leaves unsecured creditors with virtually no payout.
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  The denim and casual wear retailer, which opened its first
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  store more than 5 decades ago, collapsed in March and flagged
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  the closure of more than 90 shops.
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  All right, so it seems like since they relaunched online,
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  things do not seem to be going well inside the brand because
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  there is like no human touch to this brand right now.
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  It seems like they might have like one single staff working on
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  it. So this Reddit thread popped up
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  yesterday in our slash oz female fashion and it's titled What is
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  going on with jeans W AI posts. And the post details how the
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  website and social content appears to be almost 100% AI
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  slop and basically nothing makes sense.
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  And this has kicked off so much discourse.
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  People are going on deep dives. People are posting about this on
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  TikTok now reacting to it. It's so funny.
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  I mean it's like a sad OK, but we have to laugh.
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  If we don't laugh, we will cry. So we have to laugh because it's
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  actually insane. Let me share.
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  You guys can go on the website. If you go on jeanswest.com dot
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  AU you guys will see OK already. It's like the worst website
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  you've ever seen. It is like 2005 level website.
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  OK. If you click on the about us
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  page at the top you will see a photo of a man and a woman.
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  It's obviously AI generated. OK.
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  A man and a woman holding hands wearing Canadian tuxedos,
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  essentially with what appears to be a collaboration between the
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  Sydney Opera House and Uluru in the background.
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  And people on Reddit are calling it the Ulurupa House.
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  And then if you zoom into the photo, you'll see the classic
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  hands, the classic AI hands. These people, they're trying to
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  get them to hold hands and like, AI just can't do it.
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  Like the hands are just mush. They're just AI swap.
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  If you go back to the homepage, Scroll down again, all the
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  copywriting, none of it makes sense.
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  It's all so bad. The photos are all AI and just
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  so bad. OK.
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  And then one of my favorite parts of the homepage is on one
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  of the carousels, one of the images that shows up is like a
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  woman standing on the beach. Okay.
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  And then the text says make a splash.
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  Gene Times is here. The perfect match.
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  Denim jeans time is here. Jeans time is here is one of the
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  craziest things I've ever seen on a brands website.
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  I know, and that's saying something, but that's so funny.
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  I was saying to Sean, like every time I put on jeans now, which
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  is like almost every day, I'm going to be like jeans time is
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  here. Like that's crazy.
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  What are you talking about? What does that mean?
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  OK. And then if you keep scrolling,
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  there's another carousel of AI generated photos of models like
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  in various landscapes. OK, so there's one, she's in a
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  field and it says escape the everyday authenticity.
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  Escape the everyday authenticity.
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  What does that mean? So the website is a freaking
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  disaster. But the social media, their
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  Instagram is even worse. I would argue again, it's all
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  just like stock photos of like AI models.
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  They do have some videos that appear to be influencers and
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  they appear to possibly be real, but I really can't tell.
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  And I don't know how old they are.
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  Like, who knows? They could be assets that were
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  made for the brand by like an influencer, a fashion blog or
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  whatever, like years ago when the brand was doing like normal
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  things. But the craziest thing, you guys
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  have to see this. OK, let me play the clip for
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  you. But for those who can't see it,
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  it's an AI generated social media video.
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  OK? It's like second on their feed
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  right now, it's two blonde women wearing the exact same outfit at
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  a cafe. I think they're supposed to be
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  like going out for coffee. But the first segment or like
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  the first scene is them holding take away cups, like take away
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  coffee cups, looking at a menu. OK.
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  And then they're inside the cafe, arms around each other
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  again, fully matching. And then they're like looking
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  out the window and pointing to something in unison.
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  And then they sit down for a coffee at this cafe and they're
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  holding mugs. So I don't know what happened to
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  their take away coffees, but they're having their coffee
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  there now. OK, but then the craziest thing
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  ever happens. You have to watch this video
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  with sound. Just listen.
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  A warm cozy. Australian cafe atmosphere with.
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  Relaxed Indies folk vibes, you guys.
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  That is just the AI prompt that they put into the software to
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  make this video and then the AI spit out this video and use the
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  prompts as the lyrics. And then whoever posted this
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  video, whoever is in charge of their social media, just
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  obviously didn't watch it or didn't care and just posted it
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  to their official Instagram page.
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  I'm losing my mind. It's so crazy.
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  I literally had tears running down my face when I was looking
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  into all of this earlier today. It's so insane.
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  I don't understand what's happening.
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  Like it's so wild that it feels like a troll.
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  I think. It's not Like I genuinely think
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  that this is just so clearly like a shell of a company that
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  is trying to just sell whatever they can for the cheapest way
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  possible. And having like one employee at
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  the most doing all of these things that they have to do is
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  possibly the result of that. I don't really know.
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  They've probably been told to use AI for everything to cut
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  costs. Like, I don't know, that's all I
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  can imagine. People are all in the comments
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  being like, there's still time to delete this.
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  There's also a lot of people who are really, really pissed.
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  There's a ton of people that are like, this is so disgusting.
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  This is so egregious. Like, I'm never gonna buy from
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  you again. And it's like, well, yeah,
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  obviously you're not even. What are they even selling at
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  this point? It's like, we don't even know.
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  We don't even know because I haven't seen a real item of
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  clothing on their website or on their social media since they
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  relaunched in September. We need to see the humor in
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  this. Like it's so sad.
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  I just, I cannot believe that this is where we're at, but we
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  need to laugh because it's so, so bad.
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  Like this is literally next level to the point where it
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  feels like a troll. I kind of hope it's a troll.
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  It's weird because there are still a lot of people on
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  LinkedIn who say they work there.
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  But like, surely not. Surely this is not the work of a
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  human marketing team with multiple employees.
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  I don't know you guys, it's so wild.
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  OK, let's get into the next story.
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  The next story that I have for you guys is Brettman Rock has
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  opened up about his most disappointing celebrity
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  encounter ever and it started to go viral.
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  So comments that influencer Brettman Rock made on a podcast
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  2 weeks ago are going around the Internet.
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  I actually cannot remember the last time we talked about
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  Brettman Rock. I love him.
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  He's so funny and he does like wealthy influencer so well.
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  Like living between. Actually don't even know if he
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  lives between LA and Hawaii anymore, if he just like
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  permanently lives on Hawaii. But you know, just like his
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  life. I'm sure you guys have seen his
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  videos, but his life in Hawaii is so magical.
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  He's doing it so well. He is touching grass.
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  That is a man who is touching grass.
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  OK, so he was on the Sweet or Savory podcast a couple weeks
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  ago and he was asked to talk about memorable run insurance
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  with other famous people. And then he was asked about his
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  least favorite run in with a celebrity and he named Vanessa
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  Hudgens. So he said that they met at
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  Coachella years ago when they were both attending for Sugar
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  Bear Hair. Iconic.
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  Take me back to the days of Sugar Bear Hair sponsoring every
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  single YouTube video, celebrity Snapchat.
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  Iconic. So he says while he was picking
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  up his festival ticket, he spotted Vanessa Hudgens talking
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  to the Sugar Bear Hair CEO, which is somebody that Bretman
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  already knew. So he said he tried to wave to
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  the CEO, but claims that Vanessa looked right at him and then
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  acted like she didn't want to be seen, kind of like hid behind
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  her assistant. And Bretman was like, I wasn't
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  trying to say hi to her. Like I'm just trying to get the
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  attention the Sugar Bear hair CEO who I know.
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  And then he joked that he's been always team Shar Pei.
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  Most disappointing celebrity encounter?
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  Vanessa Hudgens. Oh.
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  I don't like her. I met her at Coachella.
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  We were both there for Sugar Bear hair.
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  This was like young me. I'm not a fan.
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  She had a second person there. And she grabs her hand and makes
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  her stand in front of her, like to kind of like block, block
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  her. Because at that point, like, I
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  was walking towards them to say hi to the CEO of Sugar Bear.
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  And that's why we're here. You're not above me.
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  I'm not under you, I'm Filipino. You can't even like like your
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  own. People seriously, that's yeah,
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  that's like I know that Bretman just like gives no Fox, but I
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  always find it really fascinating when people publicly
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  speak about different celebrities and people that they
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  haven't enjoyed meeting. I don't know, because I feel
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  like, well, surely there's going to be a time when you're when
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  you'll be in the same room with them again, like surely you will
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  encounter these people again. And I feel like that's so bold.
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  But honestly, like I said, Brett, my rock, he is touching
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  grass like constantly. So maybe he just has no interest
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  in celebrity life. I don't follow him like super
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  closely anymore. So if you guys do let me know
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  what you guys think about that. OK, the last story that I have
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  for you guys, Speaking of Sharpei, I wasn't sure if I was
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  going to cover this. It's a bit mainstream, I feel
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  for many. Sometimes we cover mainstream,
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  obviously, if it's like relevant, but it also feels like
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  a little bit irrelevant. However, it is something that is
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  so unavoidable right now and it feeds my millennial appetite for
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  like, petty celebrity drama. So here we go.
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  Ashley Tisdale. She wrote a viral personal essay
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  titled Breaking Up with My Toxic Mom Group and it is everywhere.
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  And it sparked all of this drama all over, I mean, the Internet.
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  Then also it seems like within Hollywood.
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  So it was actually originally published on her blog back in
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  November, and then this week it was published again in The Cut.
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  In this essay, she described joining a group of fellow
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  celebrity moms after having her first child.
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  She said that she thought that this space would be supportive.
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  But overtime, she said, the group's behavior started to feel
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  exclusionary and high school like with social gatherings and
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  text threads that left her out. So she eventually told them via
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  text that she was done because it felt unhealthy.
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  She said she didn't feel like the other moms were bad people,
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  but that the social dynamic stopped feeling healthy and
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  supportive of her. So this drummed up a lot of
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  interest, partly because I think the idea of like mom groups and
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  friendships like that, I'm sure it hits close to home for a lot
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  of women, especially first time moms.
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  But also of course, the celebrity element of it.
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  Everybody's like, who the fuck was in this group?
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  So people did some sleuthing and they found lots of photos of
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  Ashley Tisdale alongside Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore, Meghan
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  Trainer and others. And they're wearing like,
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  matching sweat suits. They're hanging out a lot.
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  So it seems as though this is probably the group she was
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  talking about. But then it escalated when
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  Hilary Duff's husband, Matthew Coma posted this wild troll on
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  his Instagram stories that seemed to mock her essay.
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  So this is from People quote. Although Moore and Duff have yet
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  to respond, Duff's husband Matthew Coma seemingly responded
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  by posting a photo of himself in the same position as the photo
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  of Tisdale for her story with the Cut.
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  In the picture, he was seen sitting on a couch next to a
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  house plant while wearing an all black outfit paired with rose
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  tinted sunglasses. On his Instagram Stories on
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  January 6th, Coma added the cuts logo and a fictional headline to
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  the photo, which read. When you're the most self
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  obsessed, tone deaf person on earth, Other moms tend to shift
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  focus to their actual toddlers with a sub headline that read a
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  mom group tell all through a father's eyes and then he wrote.
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  Read my interview with at the Cut on the story.
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  That is so savage. I actually didn't know this
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  about him, but apparently he's like a huge troll and that's
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  actually why people love him. Apparently he's like the
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  internet's biggest troll. I do feel like the whole
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  scenario, like the essay and everything does give off a bit
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  like self indulgent, self-centered, but also like
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  that's what I expect from a celebrity.
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  Like, that's what I want from my celebrities.
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  So, you know, I can't fault Ashley Tisdale.
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  So now Meghan trainer has also responded again.
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  She was apparently part of this mom group.
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  So she posted a TikTok on her computer looking at the screen,
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  shocked with the caption me finding out about the apparent
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  mom group drama. And then the video was set to
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  her new single. Still don't care and she put
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  like tea emojis or like coffee emojis obviously to signal tea
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  hashtag. Still don't care.
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  You know what I'm absolutely desperate to know?
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  Speaking of Hilary Duff and drama, this is kind of an aside,
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  but I need to know what happened with Haley Duff, her sister.
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  It seems like they are not friendly with each other at all.
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  If you guys know, please let me know.
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  I feel like I have kept tabs on that here and there, but maybe
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  there's things that I've missed. Please, I need to know what
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  happened. I feel like they have different
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  political beliefs, affiliations. It seems I've seen that
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  speculation somewhere. But I need to know.
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  Like they were sisters. They had such a career together
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  for a long time there and then now it seems like they don't
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  interact at all. And there's a few tik tokers
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  that have done some like deep dives into when they last
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  basically like interacted on social media and like what
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  possibly happened with them. But like I need to know.
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  I need to know. I understand we probably will
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  never know. It is very personal family
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  information, but I still want to know.
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  It doesn't stop me from being curious and desperate to know.
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  All right guys, well, that's it for mini scroll today.
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  I don't know what to say about today's episode.
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  It was really random, but you know what, sometimes that's just
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  what happens with a Friday mini. Anyways, I love you guys.
• 16:25
  Thank you so much for listening. Please remember to rate, review
• 16:27
  and subscribe. I love you and I will talk to
• 16:30
  you guys on Monday. Bye.