Influencers vs Interviews, again

Nick Viall and his wife, Natalie Joy, hosts of the successful podcast, The Viall Files, are reminding us all why influencers aren’t always qualified to do the things they do. The pair is currently in hot water after conducting an interview on their show this week that led to them being the subjects of online backlash over a line of questioning fans in comment sections across social media platforms are describing as ‘insensitive’ and ‘out of touch’.

The guest for this particular episode was Southern Charm star Austen Kroll. The conversation started off okay, discussing run of the mill topics like his experience on reality TV and what it was like going all in on his own draft beer start up. Later, they’d go on to discuss the status of his relationships with different people on the show and throughout the Bravo universe.

But before they could even get to that, just 10 minutes into the interview, Natalie made a very hard turn and began asking Austen about the death of his sister. She died when she was nine and he was seven during a family hike when she fell off a cliff.

“Quickly jumping out of ‘Southern Charm,’ I’m sure we’re gonna jump right back into it, but going into your childhood, I didn’t know this about your sister passing at 9,” Natalie said nonchalantly.

Austen, visibly uncomfortable and taken aback by the question replied, “Okay, we are switching gears.”

She then went on to press him about the location of the specific cliff his sister fell off of, which Austen declined to name, saying the entire town had been wiped out by a hurricane. She even asked him whether he was there when it happened. He was also asked about the shift in family dynamics after his sister’s death.

Audience members quickly filled the comment sections on the show’s YouTube and Instagram channels saying Austen deserves a public apology. On YouTube, many expressed feelings of bewilderment over Natalie’s ability to ‘single-handedly ruin an interview’. Some even said they would no longer be listening to the podcast over the insensitivity and lack of self-awareness on full display in this episode, and in many other episodes, too.

Just last month, Natalie was under fire for ‘mom-shaming’ Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, Whitney Leavitt. In that episode, Natalie questioned how Whitney was ‘prioritizing motherhood’ after accepting the role of Chicago’s Roxie Hart on Broadway – a question we know is unlikely to be asked of a man who might take time away from family for work. More on that here. 

“Maybe this is just a human level, mom level question on how she’s managing both, right? Because right now, her career has skyrocketed. She just did Dancing With The Stars for what, three, four months? I know she has kids in school level, maybe they’re homeschooled, I don’t know. But to be in L.A. for four months doing Dancing With The Stars, and then to now shift to NYC doing Chicago, like that takes so much of her time,” she said in conversation with Nick.

Again, fans had thoughts, which they shared under a series of photos Natalie posted of her, Nick and their daughter, River Rose, to Instagram. Many expressed confusion at how she could tout her own family and motherhood while bashing someone else’s.

To Natalie’s point about her question being a ‘human level, mom level’ one, I’m a human. And a mom. And I’ve lost a sibling, like Austen has. And I would never ask any of the questions I’ve cited so far of hers. At least not in the way that she’s asking them – and that’s the key here. There are specific ways to frame your questions and specific points in the interview where you ask them. And it’s not like this, nor is it 10 minutes in with no proper segue.

Some of this I know because I studied journalism. And believe me when I tell you there are dedicated courses for mastering the art of the interview and it’s for this reason exactly. To avoid cringy moments, to maintain a certain rhythm and flow, but also to understand cues that suggest someone may be uncomfortable, like his refusal to name the town his sister died in and his incessant leg shaking which ramped up after they jerked into this topic.

But some of this I know because I, like many of the audience members, understand the importance of reading the room. So even if you’re not a trained journalist, you can still be a great interviewer. Look at Andersoon Cooper and Michelle Obama. Neither studied journalism but understand the natural cadence of an interview. You have to have self-awareness. And you have to be able to read the room. And self-awareness means not going for the ‘deep’ questions before you’ve primed your guest just to get a soundbite, or shaming another mom for finally turning the spotlight onto her career after having spent the last few years birthing children.

But this catastrophic interview is not just the result of insensitivity and a lack of self-awareness or a lack of media training. It’s the result of influencers having over-inflated egos, largely pumped up by quick, incessant hits of dopamine in the form of likes and new followers on social media. But their success on social media does not always translate into the real world and they show their asses more often than not.

This is why people are growing exhausted with influencers. They go on a show or acquire virality in some other salacious way, and to their credit, they leverage the hell out of their 15 minutes of fame. For the most part, the impact is low stakes. Some people end up having more of an audience than they deserve. Others land brand deals with sh-tty companies whose products they’re paid to push despite them being subpar.

But in other cases, the consequences are dire. Because it can lead to some of the most talented Black women in the entertainment world facing microaggressions on big nights in their career because the decision was made to hire influencers to interview celebrities on the Vanity Fair red carpet instead of media professionals that know not to say certain things. In Whitney’s case, she was likely already internally processing a lot of mom guilt about being away from her kids, only to have that guilt amplified by Natalie. And in Austen’s case, he was pressed to relive one of the most traumatic events of his entire life.

But on a much larger scale, another dire consequence is the dropping of the bar for what constitutes good quality content. And it’s happening at an impossible rate. It’s becoming harder and harder to find thoughtfully made, thoughtfully produced content because people like Natalie and Nick are the ones with the followers, the ones who take up so much space in the content-sphere. And that leaves less room for the thought leaders who are more deserving of the visibility and the attention given to people who skyrocketed to fame because they were on a reality TV show or married a guy that was. And that’s coming from a reality TV junkie. 

All of this is why it’s been refreshing to see such a unanimous response to the interview. Because it tells me that people are pushing back. It tells me that people are starting to question who they’re listening to, why they’re listening to them and whether what they have to say and how they’re saying it is worth listening to in the first place. People are refusing the content being shoved down our throats thanks to an algorithm that exchanges mutual benefits with influencers thanks to the engagement they drive on social media platforms.

People are realizing a swath of followers doesn’t equal knowledge, skill or talent. And a prime example of this was when Natalie admitted she didn’t know Austen’s sister died. How can you cohost a podcast about reality TV and pop culture and say out loud to your guest that you had no knowledge of one of hist most personal and powerful revelations and storylines? He’s discussed this openly on the show several times throughout 11 seasons. It’s mind-boggling. And it explains why so many people are getting turned off, not just of her or their podcast but of influencer culture entirely. The lights are on but no one’s home.

In 2026, it appears that the divide between the skilled and unskilled, good quality and poor quality, are all becoming wider. And if people continue to pay more attention to that gap and adjust their media consumption habits accordingly, maybe, just maybe, we could be on our way to more thoughtful content reclaiming some of the space that’s been overpopulated by influencers.