Keep scrolling for the most accurate pop culture predictions of 2023.
Arielle Charnas denies rumours that her husband embezzled money from Something Navy
Gossip blogs are exploding with rumours that the husband of Something Navy’s Arielle Charnas embezzled money from her brand and now the couple is headed for divorce.
Arielle Charnas turned her lifestyle blog, Something Navy, into a fashion line in 2017 via a partnership with Nordstrom.
After the wildly successful partnership, she re-launched the brand on her own in July 2020, generating more than $1 million in sales in the first 30 minutes.
On Tuesday, DeuxMoi posted several claims that Arielle was divorcing her real-estate broker husband Brandon after he allegedly embezzled money from Something Navy.
Arielle was also seen on Instagram sans wedding ring.
By Wednesday, Something Navy’s CEO Matthew Scanlan denied the rumours to WWD.
“Brandon Charnas does not have access to company bank accounts. He is not an employee of the company, and he has no access points.”
A rep for Arielle and Brandon also denied these rumours to The Cut.
“All of these rumors are fake. Arielle and Brandon are happily married, there was absolutely no embezzlement. This is all part of a disgusting, coordinated smear campaign attempting to damage Arielle and Brandon’s reputations and lives.”
Though Arielle posted a selfie with Brandon today looking very much still married, fans are convinced that where there’s smoke there’s fire.
Read the full story via The Cut.
Are we giving too much energy to “chronically online” discourse?
A new piece by Rebecca Jennings for Vice explores how every chronically online discussion “is the same” and why we shouldn’t take it so seriously.
Regardless of the topic, every chronically online discussion has one thing in common: Very few people actually engage like this in real life.
“Sure, you might be privately annoyed at your friend who’s always talking about how great their life is when they drone on about their perfect mornings, and you might rightfully point out when an author has an unsavory past, but it’s unlikely that the subject coming up in conversation would lead to mass ridicule. But online, it’s almost a given.”
“Our collective thirst for gossip and controversy” has made people seek out content that they know will aggravate them and as a result, interpret it in the most extreme way possible.
This thirst for drama is actually a thirst for the punishment of others, amplified by the pandemic and platforms that prioritise clickbait to drive engagement.
“If the water was hot two years ago, it’s boiling now. Last month, when a Twitter thread by a woman who sent her neighbors homemade chili went viral, the woman was accused of being a “white savior” and inconsiderate to autistic people (the woman who wrote the thread is autistic). It’s just one example of how high the stakes seem to be for interpersonal encounters that are objectively nobody’s business, and how so often our thirst for drama is really a thirst for punishment.”
Despite how high the stakes feel online, “people in their regular lives don’t react to things this way” and therefore these interactions are not actually worth that much time and energy.
These chronically online encounters have become so normalised that they’re “almost boring” and hopefully soon, boring will become irrelevance.
Read the full piece via Vice.
Twitter user goes viral for hilarious 2023 pop culture predictions
A new internet trend has emerged this week where users are sharing their 2023 pop culture predictions across Twitter and TikTok.
Twitter user @miri_magdalene has gone viral for her contribution to this trend after she posted what some are calling the most accurate predictions to date.
Her predictions include a PR relationship between EmRata and Julia Fox, a cancellation for Jenna Ortega, a Gigi Hadid and Shawn Mendes hook-up, and a “furry arc” for Kamala Harris.
See Miri’s predictions via Twitter.
Drew Afualo explains the purpose of her content on Vulnerable with Christy Carlson Romano
TikTok star Drew Afualo sat down with former Disney star Christy Carlson Romano on her podcast Vulnerable to share some insight about the approach she takes with her feminist content.
Drew has been highly criticised over the years for the approach she takes when calling out bigoted men on her platform.
Many have called her approach “mean”, “aggressive” and “unproductive” to the feminist cause.
On Christy’s podcast, Drew addressed this criticism, saying it’s not her job to educate a “full-grown man” on why he shouldn’t hate women.
She also explained that she does not make her content to convince men to be less bigoted. Rather, she makes her content show women how bigoted these men can really be.
“You didn’t come out of my coochie so that’s not my responsibility, first. But second of all, I don’t care about you. And I feel like that’s the part they’re missing. […] What I care about is not shaking you out of your bigotry. I’m waking everybody else up. I’m telling all these girls, don’t listen to this shit. There’s a million more dicks where this one came from and one of them’s going to be worth it and there’s going to be a million that aren’t.”
Listen to Drew’s full interview on Vulnerable with Christy Carlson Romano.
Dylan Mulvaney faces backlash for carrying tampons as a trans woman
Trans TikTok creator Dylan Mulvaney— who has amassed over 9.4 million followers for her ‘Days of Girlhood’ series— is facing an onslaught of hate after receiving a PR package from Tampax.
Dylan has been forced to respond to backlash after Tampax sent her a box of tampons back in April.
The news reached Twitter this week and transphobic internet users are now threatening to boycott the brand.
In a TikTok posted yesterday, Dylan said though she does not use tampons, she sometimes carries them in case someone needs one.
Dylan said she hasn’t addressed the situation before as she’s “so tired” of sticking up for herself over something that was “pure intentioned”.
She also clarified she has never worked with Tampax nor has she made a single dollar from promoting feminine hygiene products.
The creator also noted that a man would be praised for keeping tampons around in case his girlfriend or female friend needed one, but there seems to be a double standard when it comes to trans women showing the same support.
Trans makeup artist Corrine Ferguson stitched Dylan’s video, explaining that trans women have long carried tampons as a tool for passing.
“One of the first things I learned when I started transitioning 15 years ago from an older trans woman who was in her 60s, was to always keep a pad or tampon on you because when you go into a woman’s washroom, if someone asks for one, you have one available. Not only is it a nice gesture, but it’s also a tool for passing so that someone doesn’t question your gender.”
Watch Dylan’s full response via TikTok.
TikTok & The Rise of Conspiracy Theories
Centennial Beauty’s podcast, Renegade w/ Lauren & Jordyn, explores the normalisation of conspiracy theories among TikTok users and how the platform's latest features are encouraging this type of thinking. They look at several recent examples where creators have been "cancelled" for seemingly mundane behaviour and look at how users have twisted the narrative to suit bizarre conspiracy theories, sometimes greatly impacting the creator's life and business.
Listen to the full episode of Renegade w/ Lauren & Jordyn on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.