Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Ned Fulmer's flop return, Conde Nast new influencer platform + Jacquie Alexander vs. Gabi Sullivan

Transcript

MINI SCROLL: Ned Fulmer's flop return, Conde Nast new influencer platform + Jacquie Alexander vs. Gabi Sullivan · Mini Scroll

• 0:00
  Hi everyone. Welcome to Mini Scroll, the
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  daily Internet culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories
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  from social media, the creator economy and the digital space.
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  Every Monday through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
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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. OK, a bit of a scheduling
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  update. I am not going to be doing a
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  Friday mini for you guys tomorrow.
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  I'm so sorry. But one of the services that we
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  It is launching in two weeks and it's an interview podcast.
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  And let's get into the stories for today.
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  So the first story that I have for you guys, of course, is that
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  the X Try Guys star Ned Fulmer is back.
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  He has launched a new podcast following his cheating scandal.
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  So Ned Fullmer is back in the public eye.
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  And honestly, people are not down South.
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  For a refresh, Ned was part of the popular YouTube group The
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  Try Guys. He was married to a woman named
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  Ariel, and he built a bit of a personal brand around that
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  relationship. He really branded himself as a
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  wife guy. And that image was shattered in
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  2022 when he was exposed for having an affair with one of his
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  staff named Alex. The affair was exposed when
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  photos of Ned kissing his employee Alex started
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  circulating the Internet. And Ariel, to make matters
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  worse, also worked at the Try Guys, so she was also colleagues
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  with the woman. Within days of these photos
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  emerging, he was dropped from the Try Guys and Internet users
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  and fans really celebrated how seriously the group took this
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  whole situation, especially since it wasn't just a cheating
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  scandal. It obviously also was presumably
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  like an HR violation, given that Ned was the boss of the woman
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  that he was having an affair with.
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  And because of Ned's image and because of, you know, how messy
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  it was with the cheating and the HR of it all, this blew the fuck
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  up. I'm sure you guys remember we
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  were doing the podcast when it happened and we reported on it,
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  I think in viral news because it was such a big deal at the time.
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  Like this was. I mean, this was definitely not
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  scandal level, but it was huge. Like every corner of the
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  Internet was talking about it in some capacity.
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  So Ned essentially disappeared from the Internet after this,
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  but he has now returned with a new podcast called Rock Bottom
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  in which he plans to interview people about their lowest
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  moments and how they got through them.
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  First of all, OK, this podcast concept I think is right.
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  Like, I am very interested in hearing stories like this.
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  I'm interested in hearing from people that have gone through
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  major cancellations if that's, you know, part of the guess.
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  Like I'm interested in hearing what it is like going through
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  those rock bottom moments. However, Ned hosting this
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  podcast as if he wasn't like directly responsible for his own
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  rock bottom moment is so like unaware of him.
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  It's so unhinged. So upon the launch of this new
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  podcast yesterday, he also did an interview with people.
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  He told people, quote, it's pretty well known that I was
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  presenting myself as a wife guy who talked about his adorable
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  relationship. It was something fans seem to
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  resonate with and I leaned in consciously.
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  It certainly was a part of my life.
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  I understand that. That's why it was such a big
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  scandal because it's ironic and it feels like a rug pull to
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  people. That must have been really
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  painful and devastating to the viewers.
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  Was it really painful and devastating to the viewers?
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  I can't. I OK, you guys are going to see
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  why. I just like don't believe
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  anything he said. I'm going to put some clips with
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  a podcast in here. But like, I just, I cannot
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  believe how he acted in the first episode, OK.
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  In this article to Ariel made it clear she has not forgiven Ned
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  for the affair. She said forgiveness is not her
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  goal, more about like trust, clear boundaries, and integrity.
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  Given that she and Ned are like obviously working on the
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  relationship for the sake of their kids.
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  So let's get into the podcast. The first episode was actually a
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  sit down with Ariel and here are some of the big takeaways #1 Ned
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  and Ariel are no longer romantically linked so I guess
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  that was unclear until now. They have separated.
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  Ariel said she found out about the cheating scandal from a fan
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  who sent her the photo. I can't imagine how horrible
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  that is. You know who also found out
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  about their cheating scandal through a fan DM photo?
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  Lala Kent. It wasn't directly to her, but a
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  fan had apparently DM D Katie Maloney from Vanderpump Rules as
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  well. Of course friends with Lala
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  photos of Randall with women and that is how they found that out.
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  It's pretty wild that famous people, even if they're not like
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  a list, like even if it's Ned Fulmer from the Try Guys and
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  Randall Emmett from I don't even know what he's from.
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  I mean, he's from Vanderpump Rules, but he's also like a
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  disgraced producer from Fofty fame.
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  If you guys know, you know, it doesn't matter.
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  You still have so many eyeballs on you.
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  Chances are people are going to recognize you and you're
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  cheating in public. It's so wild.
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  I wonder if sometimes they want to get caught.
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  That just crossed my mind. I feel like maybe sometimes that
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  is the goal. Maybe even if it's like
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  subconsciously. So yes, Ariel said she found out
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  from a fan who sent her a photo and she was initially unable to
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  process what she saw. And Ned said ultimately the
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  scandal force him to re evaluate his mental health and how he
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  presents himself online. OK, so fans are not having this.
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  There are a few main pieces of feedback.
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  Number one, Ned comes off like really bad in this just like
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  removed from the emotional toll that this has had on Ariel.
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  And I don't know, like to me, he seemed uninterested in taking
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  accountability. Like, he doesn't really buy what
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  he's saying, kind of. Not only did you having an
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  affair, it shattered our marriage, but it also all of
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  that guilt and shame. You like hoisted that on me,
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  like you gave that to me, and now we have to carry that around
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  for the rest of my life. I don't think it's fair that as
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  a society you're put in that position.
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  It's certainly not true and no, it's not something that I
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  imagined as I was doing that. I think none of it was if you if
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  you really like let it sink in just how much you're hurting
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  your partner and how devastating it is.
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  Like how could? You do that.
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  And I mean, I know you could argue that it's going to appear
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  differently when he's talking about it publicly on camera,
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  like how he feels about all this.
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  Like maybe they've worked through all this in therapy and
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  he's done his own inner work and stuff.
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  But at the end of the day, like he also chose to sit on camera
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  and do this long form discussion with his wife about this thing
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  that he did to her in order to monetize her pain, you know, and
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  like bring himself back into the public eye.
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  So I don't know, I think that was put on full display for us
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  to judge, in my opinion. I also saw people say that they
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  judged Ariel for doing this interview and questioned why she
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  would let him essentially monetize off her pain.
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  But then given how poorly he came off in the interview,
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  people were like maybe she knew that he wouldn't come off good
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  and this is like the ultimate revenge.
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  I actually don't think that. I think he is just not self
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  aware. I think possibly because it did
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  blow up to something so big. You know, what happens when
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  someone gets cancelled in such a major way, It's really hard to
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  sift through what is like valid criticism and what is just the
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  pylon. And I think it's possible that
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  happened with net. I mean, I don't know, based on
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  what I saw, like this podcast was really telling when somebody
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  feels like the punishment that they are getting from, I mean,
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  in his case, not just the audience, but also his
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  workplace, like the company he had built, the punishment
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  doesn't fit like the crime, quote UN quote.
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  I can imagine you feel a little bit like resentful and salty
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  just discussing the situation in general.
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  That's probably giving him too much benefit of the doubt.
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  But I think ultimately Ned knew that he could not re enter the
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  public eye without addressing this.
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  He probably thought this was the most meaningful way to address
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  it in the sense of like getting the audience back on side.
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  And I think from Ariel's perspective, I mean, based on
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  what she was saying on the podcast, like she did not want
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  all this like public attention. She found that very challenging.
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  And so I wonder if she's thinking, well, if Ned is going
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  to re enter the public eye, this could pick up that public
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  attention again around her and around their relationship.
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  And so if she just, you know, kind of nips it in the bud and
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  does this podcast interview with him to relaunch and tells her
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  story, then maybe there will not be as much speculation and not
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  as much attention, you know, and it will just kind of go away,
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  which I honestly think is is possible.
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  I think actually that probably is what will happen.
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  OK, the next story that I have for you guys, I am particularly
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  interested in this because one of my favorite biographies of
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  all time is Anna by Amy Odell. I read it when it first came out
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  in 2022 and then I literally just finished it again today.
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  I was listening to it on audiobook.
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  So I am like very in the old school magazine world right now.
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  And Conde Nast obviously is front and center of that
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  biography. And today Conde Nast announced
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  that they are launching an influencer storefront platform.
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  If you haven't read Anna, you should.
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  Obviously Anna Wintour is a very flawed human, human being.
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  And I think that's what's so interesting about biographies is
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  it's not told from, you know, their own perspective.
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  It is a third party perspective. It is a culmination of
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  interviews of people who knew them.
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  And I, I don't know, I thought Amy did a good job.
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  I know her biography was not, not that it wasn't well
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  received. I think some people thought
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  maybe she was too soft on Anna. But what was interesting to me
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  was hearing about the old school industry and kind of the trials
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  and tribulations that all of these major publishing houses
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  that felt invincible, you know, like they were the Creme de la
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  Creme. And then digital came along and
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  just absolutely changed everything for them.
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  And hearing about how everyone had to like adapt and I don't
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  know, I find that really interesting.
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  So this is like in the same vein as that.
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  So the publishing house Conde Nast has announced it is
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  launching a platform called Vet VETTE.
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  It's a creator LED shopping slash like storefront platform,
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  which enables creators to build their own storefronts online.
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  Customers can shop directly through the storefronts.
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  Brands can fulfill orders often via drop shipping and that
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  handles all of the checkout and all of that kind of stuff.
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  So creators will also have access to AI powered
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  merchandising tools, inventory feeds, marketing insights and
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  more. They can curate their stores
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  like little boutiques without needing big teams or inventory
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  themselves. OK, so this is Conde Nast
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  response to declining success in affiliate marketing.
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  I cannot help but notice that this is basically the exact same
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  thing as LTK and Shop My. And I think this particular
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  platform makes total sense for Conde Nast and even like Vogue
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  specifically if you were going to get like more niche.
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  It makes so much sense for them to do this.
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  But it genuinely feels 15 years too late.
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  And like, that's not to say that competitor products can't exist
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  in the same market and that they can't all be successful, but
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  like, I just don't know how they will differ differentiate this
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  from the other platforms that have existed for like 15-10
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  years at this point. So yes, Conde Nast has
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  positioned VET as like a low friction option to affiliate
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  marketing. So with affiliate marketing,
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  creators don't always get clean attribution.
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  Consumers have to bounce between platforms and different brand
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  sites. Discovering products can be
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  clunky, and VET allegedly promises to streamline that.
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  With creators owning their storefronts, the checkout is
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  handled, drop shipping is handled.
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  So all of this has been positioned or seen as like a
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  positive, but the biggest critique is the one that I have,
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  which is like, this is just no different than the ones that
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  already exist. I'm actually not a shopping
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  girlie. I don't know if you guys can
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  tell, but I like wear the same clothes all the time on the
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  podcast. I just honestly shopping for new
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  clothes does not cross my mind. It is not something that brings
• 13:37
  me joy. I'm grateful for that.
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  Other very expensive things bring me joy, like getting very
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  expensive bleach on hair and Botox and very expensive nails.
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  But like shopping, it's just not really for me.
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  I wish, I kind of wish it was because I like, love when I see
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  people with a great style, but it's just like, I don't know,
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  it's just not for me. And yeah, I'm interested to hear
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  from you guys. If you are shopping girlies, do
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  you use these apps? Like, do you use Shop My LTK?
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  Would you use VET? You know, there's no technical
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  affiliation with Vogue and Conde Nast aside from Conde Nast
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  owning it. But yeah, I don't know, like,
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  would you guys use these apps? I don't know.
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  I'm really interested to hear what you guys think.
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  OK, the last right that I have for you guys, this is kind of
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  late, kind of not. So it's been going on all year
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  since January. However, there are like new
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  developments that have happened this month, which is why I say
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  I'm a bit late because it's about like a week late.
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  However, recently on TikTok, tons of people have been talking
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  about it. And when I say recently, I mean
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  like in the last 24 hours. So I thought, OK, I'm just going
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  to cover it. It is a little bit niche even
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  for us, but it is popping off specifically in like Australian
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  influencer world. So Jackie Alexander Ander and
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  Gabby Sullivan, they had a big friendship falling out.
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  I'm going to talk about the timeline and what each of them
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  has said about that. So Jackie Alexander and Gabby
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  Sullivan are Australian influencers who are really
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  popular in the like beauty lifestyle space.
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  They were best friends. However, the first hint that
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  maybe something was not so right in their friendship was back in
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  January on the Happy Hour podcast with Lucy and Nikki.
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  They said that they had two who influencer friends have a bit of
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  a falling out over a wedding situation.
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  And so people started putting the pieces together like who had
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  a wedding, who is still following each other, who's not
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  posting with each other. And fans discovered that Jackie
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  and Gabby had unfollowed each other and they stopped posting
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  each other. So like I said, this all
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  happened in January. But then Fast forward to August,
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  this is when things started to get messy.
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  So Jackie was celebrating her hands and she shared a TikTok
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  with the text. What happened to the trio?
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  Over a video with her and fellow influencer Ronnie Bransby.
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  She didn't directly call anyone out, but the clip obviously
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  sparked speculation that she was referring to Gabby being missing
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  in the trio. A day later, Gabby posted her
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  own TikTok with the words some people will never forgive you
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  for what they did to you. Read that again.
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  And then a follower in the comments section asked her to
• 16:16
  spill the tea. She said spill the Jackie tea
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  and Gabby replied. She got blackout at my wedding.
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  Yelled at me in front of my entire family and made me cry.
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  Obviously after that our friendship never recovered.
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  I'm just trying to move on with my life.
• 16:29
  We are literally grown adults and it's so sad and
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  embarrassing. Some girls thrive on drama.
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  I've had one situation where I was on a wedding and one of the
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  bridesmaids said something really inappropriate in the
• 16:43
  speech that she was giving. Oh my God it was so awkward.
• 16:47
  And I'm not talking like sex inappropriate like it was.
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  I actually like, I don't actually want to say it, but it
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  was so it was so awkward and everybody was just like, and
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  then she was just like, what? Like, you know, when the party
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  kept going and everything and people were like, girl, what the
• 17:04
  fuck was that? And she was like, oh, what like
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  and got really defensive about it.
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  So I can imagine like weird shit happens at weddings.
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  Weddings bring out like weird vibes and people sometimes.
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  OK, so then in mid-september, Jackie gave a statement to
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  pedestrian TV saying that she wanted to set the record
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  straight. She said I did not yell at
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  Gabby's wedding nor did I ruin her day.
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  We continue to remain friends post her wedding day.
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  There is a deeper problem and level to the story which is
• 17:30
  missing and as anyone who has been in a toxic friendship would
• 17:33
  completely understand, sometimes people aren't meant to be
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  friends and that's simply what happened here.
• 17:39
  In the end it wasn't healthy for the both of us and that's why it
• 17:41
  ended, which had already happened once before, but I
• 17:44
  chose to forgive her and try again.
• 17:46
  These accusations are false and hurtful.
• 17:49
  What has been more upsetting is the public shaming directed at
• 17:52
  me since disrespected that it was Gabby's special day and I
• 17:55
  would never want to take away from that.
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  But respect goes both ways. I will not stand by silently
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  while my character is attacked. I'm actually really surprised
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  that Jackie gave a statement to Pedestrian.
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  I feel like Australian influencers and celebrities
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  don't tend to speak out as much I think as like American ones
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  do. At least they're not as vocal
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  about stuff like this. So giving a statement to the
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  press I'm really surprised by. Not in like a good or bad way,
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  just surprised. But yeah, that's the update.
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  I thought some of you guys might be interested in this like a
• 18:27
  niche Australian influencer friendship falling out saga.
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  Like I said, it's really blowing up specifically on like
• 18:35
  Australian pop culture TikTok right now.
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  So I don't know, maybe Jackie's weddings coming up.
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  I don't like follow these women closely, so I'm not really sure,
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  but I assume they're it might be because Jackie's wedding is
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  coming up soon and so people are starting to like, you know, look
• 18:49
  into it more and talk about it. Anyways, guys, that's it for me
• 18:51
  to scroll today. Thank you so much for listening.
• 18:54
  I love you guys. Please remember to rate, review
• 18:56
  and subscribe. Please Spotify star rate US
• 18:59
  again. I'm sorry there's no mini
• 19:00
  tomorrow, but I will talk to you on Monday for a full week of me
• 19:05
  5 days. OK, bye.