Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Jools Lebron "demure" trademark saga, Mina Le 'My Brilliant Friend' BookTok backlash + Alix Earle addresses racist posts

Transcript

MINI SCROLL: Jools Lebron "demure" trademark saga, Mina Le 'My Brilliant Friend' BookTok backlash + Alix Earle addresses racist posts · Mini Scroll

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  Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
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  culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
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  media, the creator economy, and the digital space every Monday
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  through Thursday. I'm your host, Lauren Meissner,
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  the founder of the youth digital media brand Centennial World.
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  Welcome back to Mini Scroll everyone, and welcome to another
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  new setting. I'm going to be trying out some
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  different spaces this week since I have 3 days left of this like
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  cottage core vibe. My parents are out right now and
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  I was like, why don't I just record in the main area?
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  The windows are so big and hopefully the lighting is OK.
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  I am recording this a bit late. It is 6:30 PM so the sun is
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  starting to kind of go down, but I think the lighting is going to
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  be like OK anyways, so yes, I am going to Europe as you guys know
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  for a friend's wedding. Europe in a cause he lives is a
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  bit stressful, but this was planned like two years in
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  advance and who could have known?
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  But anyways, yeah, so I am really, really excited to be
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  taking that break. And if you guys do want to keep
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  up with me and you want, like, my opinions on stuff that's
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  happening in pop culture in real time, I do post on my Instagram
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  Stories every once in a while if something like major happens.
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  When I was in Fiji last year, scandal broke.
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  And so even though I wasn't technically working, I was on a
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  vacation with Sean and a bunch of his friends.
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  You know, I was out here, I was posting, I was giving my
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  updates, I was giving my opinions.
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  So definitely keep up with me. My Instagram is at Lauren
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  Meisner under score. So the first story that I have
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  for you guys is that Jules LeBron, who was the creator of
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  the Jameer trend, is struggling to monetize this trend after a
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  random man trademarked the saying before she could.
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  So by now we know the Jameer trend is literally everywhere.
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  It's also like very on LinkedIn. I don't know if anyone else is
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  on LinkedIn. I have to be on LinkedIn for
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  like founder vibes. Oh my God.
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  Like every second post I swear is someone in corporate America
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  posting about how this is Jamir and this is mindful.
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  It is so cringe. It's like the tik tokification
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  of LinkedIn. No one take that.
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  I'm going to make that into a deep dive, actually.
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  OK, so, so many good things have come out of Jamir for Jules,
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  right? She gained over a million
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  followers in just a couple of weeks.
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  She's now able to pay for the rest of her transition, as she
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  said in one video. And most recently, she also
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  revealed that she was able to get one of her best friends out
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  of a really bad living situation because of all the money that
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  she's been making from the TikTok creator fund on these
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  videos. So she was able to move her best
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  friend into her house, which is just so sweet.
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  But now, just a few weeks after Jules posted her first viral
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  video using demure, a random man in Colorado has trademarked the
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  catch phrase, very demure, very mindful, preventing jewels from
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  further making money on the trend in terms of merch or even
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  brand deals that would want her to use that saying.
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  And maybe they would want to have it, you know, in the video
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  itself or something like that. Like it just limits her
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  commercial viability for using that saying so much.
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  Now, interestingly, this same man, according to Diet Prada,
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  also trademarked or has tried to trademark several other catch
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  phrases related to the NFL. So he's tried to trademark Let's
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  Ride Go Broncos, Let's Ride and Take Command as examples.
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  So Jules revealed that the trademark was taken.
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  She revealed this in a TikTok video that has now been deleted.
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  She said she feels like she really dropped the ball because
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  she wanted this moment for her to really be the thing that,
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  like, helped her, you know, complete her transition and help
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  her family out. Now, it is important to note
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  that this man does not own the trademark yet.
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  It is still pending. So now there are literally like
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  hundreds if not thousands of people on TikTok that are making
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  videos, commenting, getting in touch with Jules, trying to
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  explain to her and give her advice and help.
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  And notably, a creator named Real Lucas.
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  Not vibing right now, actually trademarked.
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  Very demure, very cutesy, and she made a video saying like
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  this video is for jewels. I know you're going through a
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  lot right now. I know that asshole trademarked,
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  very demure, very mindful eye trademarked, very demure, very
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  cutesy, and I want to transfer it to you.
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  So can you guys get this video to Jewels, which is just so
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  sweet. So I think they're in the
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  process now. She made like a little update.
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  They're in the process now of transferring that trademark free
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  of charge to Jewels, which is very, very sweet.
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  But this is just so classic, don't you guys think?
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  This is so classic. Some man, I'm assuming he's a
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  white man. I saw people calling him a white
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  man. I assume he's a white man just
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  coming out here and taking this thing from this trans woman who
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  is literally just trying to get by.
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  And, and obviously it was going to either make his own merch or
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  something off of it or, you know, try and sell it back to
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  jewels. So it's just so exploitative and
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  so disgusting. And I know this is just kind of
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  how it works in business, but this particular situation is so
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  beyond icky. And I really, really hope that
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  Jules is able to get at least something out of this.
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  Like I hope that even if that guys trademark goes through, I
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  feel like it, I feel like it might not.
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  I don't know how it works if things become like public
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  outrage, you know, but like even if that trademark goes through,
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  I hope that she can get very demyour a very cutesy.
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  I hope that she can still use these phrases commercially
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  somehow. You know, they're technically
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  already kind of like in use, which I know is to her benefit.
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  So I don't know, but I'll keep you guys posted if there are any
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  other updates. OK, And the last story that I
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  have for you guys, book talk is coming for a commentary creator,
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  Mina Lee after her review of my brilliant friend.
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  So for contacts, my brilliant friend was voted the number one
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  book of the 21st century by the New York Times critics.
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  So Mina read it and she made a TikTok like review on it and she
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  said she found that the book, like the way it was written was
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  very impersonal. She said that the narrator was
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  emotionally distant and because of that she didn't really care
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  about what was happening. She did say that the friendship
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  between Elena and Leela, I think that's how you say their names.
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  I'm really sorry if that is not was, you know, very emotional,
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  beautifully written. Like she was like, I really felt
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  that this book is one of four in like, a series about the
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  complicated intensity of female friendship.
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  And I think it's really interesting that her review is
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  getting so much backlash. I mean, we know that book talk
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  is one of the scariest corners of the Internet, and it's seeped
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  into Twitter, too. So Mina actually doesn't have
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  Twitter anymore because of, like, how toxic it can be.
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  She's actually deleted Twitter, but she is all over Twitter
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  right now because people are in shock that she didn't like this
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  book. And one of the most common
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  criticisms is that she must have not understood it.
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  And that is why I wanted to talk about this story specifically
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  because I was watching a video like I was.
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  I was watching all of the criticism come in the backlash
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  and just thinking like this is actually insane.
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  This is about a book like this is.
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  This is not about anything like that serious.
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  And then I saw a video from Anastasia Garcia and she made
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  such a good point. She was questioning the backlash
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  and she said. Why does disliking something
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  automatically mean that you didn't understand it and then
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  also didn't have the capability to understand it?
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  I will say I haven't read the books.
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  I've been planning on it, so this isn't like a discussion of
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  the quality of the books. But I've seen so many stitches
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  of this video, so many videos about this video, so much
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  discourse on Twitter, which is, you know what I mean, where
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  people are saying that she's stupid and that she FC doesn't
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  get it. While I think some of it was
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  pointed directly to what she said in her review.
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  So I'm not really discussing those things.
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  It's very interesting that there's like this assumption
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  when people don't get they don't understand the love of something
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  that means they don't understand the material, period.
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  We're in this weird time in Internet culture where if you
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  have an opinion on something like this, I'm going to, I'm
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  going to like make that caveat on something that is as low
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  stakes as like if you like a book or not, you know, But
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  obviously this book means a lot to people.
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  So if you have an opinion that on art, for example, that like
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  goes against the grain, that goes against the common opinion.
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  The general consensus online, especially on TikTok, it's like
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  the criticism is always you're not smart enough to understand
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  it. And that argument reminds me of
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  how people also weaponize morality in online spaces as
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  well. There's just so much
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  performance. Like people use these arguments.
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  I understand. I'm sure that book moved you.
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  I'm sure it was very important to you.
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  But people can have other opinions about something as
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  subjective as art. And it doesn't mean that they're
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  stupid and it doesn't mean that they don't understand it.
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  And people are using these arguments to like, assert their
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  own intelligence and to make themselves feel better about
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  liking the book because obviously that opinion saying,
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  like, I felt it was emotionally distant and it wasn't, you know,
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  it was kind of impersonal. If you really liked that book
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  and you're like, you know, singing its praises and you it
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  really moved you, it feels like, I suppose an attack on how you
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  perceived the book and on your intelligence.
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  And so therefore, everyone's like, well, you just didn't
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  understand it. And I just so strongly disagree
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  with like the criticism against Mina specifically.
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  She is so intelligent. She is so thoughtful in her
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  content. If you have ever watched one of
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  her videos, you know, she is one of the best commentary creators
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  on YouTube, full stop. Like she is making quality
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  content because she is so perceptive and so intelligent.
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  She is just like the opposite of someone who doesn't understand
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  media and art in my opinion. OK you guys, I actually finished
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  the episode and I was starting to edit it and then Annabelle
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  messaged me and she was like emergency Alex Earl has
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  addressed her old Ask FM tweets. And I was messages post and I
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  was like, Oh my God. OK, so I've turned the camera
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  back on. I hope that everything's fine.
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  I hope the lighting's fine. But anyways, OK, so Alex Earl
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  has finally addressed her old Ask FM posts where she said the
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  N word multiple times. Over the last couple of weeks,
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  several screenshots have resurfaced from posts that Alex
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  made back in like the mid twenty 10s.
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  So the way that this came about, it was kind of in the middle of
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  the Brooks Schofield stuff. Over the last maybe week, it's
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  really picked up and more and more people were starting to
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  talk about it. I didn't want to address it
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  until she made a statement. I figured she would make a
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  statement only because I kept seeing that she would send like
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  or her lawyers would send cease and desist and legal letters to
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  people that were talking about it.
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  And honestly my mental health can just not handle that even if
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  it's a bullshit cease and desist.
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  Like I just could not handle getting any type of like legal
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  letter related to this. So I was like you know what, I'm
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  just going to wait and see how this plays out.
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  So anyways, she has now addressed it.
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  So she posted this on Instagram stories and also TikTok stories,
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  interestingly not on her grid and didn't make a video about it
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  she wrote. A couple of weeks ago,
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  screenshots surfaced from my old Ask FM account showing me using
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  a slur in the summer 2014. I am taking accountability and
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  want to make it clear that I was 13 years old and did not
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  understand the deeply offensive meaning behind that word.
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  That is no excuse for using that word in any context or at any
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  age. That is absolutely not the way I
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  speak or what I stand for. I am deeply sorry that my words
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  have hurt many and have led people to believe that I have
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  any prejudice in my heart. I promise you that could not be
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  further from the truth. My platform has always been
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  focused on positivity, entertainment and uplifting
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  others, and I will continue to do so.
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  I am sincerely sorry to those I have offended.
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  I regret how I handled the situation, allowing too many
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  people to talk me out of saying something for too long.
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  I wasn't sure how to handle it and unfortunately the advice I
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  was given, although well intended, was wrong.
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  There is no one to blame but myself for not standing my
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  ground and going with my gut to speak out right away.
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  So then she addresses two rumors.
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  The first rumor is that she trademarked these screenshots.
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  The reason why people thought this was because the Do We Know
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  Them podcast said that they got a cease and desist for their
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  subreddit, which actually has nothing to do with the podcast.
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  Like like fans, right, can make subreddits for creators, for
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  influencers, for celebrities and for podcasts.
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  And so they're like, we didn't even make this.
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  And so like we have no control. But those screenshots were
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  posted in the subreddit, apparently, allegedly they got a
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  cease and desist or some type of legal letter from Alex's team.
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  And in it, one of the things that it said that these
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  screenshots being posted on Reddit was violating was like
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  trademark arrangement or something like that.
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  And so, sorry, I obviously had no time to prep this story, so
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  I'm just going off what I remember.
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  So everybody was like, Oh my God, did she trademark or
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  someone on her team trademark these screenshots so that they
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  could send like cease and desist and things like that get them
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  taken down. So she said that's not true.
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  The other rumor she says is not true is that Larsa Pippen from
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  Real Housewives of Miami, her brand like spoke out and said we
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  will no longer be working with Alex Earl.
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  And I don't know if that was fact or not, or if that was like
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  a doctored or like a fake screenshot that was going
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  around, like Instagram story of Larsa's that was going around.
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  I didn't see it. But she says that was not true.
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  She's never worked with that brand and they were not in talks
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  to do partnerships with it. And then she finishes by saying,
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  regardless of what has been said online, I wanted to come on here
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  to address the facts and most importantly, apologize.
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  So that's Alex's response to the Ask FM stuff.
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  And I think it was strategic for sure for her to not post that on
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  grid, to not make a video of it. I think it was definitely
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  written by a team, but I wouldn't be surprised.
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  She definitely has a big team around her.
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  I don't know, like when the Brooks stuff happened, you know,
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  I I said like, it just keeps fucking happening.
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  And I told you guys about how one of my friends was like, I
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  literally cannot trust any white influencer anymore.
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  And yeah, anyways, guys, that's it for Mini Scroll today.
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  Thank you so much for listening. Please remember to rate, review
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  and subscribe. I love you guys and I will talk
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  to you tomorrow. Bye.