Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Chappell Roan vs. paparazzi, fruit & vegetable soap opera brainrot + Aussie influencer backlash

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MINI SCROLL: Chappell Roan vs. paparazzi, fruit & vegetable soap opera brainrot + Aussie influencer backlash · Mini Scroll

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  This episode of Mini Scroll is brought to you by The Commons,
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  Australia's premium Co working space.
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  The Commons is truly a main character in the Centennial
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  World cinematic universe as the Chippendale location in Sydney
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  has been our home for over 5 years and it's where we record
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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.
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  Every Monday through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
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  I'm your host, Lauren Meissner, the founder of the Australian
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  youth digital media brand Centennial World.
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  Welcome back to Mini Scroll, everyone.
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  OK, I went to the coolest event this morning.
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  I need to talk about it. It's not often that I talk about
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  brand events that I've gone to, but this one was so special.
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  So it was for Lush and they took us to the Lush factory in Sydney
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  and we got to like make our own Lush products and see how
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  they're made. And it was actually like the
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  most fun. I got to make my own bath bomb.
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  We got to make soap. I got to like decal some soap
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  and it was really cool. Like I, I guess I've just never
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  thought about how Lush products are made.
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  I know that they say that they're handmade, but I didn't
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  realize like how handmade. Like we got to meet everyone who
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  was working on the products in all the different areas.
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  It was so cool. It was really amazing to see how
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  almost it feels almost like still very grass roots.
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  The brand was behind the scenes. It was so cool.
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  Oh, we also got to make our own face masks, you know, our fresh
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  section. So we got to make our own like
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  fresh face masks. And it was so much more
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  impactful to see like how the sausage is made, you know, how
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  the products are made and to really like understand the
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  behind the scenes of the brand and that they truly like
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  practice what they preach. That was like so much more
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  impactful for me than if it was, I don't know, like a breakfast
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  or some type of like party or something that we often do with
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  brands. It was such a cool experience.
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  I had a really good time. So that's what I did before this
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  all right, before I get into it, Please remember to rate review
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  and subscribe and please Spotify star rate US.
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  OK, the first story that I have for you guys today is Chapel
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  round is facing mixed reactions after confronting paparazzi.
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  So a video of Chapel is going viral right now.
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  In it, she's surrounded by paparazzi, but instead of posing
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  for them, she starts filming them.
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  In the video, Chapel is facing the camera and showing what
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  seemed to be paparazzi behind her.
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  And you can hear her saying this is what it's like to be
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  disregarded as a human. She also points out a specific
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  person saying this person I've asked several times to go away
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  and they will not and then she goes on to ask them to stop
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  following her. Now, like I said, the reaction
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  has been mixed. Unsurprising with the Internet,
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  so many people are sympathetic to her.
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  This is obviously an issue that she's been vocal about across
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  her career. However, others on social media
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  are frustrated by her reaction. So for instance 1 user made the
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  claim that quote celebrities have gotten lamer.
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  I don't know if I just grew up or if celebrities got lamer and
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  started acting like normal people larping as celebrities.
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  They technically have the wealth and status but they have
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  absolutely no aura. Celebrities used to be a lot
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  cooler. Everything they do now is so
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  unbearably forced and cringe. You can tell they go into every
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  interview or event with the mindset that it will go viral on
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  social media. They're actively trying to farm
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  iconic pop culture moments. So I guess they think that this
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  was Chapel trying to farm an iconic pop culture moment.
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  It's all impossible to watch without cringing because it's so
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  glaringly unnatural. It literally feels like we don't
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  have any new celebrities that are naturally cool.
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  None of them have aura. They all feel like glorified tik
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  tokers LMAO. And this particular tweet.
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  The reason why I'm reading it is because it has over 1.2 million
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  views. That is a sweeping statement if
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  I've ever heard one. OG YouTube Tyler Oakley shared a
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  tweet backing Chapel he wrote. Personally, I like Chapel Roan
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  establishing her boundaries and not just putting up with those
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  who don't adhere to them. She already changed how
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  photographers treat celebrities on red carpets.
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  Maybe this will change how paparazzi treat celebrities
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  simply existing in public. OK, so I think there's a couple
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  things here. First of all, when people say
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  all like celebrities back in the day, they used to be so much
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  more appreciative of this attention and paparazzi and
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  stuff like that. First of all, I absolutely
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  disagree with that. There were tabloids constantly
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  that showed photos of celebrities where they were
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  like, smashing paparazzi's cars and yelling at them and begging
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  them to leave them alone. I think we feel like it's
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  happening more now because when one instance like this happens,
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  it doesn't just get printed in the tabloids.
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  It's viral across social media for days and days and days.
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  So I feel like that's part of it.
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  We also usually get footage of the actual, like, exact
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  interaction, which back in the day we didn't.
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  We would get like one photo and then the retelling of that
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  situation, you know, from the tabloid.
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  Another element here is that celebrities don't just have the
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  pressure of paparazzi surveillance now, but they also
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  have the pressure of social media surveillance.
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  So I understand why modern day celebrities feel more and more
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  out of control in terms of their ability to like lead any type of
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  like normal personal life because they probably feel so
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  constantly surveilled, like they can't go do anything because if
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  it's not a paparazzi filming them, it's a random person
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  that's going to go put it on TikTok.
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  And then everyone's going to take it out of context and
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  they're going to go viral for something that they may or may
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  not have even done. Plus, back in the day, there
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  were some really horrible things that happened with paparazzi and
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  celebrities being driven off roads, sometimes getting really
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  injured by trying to escape paparazzi, occasionally getting
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  killed trying to escape paparazzi.
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  Like there were some horrific things that were happening in
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  like the late 90s, early 2000s. So the sentiment that
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  celebrities now are just like, not as cool and they just like,
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  can't hack it the way that like OG celebrities back in the day
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  could is so misguided. I think it's totally untrue.
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  And what Tyler Oakley wrote is true.
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  So many celebrities have come out and said that because Chapel
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  started standing up for herself against the photographers on red
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  carpets that the photographers treat them differently now.
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  So I agree with him that, you know, she did make headway there
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  and I don't know, maybe this is the next iteration of that.
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  But I do think unfortunately, to make that change, like Chapel
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  has to become the spectacle, which of course comes with like
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  so much backlash, so much discourse, so much opinion that
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  is probably so challenging to manage.
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  So I also understand why she likes to retreat from the public
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  eye and has a very complicated relationship with it.
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  OK, the next right that I have for you guys today, if you guys
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  are in our Discord, then you will have seen that I shared a
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  very small insight, a very small tippet of how many comes to
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  life. Yesterday I posted this in
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  Discord of how many comes to life, how we pick the stories.
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  And it was just messages between Annabelle and I and I basically
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  wrote OK, Timothy Jesselyn jealousy girl backlash and Mera
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  beauty caught using creators videos as ads unpaid.
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  And then tomorrow I'll do the vegetables.
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  And then Annabelle wrote that sentence is crazy heart.
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  And so people in the discord were like, I'm very excited to
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  see what you mean by tomorrow I'll do the vegetables.
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  So we're talking about the vegetables, we're talking about
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  the fruit and vegetable brain rot that is literally taking
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  over everyone's For You page right now.
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  If you haven't seen it, this is going to sound insane, but AI
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  generated fruits and vegetables are dominating the For You page
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  Now. The reason why they're
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  dominating is because these videos have plot and drama.
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  It's like watching mini soap operas on your phone on TikTok,
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  but instead of humans or cartoons, it's AI generated
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  fruits and vegetables playing out this plot and drama for you.
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  So for example, some stories might start with a strawberry
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  cheating on her banana husband and then having a baby out of
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  the affair. Other stories show various
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  fruits getting kicked out of their homes or even ending
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  relationships because they can't stop farting so much.
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  OK, like it's unhinged. There doesn't seem to be one
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  single account posting these stories, which is also
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  interesting. So it's unclear if it was like
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  one account started posting it, they were going viral, and then
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  others started adopting this or if it's like a strategy, like I
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  imagine it could be like a media brand.
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  Do you guys remember this was years ago when we all found out
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  that this number of drama channels that were like cartoon
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  and voiced that they were all owned by this media company
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  based in Canada. And they've been producing these
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  channels and getting like millions of views, some of the
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  millions of subscribers. And people thought that there
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  was like a single human behind them, but turns out it was
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  actually just like a media conglomerate behind them.
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  I feel like it could also be that that could be happening
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  here. And part of that is because
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  there are some key characters that come up again and again,
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  like Water Molina, Pupita and Strawberrita.
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  OK, so this style of content is very reminiscent of Italian
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  brain rot, which took over the Internet last year.
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  It's the genre of almost like surrealist memes.
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  Like, that's probably the best way to describe it.
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  And I think on one hand, people enjoy it because it's so
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  absurdist. It's so surreal.
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  And you're kind of like, what is happening here.
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  Of course, you can't really look away.
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  Aside from the initial shock value, I think they get popular
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  partly because we like an escape and because it is so unrealistic
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  and so removed from real life. It's escapism.
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  But I also think because I know I say this all the time on Mini,
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  but people like to feel in on the joke.
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  These videos are getting millions of views, but they're
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  also still like very niche and very new.
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  And I think people like feeling like they are part of something
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  that's like a niche in joke right now.
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  And Speaking of people who like to be in on the joke, Tricia
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  Paytas is commenting on like all of them.
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  She'll be in the comments like, oh, this was a good one or one
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  that she commented on yesterday. She wrote the pair was valid for
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  that one, and it's the pair leaving a banana because she
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  farts too much. So if anyone has any insight
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  into who's creating these, please let me know.
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  Let me know if my conspiracy theory about a media
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  conglomerate opening a bunch of accounts and doing this, if
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  that's accurate. OK.
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  And the last story that I have for you guys today is Australian
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  influencers Sam Guggenheimer, as in Sam Guggs and Bill Barker
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  have apologized after posting a controversial TikTok video about
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  finding a new flatmate. OK, so Sam's moving out of her
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  house. She was making a video talking
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  about how she's looking for someone to move into her room.
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  And then Bill is in the background and this is what
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  happened. Everything.
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  You can even have a picture of me on on the wall that you need.
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  You're still be a skinny girl that.
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  No, you can have drawers. Lily's not living.
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  With a fatty. Covered Bill What the.
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  Fuck. That is so fucking true.
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  That is so true. Though no it is not.
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  So they got a ton of backlash for that.
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  Obviously it's a very fat phobic thing to say.
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  There were a lot of people who felt like Sam, even though she
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  was saying like, oh, that's not true.
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  And she obviously didn't seem to be supporting it in the moment.
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  People thought that she was like smirking.
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  People felt like, oh, maybe they talk like this in private to
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  each other, whatever. And there are also theories that
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  Sam posted this to make herself look better because she
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  obviously reacted in shock and was saying, like, that's not
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  true at all. And then he's like, please
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  delete that. And she was like, no, I'm
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  leaving it in. So then this escalated because
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  they went on live together to address the backlash.
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  And Sam basically said, you know, this is how we joke around
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  together. But on the Internet, jokes and
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  we make silly things all the time, and sometimes it's not
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  appropriate to put it on the Internet.
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  And I will admit, Bill asked me to delete it.
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  I still thought it was funny. I didn't think it'd get taken
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  out of the context. But again, I forget that the
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  Internet doesn't know how to take a joke sometimes and it was
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  purely an inside joke. If James Charleston say block me
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  down fat. Yeah, it was just like a.
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  After this disastrous live situation, the backlash kept
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  escalating. And then Sam posted this.
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  A few days ago, I shared a video that included a conversation
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  which should have never happened and absolutely should never have
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  been posted online. The language used in that moment
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  was inappropriate and unacceptable.
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  I want to make it clear that the comments made were never
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  directed at any specific person or influencer.
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  However, I understand that regardless of intent, what was
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  said was offensive and hurtful. I take full responsibility for
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  posting the video without properly reviewing it
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  beforehand. That was a mistake and it does
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  not excuse what was said. I should have exercised better
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  judgment. I'm genuinely sorry to anyone
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  who was hurt by my actions. I take accountability for this
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  and will ensure to learn from it and do better moving forward.
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  Now near the end of the video, the original video, you can hear
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  them mention an influencer. I think they mentioned SOPA DOPA
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  but they like mute that section. I'm not adding it out, just.
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  Careful because you have a phone calls coming out.
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  So people are like, OK, so you were editing the video enough to
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  like mute a specific section so Sofajova's name wasn't in the
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  video, but you didn't think to cut that part out?
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  And then here is Bill's apology. I.
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  Just want to say how genuinely sorry I am for the comments I
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  made in that video from the bottom of my fucking heart.
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  I'm so sorry. Matter what context I say my
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  words in, they still carry meaning and they were wrong and
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  it was unacceptable. I just want to preface clearly
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  that those comments were directed at no person, no one.
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  Regardless, I said it and I have to take responsibility for that.
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  I should know it better than anybody how impactful comments
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  are about other people's bodies. My body was my biggest
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  insecurity growing up and it really it hurts me more than
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  anything to know that my words have contributed to people
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  feeling that way. I can't express enough how
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  damaging that kind of thing is to post in 2026.
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  There is so much discussion right now about how skinny is
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  back. Everybody is shrinking.
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  The pendulum has swung so far. Like, we made so much headway
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  from like the early 2000s where we saw so many of our favorite
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  celebrities just waste away. Culture did make positive
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  headway on that. And we are slipping so far back
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  and it's so scary to see. I'm so terrified for all the
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  girls and young women now. Like being a 90s baby.
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  I was born in 91, you know, like peak early 2000s culture was so
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  fucked up. I can't tell you how much it
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  messed up all of my friends and I.
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  And I think we were so happy to feel like, OK, we actually like
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  made some headway here. We made some progress here.
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  And and it's all getting taken away and to have something like
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  this posted where you're making a joke, quote UN quote joke like
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  that, it's so toxic. It just reaffirms everything
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  that we're all afraid of right now.
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  That's coming back. This culture and the doubling
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  down on the live before the actual quote UN quote actual
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  apologies. No, anyways, guys, that's it for
• 15:09
  mini scroll today. Thank you so much for listening.
• 15:12
  I love you guys. Please remember to rate review
• 15:14
  and subscribe, please Spotify star rate US.
• 15:17
  I love you and Annabelle will talk to you guys tomorrow and
• 15:20
  then I will talk to you on Thursday.
• 15:21
  Bye.