Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: End of the Eras Tour, Drew Afualo announces TikTok hiatus + Patrick Ta Beauty x Avonna Sunshine breakdown

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MINI SCROLL: End of the Eras Tour, Drew Afualo announces TikTok hiatus + Patrick Ta Beauty x Avonna Sunshine breakdown · 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. I'm your host, Lauren Meissner,
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  the founder of the youth digital media brand Centennial World.
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  Welcome back to Mini scroll, everyone.
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  Before I get into the stories for today, I wanted to give you
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  guys a little update on our holiday break.
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  So I did cover this in Friday's deep dive coming up, so you
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  might hear this twice, but the last episode of this season will
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  be December 20th. So last mini will be on the 19th
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  and then December 20th will be the last deep dive, so next
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  Friday. And then I'm going to be taking
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  a three-week break, so I won't be back until January 13th.
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  I know it's a long time, especially for a daily podcast,
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  to be offline. And I'm so sorry.
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  I think I'm going to miss you guys so much.
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  And honestly, the girls here keep saying that like they're
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  not convinced I'm going to go the full three weeks without
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  coming in to record. But we will see.
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  For now, that is the plan. I just like really need a
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  proper, proper break. This has been my first year
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  running the business by myself. It's been my first year doing a
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  daily podcast. It's been my first year running
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  a business that is scaled and a little bit like more
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  sophisticated than we've ever been.
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  And it's just a lot and I haven't had any time to really
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  like properly, I think process it, decompress and rest right?
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  Like, I went away in the middle of the year for my friend's
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  wedding to Europe, But that was, that was not a restful trip.
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  Let me tell you, you know, that was a trip for a wedding with
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  all of my friends and it was so much fun.
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  It was definitely what I needed to like get me through the end
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  of the year. But now I just need to rest.
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  So we're going to go to Sean's family's house in the country
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  over Christmas time. I'm just going to like unplug
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  and hopefully be as offline as possible.
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  And just like in the country in Australia, resting.
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  That is just what I need. I'm sorry.
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  I know it is a long time, but I will miss you guys.
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  And I'm so excited to be back on the mic in 2025 for you guys.
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  And I've learned a lot this year.
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  So I think, you know, I think it should be good.
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  OK, 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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  Taylor Swift has performed the final show of her Eras Tour last
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  night. So I know that this is December
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  10th and I know her show was technically on December 8th, but
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  I live in Australia for anyone that does not know.
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  So for us, her final show was on December 9th because we are like
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  a day ahead. So Taylor Swift said goodbye to
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  the Eras Tour last night on her final show in Vancouver, BC.
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  Taylor performs the Eras Tour at 149 shows.
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  That would actually kind of kill me that it's not like a round
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  150 across 21 countries and five continents, quote.
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  We have toured the entire world with this tour.
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  Taylor told the crowd on her final show.
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  We have had so many adventures. It has been the most exciting,
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  powerful, electrifying, intense, most challenging thing I've ever
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  done in my life. We've gotten to perform for over
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  10 million people on this tour. And tonight we get to play one
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  last show for you here tonight in beautiful Vancouver and we're
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  going to make it count. It was revealed on Monday that
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  the tour raked in a record-breaking 2 billion
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  dollars, which is, of course a history making mark.
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  And interestingly enough, there were also thousands, hundreds of
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  thousands of people watching from home via live stream on
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  TikTok. And I wanted to read a Blue Sky
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  thread from my friend Crystal. She's a media girly here in
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  Australia. I talk about her all the time.
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  But she's the founder of Z Feed and she's also the reader's
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  editor at Crikey, and she was watching it and she was posting
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  about this. So she said there are 240,000
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  people watching an unauthorized unofficial live stream of the
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  Final Eras Tour show on TikTok. And the technical capabilities
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  of whoever is running this stream is something else.
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  I am not a tech person, so we'll butcher the description.
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  But the user running the stream from their home somewhere is
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  connecting to different users at the concert who have opted into
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  providing a stream from their phones.
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  They're taking turns doing it in chunks, but all streamed from 1
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  main account. There is a ticker running across
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  the screen, updating live with the things Taylor has included
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  in the piano mashup. Like this is all happening live
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  in the moment. A whole broadcast produced by
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  fans, free for other fans. Each new user providing vision
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  for the stream gets their username put on screen, an
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  incentive for participating in the hopes of getting more
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  followers. Especially among Swifties who
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  fiercely, cultishly support their own.
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  And then someone responded to her saying nothing will beat the
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  combined power of the Swifties. Now I know a lot of people are
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  disappointed that she didn't do anything, you know, quote UN
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  quote like special at her final show.
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  She didn't announce reputation. She didn't, I don't know, bring
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  anybody out as a special guest. You know, it was basically just
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  a very like standard era's tour show.
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  I'm not really that surprised. And I actually think that's
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  completely fine. I think keeping it relatively
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  the same honors the tour. And it also means that she
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  doesn't have any expectations now that she has to live up to
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  like, I think she really needs a break girl.
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  She needs a rest and I think kind of simply ending the tour
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  with like a quote, UN quote, like a regular show closes this
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  chapter without opening anything new.
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  So she can like genuinely take some time off.
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  OK. The next story that I have for
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  you guys is that sadly, someone else who is going away from the
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  zeitgeist for a little bit. Drew Afuallo has announced that
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  she is taking a break from TikTok following a tumultuous
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  month online. So TikTok star Drew a Fallow
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  announced today in a tearful video that she will be taking an
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  indefinite break from TikTok and only posting sponsored content
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  to oblige by, you know, contractual obligations.
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  In the video, Drew said she's been considering this break for
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  a long time, but the events of this past month have solidified
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  her need for the break. OK, so I didn't cover this on
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  mini. I felt it was a bit, I guess
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  kind of inappropriate coming from me given I don't belong to
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  these groups. But last month there was a group
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  of white lesbian creators on TikTok who kind of started like
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  going after Drew. I know that was not the
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  intention, and that's probably not the right wording, but
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  that's what it felt like it turned into.
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  Basically, there was this one creator who said there will
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  never be a lesbian version of Drew and that Drew has been able
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  to amass such a huge platform because straight women look up
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  to her. As someone who has been able to
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  kind of fight against the patriarchy, like fight against
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  the weight of men in society, while also securing a man as a
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  partner herself, this take obviously lacked serious
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  intersectionality. And thousands of people went to
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  bat for Drew, noting that just because she's straight doesn't
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  mean that she doesn't have other barriers to building her
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  platform. There are just so many missing
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  pieces to that argument, it's pretty wild.
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  So Drew barely addressed this. There were so many really big
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  creators speaking out about this, trying to, I guess,
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  educate these women on why that take was so off base.
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  But I'm going to assume that based on what she's saying in
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  her new video about taking a break, that this discourse
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  really did impact her. My build on TikTok has been very
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  difficult and at times very violent for my very particular
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  niche. And we all know that, right?
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  And I have been weathering that storm for three plus years.
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  But this break that I'm taking right now is not because of
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  vitriol. And I want to make that very
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  clear. This isn't because of hate I
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  receive from bigots or misogynist or the many many
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  people that don't like me on the app because of what it is I do,
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  which is obviously trying to fight for other marginalized
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  groups and all of that. I need this break because just
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  for a little context and background on me, I've said this
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  publicly before too, that my validation does not come from
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  men. It honestly never has.
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  My validation has always come from my external accomplishment.
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  And in getting older and going to therapy and after getting
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  fired, I realized that that is a very unhealthy and unsustainable
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  place to draw validation from. Reason why I pursue validation
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  through external accomplishments is my incessant need to feel
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  like enough. Now I feel as if I am constantly
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  trying to fit into everybody's idea of perfection.
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  So the perfect content creator, the perfect influencer, the
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  perfect ally, the perfect activist, the perfect feminine,
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  the list goes on and on. And that feeling is suffocating.
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  It was a very hard video to watch because she was so
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  emotional. I just love Drew.
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  OK, the last story that I have for you guys is that Patrick Taw
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  has apologized to an influencer who claimed she wasn't paid for
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  work on his beauty brand. Over the last three days, beauty
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  creators on TikTok have been boycotting Patrick Taw's makeup
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  brand and even going so far as to destroy their Patrick Taw
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  makeup products on camera. This was to stand in solidarity
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  with influencer Ivana Sunshine, who claimed she didn't receive
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  payment when she partnered with Patrick Taw Beauty.
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  I'm. Sick of seeing company's profit
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  off of the black dollar and they're not paying black
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  creators. I went the nice way.
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  I wasn't the mad black woman when I emailed or when I DM Ed
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  you. So what do you suppose I do?
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  I have a question for brands. How would you feel if someone
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  stole from you? If someone took your hard earned
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  time and work, blood, sweat and tears and they stole.
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  From you, it is unclear what particular partnership she was
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  talking about, but there is a video from March where it's like
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  tagged as a paid partnership and she's reviewing products.
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  In a statement to People magazine, Ivana said while the
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  situation with Patrick Todd Beauty has drawn an overwhelming
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  amount of attention, I believe it's important that we focus on
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  the larger issue, the systemic undervaluing of creators,
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  especially Black creators. My hope is that this situation
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  highlights how creators of color are often overlooked, underpaid
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  and dismissed despite the value and impact we bring to the
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  table. This isn't just about one brand,
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  it's about the need for fairness, accountability and
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  equity across the industry. I hope this conversation
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  encourages more brands to reflect on their practices and
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  commit to valuing all creators equally.
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  So Patrick Todd by himself has now responded in a TikTok video.
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  I immediately reached out to Ivana after seeing that video
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  and I don't expect a response from Ivana.
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  She doesn't owe me a conversation.
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  She is probably mad at this whole entire situation and that
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  is completely understandable. Ivana, I am truly so sorry that
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  this has even escalated to this point and I am so sorry that I
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  didn't see your message a month ago and I want to get you
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  compensated as soon as possible today if you are willing to
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  answer me. If I had known this, I would
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  have never let this happen. This was my finance team that
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  made this mistake. My face is the one that you guys
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  see and I need to take accountability for this.
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  This will never happen again. OK.
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  So as someone who runs a business that is very adjacent
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  to influencers and how we make money like advertising and
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  promotions and sponsorships, I'm going to give Patrick Taw
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  himself the benefit of the doubt here.
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  I'm going to assume that the influencer relations, the
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  partnerships and the logistics that go with that for his brand
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  are probably handled by an agency.
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  And this is a consistent problem with agencies.
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  And I am sure that Ivana being a black woman, being a black
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  creator, she is treated much worse in this situation.
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  This is a consistent problem with agencies getting paid on
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  time, even for us, as you know, a company is so difficult when
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  you're working with agencies. I can only imagine that as like
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  a single creator, I'm not sure if she has a manager, but as
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  like a single creator, a single black creator trying to get your
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  payment. If that is the video that she's
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  referring to, the one that I found, it was posted in March.
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  We are now in December. She probably felt like at her
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  wit's end, like she had no other options but to bring this to
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  TikTok. I'm glad she did because it's
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  going to get her paid. And I actually do hope that this
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  will be a bit of a wake up call for the industry, working with
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  all creators, all independent, you know, media companies,
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  whatever it is. The way that payment works in
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  this industry, at least here in Australia, and it sounds like
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  could be similar in the US, is so incredibly frustrating.
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  And I can't even imagine how much more frustrating it would
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  be to be like a solo creator, a creator of color, just like
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  trying to breakthrough and to get someone to listen to you and
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  take you seriously and pay your fucking invoice.
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  I literally can't even imagine. 1 little tip that we have
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  implemented. Not that I think Ivana is
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  listening to this podcast, but one thing that we have done to
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  ensure payment, it's still a struggle.
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  Like we are still chasing invoices that were due months
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  and months and months ago. It is just kind of the nature of
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  the business unfortunately. But I 1 little thing that we've
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  done is we ask for a deposit upfront.
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  If a brand won't do that, then we will implement something in
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  our contracts that put in like charging interest if they don't
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  pay on time. But yes, so that is me giving
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  Patrick Todd himself the benefit of the doubt.
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  I do think this it was all handled separately to like him
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  as the figurehead of the brand, but at the end of the day, his
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  name and his face are on the brand and you know, I think it
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  was important that he personally address this.
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  All right, guys, that's it for mini scroll today.
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  Thank you so much for listening. Please remember to rate review
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  and subscribe. Please star rate US on Spotify.
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  We're trying to get to 500 by the end of the year.
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  I love you guys and I will talk to you tomorrow.
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  Bye.