Like Lainey, I was unfamiliar with The Try Guys until the cheating scandal exploded and like some on Twitter, the moral handwringing about someone else’s marriage feels a little “family values” for me. A little too moralistic and parasocial for my taste. That said, YouTube is not my lane and the thread Lainey linked to this morning explains a lot about what that specific audience expects from its performers. In that way, The Try Guys are playing their part in their ecosystem. 

 

So onto another micro-celebrity environment: Ant Anstead and Christina Haack are having custody issues over their son Hudson and how much Christina uses him for sponsored social media posts and on camera has become a point of contention. She has recently agreed to stop posting about him on social media (while Ant does still post about him). There are a lot of layers here as Ant and Christina were together when they were both reality stars and since then, his level of fame has seen a bump thanks to his relationship with Renee Zellweger. Christina’s bread and butter has always been family-based reality TV (she and her other ex filmed together for years after divorcing) and this is something Ant would have absolutely been aware of before having a child with her. That doesn’t mean he can’t withdraw his consent at any time but it does raise questions: is this his way of exerting control over her career/choices through custody filings? Should any child, with parental consent or not, be used in sponsored Instagram posts without proper compensation? (And more broadly, can a toddler consent to having a career?) And if you are a reality TV star, can it be argued that any post with kids - be it a personal birthday party or first day of school photo – is part of their work, even if it isn’t sponsored? It all ties into the brand. 

 

Kanye West is at it again, this time at Paris Fashion Week. He wore a white lives matter shirt to a show and has taken to Instagram to criticize a Black fashion critic for doing her job. Her name is Gabriella-Karefa Johnson and he’s posting about her on Instagram. Vogue and Condé Nast need to step up here because we know that journalists are often targets on social media and we know that women and more specifically Black and POC women experience horrific harassment and abuse for doing their jobs. Good for Gigi Hadid (who is becoming a favourite of mine) who stepped up and called him out. Her full comments are here. Oh and Linda Evangelista also entered the chat, in her own way.

Speaking of Gigi Hadid, every few months there are clips of her mom Yolanda that pop up on Housewives' accounts. It usually centers around Yolanda’s advice to a young Gigi to eat a few almonds and chew them very well to curb her hunger. This was early in Gigi’s career and while Bella was still in high school. Yolanda’s advice is controversial but let’s not say she didn’t get her daughters to where they wanted to be in the fashion world. And she knows it. 

It’s jump scare season! I’ve posted this Ellen clip before because it’s SO funny. Diddy embraced his fear and dressed up as the clown who scared him a few years back. It requires a yearly repost. Serious question: is there anyone who is not afraid of clowns? They are unsettling at best.