Dear Gossips,

Last Friday, Sarah opened the site with this post about the 20th anniversary of YouTube and how it’s become central to our digital existence. As she said, YouTube has become essential and for those of us who work in entertainment media, this is of course because of trailers and interviews and other promotional purposes. But for me, personally, that’s not how I spend most of my time on YouTube.

Ever since YouTube came into my life, it’s been for panda videos. Though Instagram and TikTok have a healthy amount of panda content, YouTube is my primary panda resource. I’ve been known to lose three hours of my life on any given Friday to pandas on YouTube. During the early days of COVID, YouTube pandas became my self care.

But it was around this time that the algorithm started serving me content about another animal, unsolicited, and I resented it – at least I did then. Like, I took it personally. Are you trying to tell me that the panda is losing popularity, YouTube? How dare you try to displace the panda in my life, internet. And with who?!

The capybara.

It’s possible that the rise of the capybara started earlier but for me, it was around 2020, the capybara was everywhere, with capybara videos steadily generating millions of views on IG and TikTok. At this point I imagine you sitting in your office, with your morning coffee, wondering what the f-ck is this bitch doing starting the week off with a post about capybaras… and I get it, I don’t blame you. But we cover pop culture here and, well, the capybara is becoming more and more prominent in pop culture. I laughed a few weeks ago when The New Yorker did a whole ass piece on the capybara, written by Gary Shteyngart!, “How the Capybara Won My Heart and Almost Everyone Else’s”. Like all great things, it started in Japan. Capybaras love hanging out at the onsen, LOL.

But it’s not just because the capybara is cute, this is also to do with its aspirational attitude. Capybaras are known for their chill. Which is why it was so perfect for Jennie to turn into one at the end of the video for her new song, “Like Jennie” which is pretty much a sendoff to the haters. And that scene is one of the big reasons why the video has gone viral. Of course it’s a banger track but the capybara visual is what pushed it over the edge.

Jennie’s capybara co-star has now become somewhat of a TikTok celebrity. And she’s been posting behind-the-scenes footage from the video with it. BLACKPINK fans know that Jennie’s been into capybaras for years, which is probably why Amelia Dimoldenberg asked her about them during their Chicken Shop Date.

BUT WHAT ABOUT PANDAS!?

This is not a logical response to a trend. Still, as the capybara extends its digital chokehold, I’ll be over here holding it down for the panda.

Yours in gossip,

Lainey

Jennie Kim Gossip

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