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Gossip Girl reboot cancelled at HBO after two (very bad) seasons
In news that isn’t surprising to anyone who watched a single episode of the Gossip Girl reboot, HBO Max has axed the series.
In a Twitter thread posted on January 19th, showrunner Josh Safran announced the news, calling it “the greatest set I ever worked on, top to bottom”.
Though Safran says the show is looking for a new home, reviews for the series have been consistently critical of its cringy attempt at portraying Manhattan’s richest teens as earnest, kind, and embarrassed of their wealth.
As Lucy Mangan wrote for The Guardian: “If you are going to remake a show at a time and for an audience that needs these circumscriptions, don’t choose Gossip Girl. Its raison d’etre was the unspeakable joy of watching people relish in lives buttressed by more money than you knew existed, drinking martinis at 16 at impossibly glamorous clubs, and the exquisite catharsis (or schadenfreude) of seeing awful people being awful to each other in gloriously pitiless ways.”
Basically, the show was boring. The reboot lacked the salacious plotlines that became synonymous with Gossip Girl, never truly understanding who its audience was or what they wanted. While the original was wildly dramatised, the reboot somehow felt even more unrealistic in its failed attempt to appeal to Gen Z.
Read why the Gossip Girl reboot flopped via The Daily Beast.
TikTok ‘scar girl’ divides the internet over questionable facial scar
Creator Annie Bonelli has become the talk of the Tok as users debate whether or not her facial scar is real.
Annie, colloquially known as ‘scar girl’, has nearly half a million followers on TikTok, rising to fame over the past few weeks due to a unique scar she has on her left cheek.
Annie is being accused of faking her scar in order to gain social media traction after users pointed out that her scar looks less severe in older photos.
Questions about the positioning, angle, and width of the scar have also been questioned, highlighted in a viral comparison video by @livelaughwhor3, which now has over 1 million likes.
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In a TikTok video addressing the controversy, Annie she said that the difference in size is because she actually has two scars. The first is from an original injury (that happened in March 2021). The second (and darker scar) occurred when she applied topical cream that chemically burnt her face, creating an even bigger scar.
In an attempt to silence critics, Annie then posted a video showing she could not wipe off her scar with makeup remover. In the caption of the video, she shared that she received the scar in March 2020 and was originally very “embarrassed” by the “permanent mark” on her face. She wrote that “[She] was made to show those out there, they’re more than their scars.” She added that she would “never stop using [her] platform for DV awareness and body positivity.”
Regardless of the legitimacy of the scar in question, the discourse is another example of the internet dogpiling on a private citizen and making wild assumptions about their behaviour devoid of context, nuance, or empathy.
West Elm Caleb, Couch Guy, and Twitter’s Garden Coffee Lady are other recent examples of this phenomenon.
Find Annie’s explanation on TikTok.
Alix Earle & the Mielle Hair Oil controversy
Over the past several weeks, Black and brown women have voiced their concerns about the future of haircare brand Mielle Organics after TikTok’s ‘it girl’ Alix Earle included their hair oil in a favourites video.
On December 28th, Alix included Mielle Organics’ Rosemary Mint Scalp & Hair Strengthening Oil in a TikTok video sharing her favourite Amazon purchases of 2022, saying she’s seen “tremendous hair growth” from using it.
Mielle Organics is a Black-owned brand that specializes in natural hair products.
Her recommendation saw white women running to buy the hair oil in an attempt to achieve the coveted ‘Alix Earle effect’, resulting in shortages where those with textured hair have since struggled to access the product.
Black and brown women were quick to suggest that this spike in interest in Mielle Organics could result in changes in formula and pricing to appease a broader (AKA white) consumer base.
After being acquired by Unilever, SheaMoisture reformulated one of its popular products to better suit white hair.
On January 11th, P&G announced it was acquiring Mielle Organics— solidifying this concern.
Read the full story via HighSnobiety.
Why the internet hates Mindy Kaling’s Velma
HBO’s new animated series Velma is facing backlash online after the show failed to appease fans.
Velma was first announced in February 2021 with Mindy Kaling producing and starring in the series.
In an interview with Seth Meyers in July of that same year, Kaling said that response to the series was positive up until Velma’s ethnicity was announced.
In the new show, Velma Dinkley is an Indian girl. Other characters, including Daphne Blake and Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, are also no longer portrayed as white.
Though commentary about Velma was rooted in racism prior to its release, the majority of viewers now seem to be criticising the show because of its failed attempt at youth humour, as the script is filled with “jokes” that tread the line of transphobic, sexist, and offensive whilst trying to celebrate diversity.
The series is also receiving criticism from South Asians, with many creators expressing disappointment in how it represents the community.
The most popular internet theory as to why the show is “so bad” seems to be that Velma serves as “sacrificial trash”— a term originally coined by YouTubers Sarah Z and Lady Emily when they released a video analysing the online response to another animated series, High Guardian Spice.
As Ryan Broderick for Garbage Day writes, "'Sacrificial trash' is a piece of media that tries to pander to young audiences with woke identity politics to cover up how mediocre it is, which, in turn, creates a chaotic feedback loop of online discourse."
This theory is a favourite on right-wing TikTok and Twitter as it becomes increasingly conspiratorial.
Read the full story via Centennial Beauty.
Andrew Tate bragged about his webcam business crimes long before his arrest
A new report by NBC News dives into Andrew Tate’s history of media appearances, website records, and archives discussing the webcam business at the center of his arrest.
‘Men’s rights’ influencer Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania this past December alongside his brother and two women on suspicion of human trafficking, rape, and forming an organized crime group.
The NBC report found that he detailed how his business functioned and how women got involved with it across public platforms over the years. This included a 2022 interview with The Mirror in which he called the webcam business “a total scam” where they used cam girls to lure men into sending them money.
“In podcast appearances, news interviews and social media posts since 2021, Tate said that he employed women to make money for him by performing in webcam pornography, controlled their behavior and evaded law enforcement. He has also advertised content sold to teach people about how they can replicate his business model.”
Romanian authorities said that Tate forced women to perform for his webcam business “by exercising acts of physical violence and mental coercion (through intimidation, constant surveillance, control and invoking alleged debts).”
The report quotes Tate on several podcasts bragging about his alleged history of abusing women and getting away with it.
Read the story via NBC News.
Addison Rae, Alix Earle, Mikayla Nogueira & Hyram Yarbro: Are TikTokers *actually* influential?
This week’s infinite scroll podcast explores the concept of influence in the TikTok era. We first cover the news that Sephora is dropping Addison Rae’s ITEM Beauty and Hyram Yarbro’s Selfless by Hyram from its shelves, before diving into several other examples that support our theory that TikTok creators are struggling to maintain relevancy and turn their followers into paying customers. We then look at some exceptions to this trend, including Alix Earle and Mikayla Nogueira, before finishing with our theories as to why TikTok fame is so different from YouTube or Instagram fame.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.