Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Secret Lives of Mormon Wives renewed, Moo Deng backlash (and redemption) + Bobbi Althoff spills on her finances

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MINI SCROLL: Secret Lives of Mormon Wives renewed, Moo Deng backlash (and redemption) + Bobbi Althoff spills on her finances · Mini Scroll

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  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. I'm your host, Lauren Meisner,
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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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  Happy Thursday. So just a reminder, there will
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  be a deep dive tomorrow, but there will be no Mini Scroll on
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  Monday because it is a public holiday in NSW where I live in
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  Australia. And thank you guys so much for
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  all of the questions for the Q and AI have a lot of questions.
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  I'm really excited to get into them.
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  So that will be live next Friday.
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  All right, guys, let's just get into the stories for today.
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  I'm going to be honest, it was a bit of a light Newsday, but I
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  still found three because that's what we do here.
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  We overachieve here at mini scroll.
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  OK, the first story that I have for you guys is that the secret
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  Lives of Mormon wives is getting a season 2.
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  I'm so excited. I don't think any of you guys
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  care as much about the show as I do, but you're along for the
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  ride with me because this show is my everything.
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  Like I'm obsessed with this show.
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  I'm obsessed with the cast. Every interview that they they
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  do on podcasts, I am listening. I am like tuned the fuck in.
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  I am so excited. And apparently they start
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  filming next week, which I think is perfect timing since the
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  season just aired. There's probably so many like
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  mixed emotions, different feelings, dynamics between the
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  cast like this is the perfect time to pick up cameras.
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  Plus, Taylor has been posting on TikTok a lot that this breakup
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  or like presumed breakup from Dakota, whatever is going on
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  between in them is like the hardest thing that she's ever
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  gone through. So I think that I'm sure Hulu
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  also wants to like capitalize on this moment as well.
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  So I am just, I'm so excited. I mean, we all knew it was going
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  to get a season 2. It's literally the talk of the
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  Internet. And I think it was Hulu's most
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  watched premiere, like something like that.
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  It was it broke some record for the for the network.
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  So yeah, very exciting. And I just hope it airs like in
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  two months. Like, I just, I just need it
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  now. The next story that I have for
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  you guys is that X users are fighting about if it's ethical
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  to Stan Mudang. OK.
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  So earlier this week, a Twitter user at Dogtism posted a thread
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  that went viral criticizing the internet's love of Mudang as
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  they claimed that the Cao Kyo Zoo that she lives at in
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  Thailand is unethical. And I understand, like zoos are
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  typically unethical. However, there is so much
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  cultural context here. There's just, I mean, there's
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  also just different types of zoos.
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  Like Jordy and I went on, Oh my God, what where were we?
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  We went on a famil with a brand maybe like a year and a half ago
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  and we went to a zoo, quote UN quote, but it was actually like
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  an animal conservation park and it was like open air.
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  Oh my God. It was actually like amazing,
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  and we learned about how they are like rehabilitating and
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  conserving all of these different animals who are sick,
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  abused, endangered. It was an amazing experience.
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  I wish I could remember where we went and who we were with.
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  But anyways. So that is kind of the vibe of
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  this zoo apparently that Mudang lives at.
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  But first, I'll read you a couple of tweets from Dogtism.
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  So they wrote photos. Leave more to be desired.
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  The facility is dilapidated, enclosures are subpar, walls
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  caked with dirt. Guests are seemingly allowed to
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  feed and interact with the animals, and I mean all of them.
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  So first of all, dogs ISM, have you been to the zoo?
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  How do you know that the facility is dilapidated and the
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  enclosures are subpar? Just from photos and videos that
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  you see? They also wrote, Oh and there's
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  a wild monkey problem too but that's neither here nor there I
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  guess. And they snapped photos of
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  monkeys like around the zoo. Oh my God.
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  OK so it kept going but basically this user was calling
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  the zoo like a shit hole and that they're exploiting animals
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  and this set people off, especially Thai people who
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  obviously, like I said, have this cultural context around the
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  zoo and its actual treatment of the animals.
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  So in short, the Cao Kio Zoo in Thailand where Mudang lives is a
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  state funded open air zoo. According to one user, Yami,
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  whose thread is going even more viral than the original thread
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  from Dogtism quote, it is located in a natural forest
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  surrounded by mountains and is largest open zoo in Thailand at
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  2000 acres. I mentioned this because the
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  thread left it out and it seems many people think it's a small
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  dinky zoo. So the zoo also takes animals
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  from abusive backgrounds and apparently, you know, treats as
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  animals really well. And on the point of having a
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  monkey problem, Thai users are like, well, like wild monkeys
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  are the same as like wild squirrels in North America.
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  Like, they're literally just everywhere.
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  They're like, what's an Australian equivalent, like bin
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  chickens? So basically everyone is kind of
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  banding together saying, like, whether you, you know, think all
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  zoos are unethical or not, like, this particular zoo is really
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  important for conservation. It's not like the typical zoo
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  that you think of when you think of, you know, a North American
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  zoo. And because of all of this, the
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  original poster who started this has now apologized.
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  So they wrote, making one final tweet to address some major
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  things. The thread has been deleted and
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  has been since this morning. I have only blocked those
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  sending negative comments and threats with no constructive
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  criticism. Since this morning, I've worked
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  to apologize and unblock others. So I guess anyone that was like
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  going against what they initially said was getting
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  blocked, they continued. I am doing this all while having
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  to function as an adult doing my day-to-day things.
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  Please forgive me for the time in which it is taking me to
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  address this after a rushed thread in the 1st place.
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  Last thing I want to do is give 1/2 assed apology.
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  I would like to once again extend my genuine apologies to
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  the zoo, the handlers and locals affected by my actions.
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  It is also important to note that this person has in their
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  bio that they are 22. So I think that is also, you
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  know, Speaking of context, I think that's important context
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  as well. You know, I think we see this a
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  lot where people end up like fighting with really young
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  people online and you don't realize the age of the person
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  that you're fighting with. And yes, 22 is an adult, but
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  that's still a very young person.
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  And it's really easy to get wrapped up in this like social
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  justice warrior persona online when you're really young because
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  everything feels really big and important and it feels good to
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  feel righteous, you know? And I don't necessarily think
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  that it's conscious and we all get trapped in that.
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  Absolutely. Like I get trapped in that on
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  this podcast, you know, when I report on certain stories for
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  you guys, like it's very easy to get wrapped up in that because
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  you think that it's going to give you the feedback that you
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  crave that validation. And so I think it can be easier
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  to fall into that the younger that you are.
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  So justice for the cow, Kyo Zoo and no more slander for Mudang.
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  Okay. And the last story that I have
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  for you guys is that Wired just did a profile on Bobby Altoff.
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  And again, I feel like she's kind of niche.
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  It's like similar to what I said about the real, not the Real
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  Housewives, the secret lives of Mormon wives.
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  Like I don't know if any of you guys care about Bobby Altoff,
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  but like I do, I think she's such an interesting example of a
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  tik toker who was like really random.
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  Like, yes, she had a lot of followers, but she wasn't like
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  famous or like well known. And she's been able to parlay
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  that into such a first of all mainstream career in such a
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  successful way. And also so a very lucrative
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  career. So she did this very interesting
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  interview with Wired and I took a few tidbits from it, but she
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  seemed to be quite transparent. So first, she is openly dropping
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  her really deadpan, awkward persona.
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  And Jordy and I actually did an episode last year on like the
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  rude quote UN quote celebrity interview style and how that
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  became really popular, especially among women recently.
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  And the examples that we gave were Z Way, Amelia de Muldenberg
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  and Bobby. And our conclusion in the
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  episode was that while that style can be really funny, Bobby
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  unfortunately doesn't seem to execute it well or as as well as
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  the other women. And therefore it doesn't really
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  land. And it just kind of seems like
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  she's just being mean to her guests and like she doesn't
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  really want to be there. Doesn't seem like she's having
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  fun with her content. So she said in this interview
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  that it is a character. And that character was like a
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  manifestation of how uncomfortable she felt
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  interviewing these huge celebrities on the podcast.
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  And now she kind of doesn't need to maintain that persona anymore
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  because it kind of helped her through this transition phase,
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  which I actually think is interesting.
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  I like that she got famous from that persona and has decided
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  quite quickly to drop it. I think very often when it comes
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  to success in the public eye, it can be like whatever makes you
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  successful. I think we tend to hold on to
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  that and I like that. She's like allowing herself to
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  be fluid with that. I don't know, I thought that was
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  interesting. Maybe I'm just like a Bobby
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  Altoff Stan, I don't know. Mudang Stan, Bobby Altoff Stan,
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  Secret Lives of Mormon Wives Stan.
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  This podcast is just me talking about all my favorite things.
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  She also said that she recently signed a deal to produce, write
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  and star in ATV Comedy about her rise to fame.
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  So again, another huge example of her being able to like parlay
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  this really random niche intranet fame into something
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  mainstream and successful. And she also opened up about how
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  much money she has made. She was tight lipped about how
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  much she currently makes. However, she was asked about
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  TikTok and how TikTok brand deals work and how much money
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  she makes, and she said that last July she was making quote
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  around 250,000 to $300,000 a year from brand deals on TikTok
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  and the creator fund. I was doing pretty well for
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  myself. I thought I had really made it.
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  I didn't know there was a level above that.
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  She then said to maintain that you need to go consistently
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  viral. And so she was making like 10
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  videos a day. And you know, that's just not
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  sustainable. Like you can't have that many
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  ideas. And that's unfortunately for her
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  account. At least that's how much she
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  needed to be pumping out to like have the off chance of a video
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  going viral or for all of her views to add up to continually
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  make that amount of money. So she said she saw on TikTok a
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  girl talk about a podcast that she was doing like her podcast
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  and how she was making around $300,000 a year from the
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  podcast. Can I just say as somebody that
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  has a podcast, I would say .05% of people are making $300,000 a
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  year from their podcast. OK, let me just say that.
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  So she was like, OK, wow, that's what I need to do next.
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  Like that will help alleviate some of the pressure from like
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  how much I need to be posting on TikTok.
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  So she didn't say how much she makes from her podcast, but I'm
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  going to say it's probably, I mean, I'm going to say it's at
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  least three, 100K, especially given the guest that she has.
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  And she also did talk about like the industry plant delegations.
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  I mean, I think we all know she's not an industry plant at
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  this point, but her podcast and the caliber of guests she was
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  getting like seemed so unbelievable.
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  And it is unfortunate that, like, she did have this Internet
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  fame and it was niche, but she still had it.
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  And it is unfortunate that, you know, we didn't believe her.
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  Like we didn't believe that she could just like get these guests
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  by asking them to come on her podcast when she felt like a no
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  name podcaster. And so everyone's like, she's an
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  industry plant. She's sleeping with her guests
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  like saying all these like horrible misogynistic things
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  about her when in reality and she's she's talked about it
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  before, but she said it in this interview too.
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  Like I literally just DM Ed the like most famous people that
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  followed me and asked if they would come on my podcast.
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  And honestly, a lot of them said yes.
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  So that's basically how she did it.
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  And you know, she is also represented.
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  She has a talent agent or she's part of a talent management
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  company, I forget what, maybe CAA or UTA or something.
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  And you know, they Rep a ton of celebrities.
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  So I'm sure there are some negotiations that go back and
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  forth between like her manager and the celebrities managers and
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  things like that if they're part of the same agency.
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  But regardless, that's basically how she did.
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  And she's like, I'm just like a hard worker.
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  And I think what this interview gave me was that if you don't
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  ask, you won't get like, she is very money driven and she's very
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  open about that in the interview.
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  She says, I'm always thinking about money.
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  Like, that's how she drives her career.
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  She is actually a great example of someone who's been able to
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  turn like, nothing into something.
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  And it's because she just had the audacity to ask.
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  And if there is one thing that I can leave you with on this
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  Thursday as a female founder, it is have the audacity of a
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  mediocre white man that will get you so far in life.
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  I am trying to embody that every single day on my solo founder
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  journey. It is hard, but it honestly
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  works. Just ask for what you want, a
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  little bit of inspiration to leave you guys with for this
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  weekend. All right guys, thank you so
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  much for listening to Mini Scroll.
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  I love you guys. There will be a deep dive
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  tomorrow and then I will be back on Tuesday.
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  All right, bye.