Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Elyse Myers book review drama, Hair by Chrissy $4K backlash + Ariana Grande fan danger at Wicked

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MINI SCROLL: Elyse Myers book review drama, Hair by Chrissy $4K backlash + Ariana Grande fan danger at Wicked · Mini Scroll

• 0:00
  Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
• 0:04
  culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
• 0:07
  media, the creator economy, and the digital space.
• 0:10
  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. I hope you guys had a good
• 0:24
  weekend. I finally got some sleep last
• 0:27
  week. I was in the trenches.
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  I didn't mention it on Minnie scroll, but I literally had the
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  worst insomnia all week. I have no idea why I slept maybe
• 0:35
  like 2 hours every single night. But I'm very happy to report
• 0:38
  that this weekend I caught up. I literally did nothing.
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  I just slept and watched TV and snuggled with my dog and I got
• 0:47
  all caught up and I'm feeling much better, much more revived.
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  OK, before I get into it, I actually do have an exciting
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  guys because we're not starting it until December, but it is
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  starting in December instead of January because we are obviously
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  going on our typical like podcast holiday break.
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  But over the holidays, I will be giving you guys 3 mini scrolls
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  through Patreon. So anyways, I will talk to you
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  guys more about that when the Patreon is officially live and
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  don't want you guys to sign up and pay immediately and then,
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  you know, you guys don't get content this month.
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  So yeah, it's very pretty exciting.
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  All right, before we get into it, Please remember to rate,
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  review and subscribe. Please Spotify star rate US.
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  We're trying to get to 1000 Spotify star ratings by the end
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  of the year. The first story that I have for
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  you guys is I'm going to be talking about how creator Elise
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  Myers has been embroiled in some book release drama this week.
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  So Elise Myers is a creator who found a lot of fame on TikTok in
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  its earlier days. She racked up over 7 million
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  followers on the platform. She mostly makes mental health
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  content, relationship content like story times about past
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  relationships, current relationship stuff, lifestyle
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  content, all of that. And she has mostly moved to
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  YouTube blogging. At least she did for about a
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  year because she took an extended hiatus from TikTok
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  around early 2024. This hiatus was partly due to
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  her health issues, and it was also partly due to some
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  criticism that she faced for basically not using her massive
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  platform to speak out on atrocities such as the genocide
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  in Palestine and where she stood on certain social and political
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  issues. Elise has now made her way back
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  into the online zeitgeist after that hiatus because she released
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  a book called That's a Great Question I'd Love to Tell You,
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  which is basically a collection of personal essays and stories.
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  So this week a creator named Allison post on Threads.
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  Sorry I just need to say again with the threads drama.
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  Like there's so much going down on threads I can't believe it.
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  And she said that she didn't really vibe with Elise's book so
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  she wrote no. I'm so sad.
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  I don't like this book at all. Has anyone else tried reading
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  it? It's not at all like the story
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  she tells in her videos. I'm on the 5th essay and I think
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  I have to stop reading it. Oh, important to note here she
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  didn't tag Elise. OK.
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  But even still, the platform pushed the review to Elise's
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  page and then Elise responded to this review.
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  She wrote Instagram. I am decided to put this in my
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  feed as a post I might like. So now I'm here.
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  I'm bummed you don't like it, but not at all offended.
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  Everyone has different tastes in books and that's OK.
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  Please feel free to return it. So this has sparked a huge
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  discussion about the concept of authors with big platforms
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  responding to reviews of their book publicly.
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  Given it could encourage a pile on of hate towards someone who
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  didn't give it a positive review, which unfortunately is
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  what happened in this case. So the original creator started
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  getting inundated with Elise stands in her comment section
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  basically telling her that she is, you know, being super rude
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  that this is not fair whatever. And then in response to that, a
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  lot of book related creators and people that are really into the
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  reading community online started piling on a lease for not
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  understanding the etiquette of authors basically not responding
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  to reviews of their book to keep reviews honest.
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  Because that's what can happen obviously, right?
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  Like if people are scared to post a review honestly about a
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  book because they're worried that that author who has a big
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  platform is going to see it and respond to it.
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  And then they're going to get a ton of hate.
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  Like they will either not post reviews or they'll only post
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  positive things or whatever. So Elise responded to someone
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  saying, I don't know if you took the time to look at my responses
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  to that thread, but in no way was I upset that she didn't like
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  my book. I told her that I was bummed but
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  not offended at all and encouraged her to return the
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  book. I'm confused where you think I
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  acted weirdly? So it's become this double
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  dogpile on now where the initial reviewer is getting inundated
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  with hate from Elise's fans and then Elise is getting inundated
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  with criticism from people who are saying that she didn't have
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  proper, kind of like, author etiquette.
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  I mean, at the end of the day, all the original creator did was
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  post an honest review of the book.
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  She was genuinely sad that she didn't like the book.
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  It was nothing, you know, rude against Elise.
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  And I think we need to be able to critique art and content,
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  especially in this instance. Like I said, this is not a
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  critique of a lease as a creator or even her as a person where it
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  feels kind of parasocial, like it's a critique of her book.
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  Every author would anticipate reviews, whether positive or
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  negative of their book if they are putting art out into the
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  world. Like critique is part of
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  engaging in art. I think one of the interesting
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  things about Elise is she actually is very divisive, but
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  you can tell that she really doesn't mean to be and she
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  doesn't want to be. There is this subset of Internet
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  users who think she is like the most wholesome, sweetest creator
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  on TikTok. And then there's this subset who
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  thinks she kind of plays into white women tears and this like
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  act of innocence. And especially when she receives
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  criticism or any type of feedback that's not completely
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  positive. And part of the reason why I
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  think some people feel like her personality is a shtick is
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  because her fan base really infantilizes her.
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  And we know from experience, you know, we've seen fan bases
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  infantilize tons of stars. Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez,
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  those are two that come to mind off the top of my head.
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  But we've seen it time and time again.
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  I think when fan bases infantilize creators or
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  celebrities, it's basically a losing situation.
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  The creator is very protected or the celebrity is very protected
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  because their fan base doesn't really see them as almost like a
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  full blown adult with agency who is running a business making
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  strategic decisions. And therefore it can almost be
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  really dangerous from an online perspective to criticize that
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  person because you never know what type of behavior you'll
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  elicit or receive, I suppose from the fan base because they
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  actually don't really see this person as an adult who is making
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  their own decisions. And I don't think that's
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  necessarily conscious. Like I don't think that fan
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  bases of whether it's Elise Myers, Selena Gomez, Ariana
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  Grande, anybody else that is somewhat infantilized by their
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  fan base. I don't think that their fans
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  are intentionally trying to think of them like this and
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  intentionally acting like this. It just kind of ends up being a
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  bit of like mob mentality. And I think it just kind of
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  comes out that way. Whatever's happened in their
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  career or whatever they've told us throughout their career that
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  has made us feel like they are either a victim or you know,
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  they're like the best person ever and we must protect them.
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  Like whatever that narrative is, I don't think it's always like
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  the fans fault, you know, like I don't think it's like
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  intentional all the time, but I think that happens.
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  OK, the next story that I have for you guys, I cannot believe
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  I'm about to talk about this, but I'm going to be talking
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  about the hair by Chrissy stuff going on on TikTok.
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  I cannot believe I'm about to talk about hair by Chrissy in
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  2025. One of Centennial's most viral
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  videos on TikTok of all time is a video that we made like at the
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  beginning of 2020 about hair by Chrissy.
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  It was when influencers were going to her salon throughout,
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  you know, the beginning of TikTok basically, and she was
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  blowing up and they were blowing up all together and the
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  influencers were getting these ginormous heavy heads of
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  extensions. And everybody was like, that
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  doesn't look good. Your hair looks dead and the
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  extensions look so bad. And I'm not saying her
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  extensions look bad. I'm just saying this is what
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  people felt like at the time. And so people started calling
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  her hair by crispy. And then she also faced a lot of
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  backlash around that same year for not following mask mandates
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  and like COVID regulations and her salon.
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  So yeah, she has had a lot of controversy over the years, but
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  it's been like 5 years since she was relevant enough or like
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  whatever was going on in her salon was relevant enough to
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  talk about. So you know, here we are.
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  So this is what's happening right now.
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  I TikTok creator at Not famous 808 went viral this weekend when
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  she made numerous videos saying she paid over 4200 dollars,
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  $4200. I can't even for a hair
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  appointment with Chrissy. However, she left feeling
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  disappointed and misled because Chrissy was not really the one
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  who did her hair. So not famous eight O 8.
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  She booked an appointment with Chrissy at her salon, Habit
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  Salon that she obviously sees all over Tiktok.
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  And here are some of the issues she had.
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  OK, she said she expected nearly white blonde extensions like she
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  brought in a photo that she wanted to emulate.
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  She wanted basically nearly white blonde extensions.
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  But she says the result was darker, especially at the roots.
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  She also said she was pressured into buying a new extensions
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  from the salon despite bringing her own.
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  However, her biggest issue and what has become the point of
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  conversation is she paid $2974.00 for what the receipt
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  called the Chrissy service. However, the creator claims that
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  Chrissy only touched her hair for basically 60 seconds while
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  roughly 10 assistants did the majority of the work.
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  The creator went on to say she believes that happened because
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  she's not a famous influencer. And she also said this one was
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  like TikTok land and Chrissy got herself into all of the content
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  as if she was doing everybody's hair when really she wasn't
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  first. Get your hair done.
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  It's a little bit overwhelming because everyone's kind of
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  grabbing your hair everywhere. There's like 10 people around
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  you and Chrissy's nowhere to be found.
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  I think she might have touched my hair for 60 seconds.
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  I'm being so genuinely honest with you.
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  And here's the receipt. So that is just the price of
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  Chrissy touching your hair. I don't think it's talked about
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  enough. When you're not famous and you
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  go to Chrissy, she doesn't actually spend time on your
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  hair. She'll you walk in, she touches
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  your hair, ask you what you want, then she tells everyone
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  what to do on your hair. But the problem is when you have
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  10 people pulling your hair every way and like dyeing your
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  hair, they're all kind of on different pages.
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  OK, so these videos have sparked a lot of interesting
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  conversation online. First, there are a lot of people
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  who are like, OK, don't really feel bad for you that you can
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  afford a $4000 hair appointment. Like I don't know what you want
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  me to say. This is not a real problem.
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  And also, did you really expect Chrissy to be doing your hair?
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  Because you know at the end of the day she is like a celebrity
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  influencer hair artist. And if you are not a celebrity
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  or an influencer, why would you expect Chrissy to be doing your
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  hair? So that is like 1 camp of
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  people. There's another camp of people
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  that feel like Chrissy charging $4000 for hair is literally
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  outrageous and predatory. And then there's this third
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  group of people who feel like if Chrissy can command that amount
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  of money for her services, then why not?
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  Funny enough, Tana Mojo is someone who has spoken out about
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  the situation and she seems to fall mostly into the second
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  camp. So here's what she said.
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  I just want to know what happened first of all from COVID
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  to now. How do you go from hair by
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  crispy to then being back in the space that you're able to charge
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  people $4000 to do hair? First of all, I just want to say
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  that the layers that she left the girl with are a hate crime.
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  I don't, I don't even know how else to say it, Like the layers
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  of her hair and she claims that like she, like you let her walk
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  out of that salon with those layers.
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  Secondarily, I'm going to say I feel like the high end price for
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  that job and those things is like $3000.
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  Four is crazy. 4 is also crazy. If you are not leaving with
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  something that looks like four, $950 to move your extensions up,
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  I could go down the street and start walking until I found one
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  of those Uber Eats robots and I could teach the Uber Eats robot
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  within 45 seconds to move my extensions up.
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  I can move extensions up toddlers.
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  Toddlers and tiaras can move extensions up.
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  Lethal. That is a lethal level of
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  scamming. That is surviving hair by
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  Chrissy level scamming. I'm so sorry.
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  So regardless of where you fall here, I think Chrissy should
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  definitely be more transparent about who will be doing the
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  client services. Like from what I understand in
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  the contract that the client signed before seeing Chrissy, it
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  says that other stylists will be doing their hair too.
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  But I think calling the service Chrissy service is misleading,
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  even if in the contract in like the fine print or whatever, it
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  says otherwise. So Chrissy has responded to the
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  backlash. I'm actually not surprised that
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  she responded this way based on some of the controversies that I
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  mentioned at the beginning and kind of how she's responded to
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  things in the past. She didn't directly respond yet,
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  but she has teased that she's going to release merch on her
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  social media and it's T-shirts that say hair in four Ki.
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  Don't think that's the best way to respond.
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  I think it's kind of unprofessional, but OK.
• 14:57
  OK, before I get into the last story, I wanted to get your
• 15:01
  guys's opinion because I was considering covering Colleen
• 15:05
  Ballinger on Raven Symone's podcast.
• 15:08
  I partly didn't want to beat a dead horse because we have
• 15:10
  talked about Colleen Ballinger and what happened in her whole
• 15:13
  scandal like a million times on this podcast.
• 15:16
  So I didn't want to beat a dead horse, but also I didn't
• 15:19
  necessarily want to give her a platform and I wasn't sure if
• 15:23
  you guys wanted that either. So if you guys want me to talk
• 15:27
  about that tomorrow, share my opinions, you know, give a recap
• 15:30
  so you don't have to listen to it yourselves for sure.
• 15:33
  Let me know. I will do that.
• 15:34
  But I'm open to hearing your opinions on that.
• 15:36
  OK, the last story that I wanted to talk about, Speaking of fans,
• 15:40
  we're talking a lot about like fandom.
• 15:42
  Recently on the pod, Ariana Grande was charged by a fan at
• 15:46
  the Wicked for Good premiere in Singapore.
• 15:48
  So Ariana Grande was walking the red carpet with the cast of the
• 15:51
  Wicked for Good premiere in Singapore when a fan jumped the
• 15:54
  barricade, charged towards her, grabbed her and wrapped his arms
• 15:59
  around her. The man who did this is named
• 16:01
  Johnson Wen. He's actually Australian and he
• 16:04
  goes by Pajama Man on social media.
• 16:06
  And this is something he does. He crashes celebrity events.
• 16:09
  He accosts celebrities on red carpets.
• 16:12
  Obviously it's for social media fame and attention and virality.
• 16:15
  Where was security? I I was really surprised to see
• 16:18
  that he was able to even jump the barricade.
• 16:20
  Like these are ginormous celebrities.
• 16:22
  This is a huge event. I understand they can't have
• 16:25
  security lined up like, you know, 1 by 1 down the barricade,
• 16:29
  but I don't know. I couldn't believe that they
• 16:31
  didn't even catch him before he got to her.
• 16:34
  And the unfortunate reality is it's gone so viral, it's given
• 16:38
  this Jonathan guy exactly what he wants.
• 16:40
  He has been charged in Singapore with public nuisance, which
• 16:44
  holds penalties of up to three months in jail, a maximum fine
• 16:48
  of 2000 Singapore dollars, or both.
• 16:51
  However, at the end of the day, like clearly what this man cares
• 16:54
  about is attention, viral reality, the fame of it all.
• 16:58
  There are news articles all about him now.
• 17:01
  I mean, obviously we're talking about him, Not that, you know,
• 17:03
  not that MIDI scroll talking about him makes a big
• 17:06
  difference, but you know what I mean?
• 17:07
  Like, he's getting the attention, unfortunately, that
• 17:10
  he wants from this. And, you know, at the cost of
• 17:13
  Ariana Grande's mental health because we know that she has
• 17:17
  trauma when it comes to fan behavior and her career in
• 17:22
  general. And I've seen a lot of discourse
• 17:24
  online about this. And like, I don't know if I'm
• 17:26
  just on the toxic side of the Internet of the algorithm, but
• 17:30
  there seems to be a lot of people who are saying that she
• 17:32
  overreacted and played kind of like the poor little girl victim
• 17:36
  here. And I mean, first of all, I
• 17:38
  would say I don't think that if you have something that shocking
• 17:41
  and scary happening in the moment, like I don't think you
• 17:43
  can control your reaction. You can't manipulate your
• 17:45
  reaction. Like that is just how she
• 17:47
  reacted. That is like her, that was her
• 17:49
  natural. That was like her body going
• 17:51
  into the fight or flight survival mode.
• 17:52
  That's like what she did. So that was her reaction.
• 17:54
  OK? That's what I believe.
• 17:56
  And also, like I said, she has like, literal PTSD from
• 17:59
  Manchester and unhinged fan behavior in general.
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  And I feel so bad for her. I'm sure that that was a
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  horrifying moment for her and very scary.
• 18:08
  And yeah, so this man got this like, viral moment, 15 minutes
• 18:12
  of fame at what cost? I know we've done a few
• 18:15
  different episodes covering fan behavior here and there,
• 18:19
  different elements of fan behavior, but we've never really
• 18:21
  done one that truly looked at online culture and fan behavior
• 18:26
  and kind of exhibitionism, I suppose, around fan behavior and
• 18:30
  trying to reach that virality. And that is something that maybe
• 18:33
  we will explore in 2026 because I think it's unfortunately
• 18:37
  happening more and more, especially with the rise of
• 18:39
  TikTok. And I think it's really
• 18:41
  something that we need to be examining and paying attention
• 18:44
  to because it's not good. Anyways, guys, that's it for
• 18:48
  mini scroll today. Thank you so much for listening.
• 18:50
  I love you guys. Please remember to rate review
• 18:53
  and subscribe. Please Spotify star rate US.
• 18:55
  I love you guys. Let me know if you guys want me
• 18:57
  to cover the Colleen Ballinger stuff tomorrow and I will talk
• 18:59
  to you tomorrow. Bye.