Keep scrolling for why the internet is calling on the Swifties to unleash their “destructive energy” on Barstool Sports.
Balenciaga proves that even sexualising children won’t keep celebrities away
Nearly a year after Balenciaga faced intense backlash for two controversial campaigns linked to the sexualisation of children, the brand’s celebrity fanbase has bounced back just in time for Paris Fashion Week.
A number of A-list celebrities showed their support for the brand at the Balenciaga Spring 2024 fashion show this week.
ICYMI, last year the French brand came under fire after collaborating with world-famous photographer Gabriele Galimberti on their holiday campaign.
Galimberti is known for capturing images of children surrounded by their favourite toys.
The campaign images featured children holding the brand's 'plush bear bags'. The bears were wrapped in S&M harnesses.
To make matters worse, a Spring/Summer 2023 campaign released the same week featured the Balenciaga x adidas ‘hourglass bag’ laying on top of US Supreme Court documents (Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition) relating to child pornography law.
Celebrities associated with the brand were pressured into speaking out, including Kim Kardashian who tweeted that she was “disgusted and outraged” by the “disturbing images”.
Now, it seems Balenciaga is back in Hollywood’s good graces, with celebrities like Usher, Charli XCX, Paris Hilton, Offset, Ashely Graham, Kris Jenner, Cole Sprouse, and EmRata all attending the brand’s fashion show this week.
While Kim didn’t attend the show herself, she did model for the brand’s Summer 24 lookbook, also revealed this week.
See the full list of celebrities in attendance at the PFW Spring 2024 Balenciaga show via Fashionista.
The Brian Jordan Alvarez extended universe
Journalist Kate Lindsay “spent four hours straight watching every single” TikTok character created by Brian Jordan Alvarez to write a definitive guide to the lore.
Brian Jordan Alvarez is an actor and comedian best known for playing Estefan on Will & Grace and Cole in the mega-viral horror film M3gan. Since 2020, Alvarez has posted various recurring characters on TikTok, like “an Australian weight lifter getting a Ph.D. in biceps” or “a spiritual leader with the ability to harness and wield purse source energy”.
Some of these characters stand alone, while some have overlapping storylines.
Recently, Alvarez’s character TJ Mack went viral for his song “Sitting,” landing him media interviews and a Spotify remix.
Lindsay’s guide includes a breakdown of the BJA universe “heavy-hitters” like TJ Mack, TJ Mack’s Wife, Marnie T, Rich Southern Aunt, The Student, The Chef, Timothy, and more.
Her descriptions include each character’s first TikTok appearance, relationship status, occupation, distinct vocal mannerisms, recent scandal, and “Does the character randomly get a far-off look in their eyes and pause mid-sentence?”
“Every BJA character has the same three hallmarks: A video filter and/or a wig, a near-indistinguishable accent, and deeply complex interpersonal dynamics that we’re dropped in the middle of,” she writes.
Read Lindsay’s definitive guide to the BJA extended universe via Vulture.
MrBeast partners with the Charlotte Hornets
MrBeast makes YouTuber history (again) by partnering with the NBA team the Charlotte Hornets for his snack brand Feastables.
Feastables was revealed as an Official Jersey Patch Partner, where the brand’s logo will appear on Hornets’ player jerseys for the 2023-2024 season.
This marks the first official partnership between an NBA team and a social media influencer.
In addition to the jerseys, the Feastables logo will also appear on all media backdrops for press conferences, along with the virtual and physical uniforms of the Hornets, G League team Greensboro Swarm, and NBA 2K League team the Hornets Venom GT.
MrBeast — real name Jimmy Donaldson— first launched Feastables in January 2022, selling branded chocolate bars and cookies. Feastables made over $10 million in the months following its launch.
Earlier this week, it was also revealed that MrBeast would soon be joining the Board of Directors at Forbes, another major milestone for internet creators.
Read the full story via HypeBeast.
Men are cheating with AI Instagram bots, because men
In a new piece for Rolling Stone, EJ Dickson spoke with women whose boyfriends “cheated” on them with Instagram bots they thought were real.
Dickson explores sexting as a form of cheating. While this is definitely not a new phenomenon, the piece distinguishes between men who are in relationships sexting real women and men sexting bots, that they believe to be real women.
“[It] would not make a difference if he knew it was a real person or not. He actively sought intimacy with ‘something’ that/who isn’t me. I think if you consider it cheating with other real-life humans then it should be the same with simulators/AI/bots, especially with how realistic they can look,” one woman told Dickson.
These Instagram bots are a way to scam people out of money. The accounts typically pose as a beautiful woman who slides into a man’s DMs asking him to “click the link in my bio for naughty pictures”. These links usually lead to a sketchy app or website where men can pay money for nude photos.
The nude photos sometimes don’t even feature the same woman as the one associated with the account.
The bot accounts often disappear shortly after or ghost users once they’ve clicked the link and paid the money.
All the women Dickson spoke to discovered these types of “conversations” in their boyfriends’ DMs. Many tried sexting the bots back and some were even caught in blackmail schemes as a result.
“I think that men maybe are missing a brain cell,” one woman told Dickson.
Dickson notes that as AI technology improves, it’s likely that more people will “either willingly engage in infidelity with a bot, or be led astray by a convincing facsimile of an IRL adult content creator.”
Though some people may not consider sexting with a fake person as “real cheating,” the women Dickson spoke to argue it can sometimes feel even worse.
“I would rather be cheated on with a real person than a bot in some cases,” one said. “It would be a lot less embarrassing.”
Read the full piece via Rolling Stone.
The Swifties take on Barstool Sports
Speaking of men being The Worst™, Dan Katz and Eric Sollenberger— known as Big Cat and PFT Commenter, respectively— have come under fire for recent comments they made about Taylor Swift.
Big Cat and PFT Commenter co-host the wildly popular Barstool Sports podcast, Pardon My Take.
In a clip from this week’s episode, the men discuss the alleged relationship between Taylor Swift and NFL player Travis Kelce, saying they won’t believe the rumours until they see a “sex video” from the two.
“I don’t buy it until I see some dick in vagina,” Big Cat says. “I think Taylor Swift is using the NFL to try to make her star bigger.”
The clip has gone viral on X (formerly Twitter), with Swifties calling it “misogynistic” and “disgusting” to use Taylor and Travis’ alleged relationship as an excuse to “aggressively sexualize” the singer.
Others note how ironic it is for Big Cat to insinuate that Taylor Swift, an internationally renowned superstar, needs the NFL, an exclusively American sports league, for fame.
After the podcast hosts doubled down on their takes in the comment section, users are hoping the Swifties’ wrath will force them to remove the clip.
Read the full thread via X.
Is Katy Perry stealing houses from the elderly? Breaking down the internet's new conspiracy
This week’s infinite scroll podcast dives into the conspiracy theory that Katy Perry is preying on the weak and elderly to steal their houses. We look at Katy’s religious upbringing and her history with the church before exploring her legal battles and scandals related to property over the years, including how those two elements are unexpectedly intertwined and the singer's most recent drama with Real Housewives of Dallas star, Kameron Westcott.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.