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Tag: Internet culture

  • The Spookiest and Silliest Celebrity Halloween Costumes This Year

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    Paris Hilton as Tinkerbell on Halloween night.
    Photo: Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

    Halloween is the Met Gala if the theme was “You can go full throttle, and it doesn’t matter if you’re hot or not.” The best costumes don’t have to lean into being sexy. Sure, it’s a nice touch, but the looks that have people talking are funny, creative, and look as though you’ve spent weeks thinking about who you’re going to be. For celebrities, it’s no different — except you might have a whole team prepping months in advance for the big night. Some people might go as classic costumes, like Beetlejuice, or as a pop star like Britney Spears. Others might take the opportunity to be super meta and require a quick Google search to figure out what their costume is. Either way, Halloweekend has begun. Below, the best costumes from Sabrina Carpenter, Heidi Klum, Demi Lovato, Janelle Monáe, and more celebs.

    Barbie’s dream house is on Pretty Girl Ave. Carpenter had multiple costumes for her Short ‘n’ Spooky concert, including Fred Flintstone and Wonder Woman. Carpenter even had a special guest…

    Don’t worry, Ghost Face has been arrested!

    Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Heidi Klum Hall

    We warned you! Klum turned her husband Tom Kaulitz into stone but we get it; it’s hard to keep your eyes off of her.

    Photo: Rachpoot/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

    For his night out, Bloom dressed as a spooky scary skeleton.

    Ok, this is really cute. Trudeau paid tribute to his relationship with Katy Perry by dressing as the left shark.

    Nicole made her Halloween costume a music video, lip-singing to Toni Braxton’s “He Wasn’t Man Enough.”

    Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Heidi Klum Hall

    Somebody once told me Criss would dress up as Shrek but we didn’t believe them. Now we know.

    Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Heidi Klum Hall

    Klum’s Halloween party quickly transformed into Pandora when Love Island USA winner Amaya Papaya walked in.

    Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Heidi Klum Hall

    EJAE could’ve easily gone as Rumi but chose a fuzzier costume. It’s night and it gets cold! Derpy Tiger is perfect for sneaking candy in.

    Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images for Heidi Klum Hall

    Hernandez, alongside his girlfriend Ana Amelia Batlle Cabral, transformed into the Addams family. I wonder what his mom and aunt think about their outfits.

    Troye’s so cheeky, he’s like hee-hee. I’m like ha-ha-ha. No really, this made me laugh.

    The View may be eschewing costumes on Halloween, but the Jenna & Friends hour of Today went all out. Savannah Guthrie was Miranda Priestly, accompanied by Matt Rogers as the Tooch. And Jenna Bush Hager was Priestly’s irl inspo, Anna Wintour.

    The former SURver participated in virality in a couple different ways: dressing as a plague victim, and doing the “What’s Up?/Beez in the Trap” TikTok trend. Joining her in the video were hubby Beau and Vanderpump Rules alum Katie Maloney.

    He’s in love with the shape of Boo. Ed Sheeran did a full transformation into the Skarsgård incarnation of Pennywise. Welcome to Derry spon?

    @tanamongeaulol

    @Chili’s Grill & Bar i want to ask you nicely. if this doesn’t bring us a chili’s brand deal, this is it. i’m done. i love you, please don’t make this the final cheese pull. @trishapaytas 🧀 ❤️

    ♬ original sound – Jake Shane

    Great minds think alike. Paytas, Mongeau, and Lizzo all embodied an epic cheese pull for Halloween this year. Trish and Tan did a couples’ costume, while Lizzo was a snack all by herself.

    Photo: Santiago Felipe/Getty Images

    Chicken Shop Date creator Amelia Dimoldenberg attended Julio Torres’s “The Cursed Amulet” party dressed as Jim Hopper (David Harbour) from Stranger Things on October 30. She also held up a phone displaying a song by Harbour’s ex-wife, Lily Allen, who just released the album West End Girl, on which she implies that their marriage broke down because he cheated on her. On “Pussy Palace,” the song Dimoldenberg’s listening to, Allen wonders, “Am I looking at a sex addict?”

    Photo: Santiago Felipe/Getty Images

    Julia Fox, who judged the costume contest at Torres’s party, came dressed as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis after her husband, John F. Kennedy, was shot next to her. “Tonight, I’m serving bloody diva, single mom who’s about to cash that check,” she said on the carpet.

    Photo: Santiago Felipe/Getty Images

    Comedian and party host Julio Torres was a burning windmill. The entire windmill is technically a wig, built out of hair, and the blades actually rotated with the use of a disco-ball motor.

    Noted anime fan Megan Thee Stallion chose to portray “Hot Girl Choso” from Jujutsu Kaisen. On the show, Choso is a Death Painting Womb who is half-human and half–cursed spirit. He wears a loose robe and a scarf, which Meg hot girl–ified with a little midriff action.

    TikTok star and & Juliet alum Charli D’Amelio went as Cher, specifically in Harry Langdon’s iconic photo shoot for her album Prisoner. She posted two more photo shoots dressed as Cher. Somebody get her on Drag Race, where she can really shine.

    Niecy Nash and her wife, Jessica Betts, went as two components of this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. Betts is Kendrick Lamar grinning at the camera as he said “Hey, Drake!” while Nash embodies Drake’s ex Serena Williams.

    Poot Lovato, Demi’s long-lost twin sister, is making her Halloween debut; she’s finally set free! Lovato poked fun at herself, dressing as a meme from 2014. Long story short: Someone Photoshopped an unflattering photo of Lovato, and fans named her Poot, her twin who was “locked in a basement her whole life.” Lovato finally accepted the meme after realizing someone had Photoshopped her years later in 2023. Poot lives!

    Monáe started off the season as a carnival barker. What? You didn’t think she was going to do only one costume, right? You’re not celebrating Halloween if you’re not watching the spookiest movies — Beetlejuice, Hocus Pocus, and, obviously, The Craft, which became Monáe’s second costume of the season before transforming into something especially scary.

    The Cat in the Hat takes the cake for the creepiest Jennifer Hudson Spirit Tunnel ever. Thankfully, her other costumes weren’t as creepy but were still fun, like Lady Vampira and Beetlejuice — wait, we’ve said it three times, haven’t we?

    Oops, she did it again: multiple costumes! You can’t expect anything less from an heiress. Hilton and her family dressed as the Toy Story crew and the Peter Pan Darlings, and for a solo look, she was the original Material Girl and Tinkerbell.

    Kardashian picked the ultimate “If you know, you know” costume, dressing as TikToker Jay Guapõ to show other parents she knows what her kids are watching online. It wasn’t the only online costume from the Kardashians; North West also dressed as Kai Cenat with her friends. The kids love the computer!

    After looking speechless when asked what their favorite Mariah Carey music-video look was, Katseye made a comeback by dressing as their answers. And the queen herself approves: “My daughter loves them, hello!”

    Halloween is a good time to try a new look, and maybe the Ride podcast hosts and the Overcompensating stars are trying everything à la Shakira. Perhaps this will unlock their fursona within — or become nightmare fuel. Either way, perfect subway outfits.

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    Alejandra Gularte

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  • See How We’re Breaking This Down? Very Demure.

    See How We’re Breaking This Down? Very Demure.

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    Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: The Emoji Company, Jools Lebron via TikTok

    Oh, word? TikTok is expanding its vocabulary again. On August 2, TikToker Jools Lebron, @joolieannie, posted a video pointing out her minimal makeup and laid wig, reflecting, “See how I come to work? Very demure.” Less than two weeks later, she’s now made dozens of viral TikToks about being demure — with the most-watched one sitting mindfully at 10.7 million views. The word has now entered the app’s vernacular; you might say that taking away Jordan Chiles’s bronze medal is not very demure, for example. Look in a dictionary — demure is defined as “reserved, modest,” and perhaps a “little coy.” Lebron’s guidelines, however, are a bit more flexible. According to her account, there are a lot of ways to be “mindful,” “cutesy,” “sweetsy,” “considerate,” or any of the other adjectives she uses to describe this mind-set. It’s demure for Lebron to have her “chichis out” at work, but it’s also demure for her to wear a high-cut top. A demure diva chooses to get a salad after clocking out for the day — even though Lebron is showing off a multicourse meal, it’s a salad if she says it is — and even if it isn’t, look how demure and mindful she is to bring home leftovers.

    This mind-set doesn’t only apply to work, ladies. So far, Lebron has given tongue-in-cheek reminders about how to behave on planes and in gay bars, and figured out how to fit everything from midnight snacks to conflicting perfume tips into her not-like-other-girls mind-set. “We need a demure rule book that gets more convoluted and inconsistent as you add rules for us!!” one commenter suggested. “YOU GET IT,” Lebron replied.

    These videos are not meant to be serious critiques. Instead, Lebron is often joking about her own behavior; she says she’s shown up to work in a green-glitter cut-crease makeup look — not exactly demure — and a recent video where she declares that she doesn’t drink or party is accompanied by footage of her slurring “very demure” to herself while looking for her hotel room after a night out in Las Vegas. Maybe it’s time for everyone who embraced being a little messy and dumb in the spirit of Brat summer to remind themselves how demure they can be? Charli XCX is already down for the next trend of the season, commenting “very cutesy!!!” on Lebron’s demure version of the “Apple” dance.

    As this trend continues to take off, Lebron made a point in an August 13 video to credit the “many demura divas” who have “paved the way” for her, including trans sisters like artist and content creator Selyna Brillare, kudasai selfie-stick queen Devin Halbal, and ballroom icon Venus Xtravaganza. “Demure is just a way of life for the girls, for the dolls like me,” Lebron said, adding, “Who’s the original demure? Well, all of us. Being demure is thanking the people who have come before you while you pave the path for the people who will come after you.” Behold, the fruits of DemureTok.

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    Jennifer Zhan

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  • J. Crew’s Collab With The Bear Is Not for the Bears

    J. Crew’s Collab With The Bear Is Not for the Bears

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    Is this a comedy or a drama?
    Photo: Courtesy J. Crew

    Good news, foodie bros, How Long Gone listeners, and Brooklyn dads: J.Crew has released a limited-edition line of casual menswear in collaboration with The Bear. And lest you worry about coming across as a fake fan, this stuff doesn’t just have the restaurant’s bear logo or the show’s name on it. Nay, nay, this stuff is a deep cut for the real heads: workwear bearing the logo for fictional in-universe family-owned Chicagoland business “Matter of Fak Supply.”

    The Faks, of course, are Berzatto family friends and handymen Neil (Matty Matheson), Ted (Ricky Staffieri), and the newly stunt-cast floor waxer Sammy (John Cena). The merch — a work jacket, trucker hat, sweatshirt, and tee — is sort of workwear cosplay at J.Crew prices. The canvas work jacket is a clone of the one worn by Ted on this season of The Bear, and J. Crew has him modeling it on the website. It is $398, and already sold out in every size …

    … Every size they seemingly offer, anyway. Writer Victoria Edel pointed out on X that the sold-out collection maxed out at a 2X, likely excluding Matheson himself. This size-inclusivity oversight on J.Crew’s part represents the issue with this collection, one that embodies a larger tension inherent to The Bear concerning authenticity and a muddled relationship to class. My colleague, TV critic Roxana Hadadi, told me over Slack that the collection is “an interesting glimpse into the show’s actual narrative tension, which is that everyone is so obsessed with chasing high-end, fine-dining success that they’re ignoring what really works, which is the sandwich counter, and who really cares about the success of the business, which is their working-class regulars.

    “So The Bear continuing to lean into high-end partnerships with brands like J.Crew, and featuring other super-expensive brands like Thom Browne is actually an unintentional reflection, perhaps, of the literal ignorance the show has for the actual people who support The Bear,” she added.

    Moreover, it’s also all just a bit corny, isn’t it? Writer Jesse David Fox, a The Bear fan and self-admitted member of this collab’s target demo, said that the “fake vintage” design on these items, with their fake old logo, “feels like 2005 American Eagle.” Strategist writer Erin Schwartz’s issues with the line were also primarily aesthetic: “Good graphic design is a hack to make your merch seem cool on a T-shirt. And this is bad graphic design.”

    Not that it makes a difference: It’s mostly sold out. The only thing left is the trucker hat, for $59.99 and that, at least, is allegedly one size fits all. Or buy, like, four Italian beefs. The choice is yours.

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    Rebecca Alter

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  • Aye, T, It’s Called ‘Socialist Sopranos Memes’

    Aye, T, It’s Called ‘Socialist Sopranos Memes’

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    Every day you decide to log on to social media is another day you decide to return to the front lines of online battle, also known as discourse. Should childless adults watch Bluey? Can people be normal about Sydney Sweeney? Who is Mr. Beast? Pick a side or log off. Of all the commentators logging hours and upsetting people, no one does it with as much style and humor as the person behind the Socialist Sopranos Memes account, @gabagoolmarx.

    John Palmucci is a New Jersey native and self-identified “Italian Guy,” which he insists is not a bit, who has been wading into Facebook and Twitter fights as Socialist Sopranos Memes for more than five years, armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of HBO’s The Sopranos, left-wing views, a righteous frustration with political and social discourse, and the heart of a poster. He uses the most popular Sopranos memes — Tony realizing he hates A.J., Christopher explaining trending topics, Carmela throwing orange juice at Tony — to comment on our daily cultural oddities, political ineptitude, and government’s lack of decency.

    What makes an SSM post so satisfying is its blend of gallows humor and a distinct voice aimed at the perfect target. Every time Vice-President Kamala Harris puts her foot in her mouth or the right wing clutches their pearls can be met with a succinct wisecrack that hits as hard as an elbow to the face. Despite (or because of) how niche the overlap of The Sopranos, leftist politics, and shitposting is, SSM has gained nearly 100,000 followers and wandered into too many online fights to count, including one with media reporter Taylor Lorenz breathlessly covered by the New York Post. With The Sopranos back in the cultural conversation and a presidential election looming, @gabagoolmarx remains one of the most unique voices on the internet.

    Could The Sopranos get made today?
    I guess it could. I just don’t think networks are really putting out anything that’s at that level of quality. So in that sense, it couldn’t. Not because “society’s too woke” or whatever — I don’t buy that — but because networks aren’t really committed to delivering a level of quality that existed on television 20-some-odd years ago.

    Is Tony Soprano alive?
    That’s always been my opinion. I get a lot of shit about this. From people online, but from all my friends, too. They all think I’m crazy. I think he was not shot and killed in that diner. I don’t think that’s the point of that final scene.

    What is the point of that final scene?
    Putting you into [Tony Soprano’s] frame of mind. That’s all we really need. What do we get out of seeing him go on trial and go to jail? What do we get out of seeing him get shot in the head? We don’t need that. I acknowledge the plausibility that he could be dead, but that’s just not really the point of that.

    Tell me about the origins of Socialist Sopranos Memes.
    I started on Facebook. It was late in 2018. I was doing a Sopranos rewatch and I was making some memes that had nothing to do with The Sopranos. So I’m rewatching the show and I said to one of my buddies, “What if I kind of mix these two things together? That sounds crazy, right?” That’s where it started. I’ve been doing this for a little over five years now.

    Have you always had socialist views?
    Back when I was a teenager, I was into political punk — Dead Kennedys, Choking Victim, Crass, stuff like that. Then I went to college. I probably shifted to the right a little bit. I was like, Maybe I’m more of a libertarian? I had one of those silly little journeys. Then the whole Bernie thing happened in 2016. Like a lot of people, Bernie brought me back in — and then there were the disappointments with all that. After Bernie 2016, I joined a small socialist organization, and I’m still a member today.

    What’s more annoying: when people don’t get a joke because they don’t understand socialism or when someone gets upset because they clearly don’t know The Sopranos that well?
    It’s definitely the people who don’t understand The Sopranos. I put something out mocking the whole, “Oh, they can never make this today in today’s woke society.” I’m clearly making fun of the people who earnestly say that, and some guy says, “That’s why we need Trump, and we need to make America great again.” The whole premise of the show is the good old days weren’t actually all that good. The whole idea is you can’t make it great again because it wasn’t great to begin with.

    I can understand why someone might not understand a social political economic philosophy, but if you’re going to claim to be a huge fan of The Sopranos, have some kind of idea that it goes a little bit beyond the gangsters in New Jersey with guns. It’s obviously deeper than that.

    It’s not unusual for you to upset people online. I find it very funny to see people argue with a screenshot of Michael Imperioli.  
    Maybe it’s good for them to have a faceless meme account to get mad at. There was a time in my life where I was the guy at the dinner table that would cause political arguments. I’m an Italian guy from New Jersey with left-wing views, and not a lot of the people around me have those. How I view it now is, amongst my family and my friends, I’m not that guy anymore, because I put my views out there for me. Since I’m not going to argue with my family and my friends, I’ll do it with strangers. I just throw it out there, and if strangers want to get upset about it, that’s fine. Maybe it’s good for them too to not have a “real person” to get mad at.

    If that outlet takes the form of a beloved HBO show, that helps make it less of a contentious form of expression. 
    I work late hours, odd hours, long hours. I need some kind of outlet. I could only rant so much to my wife about politics. She’ll listen, and a lot of times she agrees, but it’s good to just let it out there. I didn’t know it was going to even become that when I started with this. It was just a silly thing I was doing, showing my friends. At some point, it just became my release.

    Has someone had criticism that you found to be valid or made you think deeper?
    No, not really. It’s more about whatever’s going on in the world is probably what would change me in any way. I know it’s been going on for decades, but the last few months with Israel-Palestine, for example, seeing things … there was a time I didn’t make memes about stuff like that.

    Circling back to my whole thing about how I use the account to say the things that I am kind of done arguing with my family and friends about, that was a big one for years. Israel and Palestine was something very contentious with a bunch of people in my life.

    It’s funny that you have people yelling at you, “Why do you hate Taylor Lorenz?” Is that your biggest online fight? 
    Taylor Lorenz was probably the big one. That all stemmed from when I saw her saying something about how the striking Starbucks workers were not wearing masks on their picket line. Some of them were not wearing masks on the picket line outdoors on their picket line in early 2023. They’re just baristas and whatnot, trying to get a better wage, and you’re coming in and while her thing is all telling people they’re being insufficiently leftist. I’m a union worker for almost 11 years now. So, no, I’m not going to tolerate that. Then I saw she gave crap to someone about going to a restaurant or something, meeting with friends and stuff, so I made a meme about her just like, You know what? You’re a big public figure and you’re going around saying all this stuff. You can and should be able to handle criticism. I get criticized, my page gets criticized. I can handle that. She responded with the whole about how I joined the right-wing harassment campaign. Yeah, that was the big one.

    I don’t know if you knew this, but this is the most important election of our lifetime.
    I hear that one every four years.

    How are you feeling going into this election?
    I mean, not great. Four years ago, Trump lost and we were sold that Biden was going to be the second coming of FDR. By 2020, I was so cynical, and you could see that by whatever I was posting back then. Four years later, that’s just all compounded. I mean, sure, there’s a lot of potential to come up with memes on the election. But we’re kind of rehashing, though, because it’s the same two guys that ran four years ago and they’re just older. More older Biden jokes. Trump’s the harder one to make jokes about.

    Why is that? 
    I’m a socialist, so obviously, I don’t like a billionaire business magnate. That’s obvious. So every time there’s an election, I get the stuff about, “You only go after Democrats.” I’m like, “No one ever confuses me for a Republican.” I get confused for a Democrat. Every time I make something mocking Democrats or Biden, that just reinforces that idea. I don’t even know if I’m going to vote. I don’t like any of these guys. Don’t even throw RFK at me, none of them. I live in New Jersey, what does it even matter here? [Laughs]

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    Nic Juarez

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  • The Trump Verdict Memes Are for the History Books

    The Trump Verdict Memes Are for the History Books

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    Photo: Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images

    If you turned on cable news at 5:07 p.m. on Thursday, May 30, you watched the birth of a meme in real time. As the verdict in Donald Trump’s hush-money trial was read out in court, talking heads chose to announce every single guilty verdict one by one, seemingly on loop, with each count sounding funnier than the last. (One NBC News contributor said “guilty” over and over for nearly two minutes.) When all was said and done, we learned the former president and presumptive Republican nominee was found guilty on all 34 felony counts … and we got steaming-hot, fresh-out-of-the-meme-oven clips of cable-news hosts. A new meme just arrived in the world, ready to capture ineffable moments like these. Below, a roundup of the memes we got out of the Trump verdict, both new and old.

    Related

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    Zoe Guy

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  • We Stood on Both Sides of the New York–Dublin Portal and It Was Glorious

    We Stood on Both Sides of the New York–Dublin Portal and It Was Glorious

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    Amanda: I got to the Portal in Manhattan’s Flatiron District a little before 11 am New York time, and found that there’s now a fence keeping people several feet away from it (but the same isn’t happening in Dublin). This is part of the new security the organizers have implemented: If someone steps on the Portal or blocks the camera, the livestream will blur for both sides, organizers say. For the next hour, a steady stream of people stopped by the Portal, with usually about 30 there at any time. They waved, they smiled, they danced YMCA and the Macarena on both sides. People brought dogs, and a group of preschoolers in a line walked by and waved.

    David: Dublin’s Portal, located facing Dublin’s main thoroughfare, O’Connell Street and the historic General Post Office building, has one permanent observer—James Joyce. A statue of Ireland’s most celebrated writer and author of the archetypal Dublin novel, Ulysses, stands just meters from the video screen. But rather than reciting Joyce, it was a 20th-century American rapper that particularly inspired one Portal visitor. A woman dressed head-to-toe in white danced silently before the screen for a few minutes, before turning around and singing: “You better lose yourself in the music, the moment, you own it, you better never let it go. You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow. This opportunity comes once in a lifetime.” Joyce and Eminem may not seem like natural bedfellows, but in Dublin and in front of the Portal, it seemed oddly fitting to lose oneself in the moment.

    Amanda: While we couldn’t hear the Eminem lyrics on the New York side of the Portal, the crowd enjoyed watching the woman’s energy and dance moves. Even without sound, people were able to convey emotion, and all eyes were on the silent performance broadcast from Dublin.

    David: The police in Ireland did finally move on the Eminem tribute act, but one of the “Dublin Portal Ambassadors” —who told me clearly that they were not security—felt that the woman was doing no harm. Though the ambassador, who refused to give his name, added that the night before, things did get a bit more rowdy after 6 pm, with some groups on pub crawls around the city briefly disrupting other people’s interactions before things quickly returned to normal. As part of the measures introduced for the Portal’s reopening, opening hours have been limited to 6 am until 4 pm ET (11 am to 9 pm Dublin time).

    The Portals stand 3.4 meters tall and weigh “multiple tons,” the organizers say, but they won’t give details about the camera and screen technology being used, adding: “It’s like the paint used to paint a painting—we want the audience to focus on the result.”

    Amanda: Those working on the New York side handed out signs that read “I ‘heart’ Dublin” and “I ‘shamrock’ Dublin” for people to hold up, artificially ramping up the perceived goodwill between the two cities. One of the people working told me he hasn’t seen issues since it reopened—it’s been nothing but love and good vibes.

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    David Gilbert, Amanda Hoover

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  • A ScarJo-Sounding AI Voice Is No Longer Her(e)

    A ScarJo-Sounding AI Voice Is No Longer Her(e)

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    Just want her back.
    Photo: Warner Bros./Everett Collection

    ChatGPT better keep Colin Jost’s wife’s voice out of its mouth. The OpenAI voice “Sky,” which sounded eerily similar to Scarlett Johansson’s in the movie Her, was suspended on May 20. “We’ve heard questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT, especially Sky,” OpenAI posted on Twitter. “We are working to pause the use of Sky while we address them.” In Her, Johansson played an AI named Samantha that Joaquin Phoenix’s Theodore falls in love with. In a blog post further explaining the situation, the company said that “Sky’s voice is not an imitation of Scarlett Johansson but belongs to a different professional actress using her own natural speaking voice.” Given that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman tweeted solely the word “Her” on May 13, that does not seem super-feasible, but hey, whatever you say, guys.

    Later that same day, Johansson released a statement revealing that Altman reached out twice, asking her to voice the AI herself, but she declined. She explained in the statement, “He told me that he felt that by my voicing the system, I could bridge the gap between tech companies and creatives and help consumers to feel comfortable with the seismic shift concerning humans and Al… Two days before the ChatGPT 4.0 demo was released, Mr. Altman contacted my agent, asking me to reconsider. Before we could connect, the system was out there.” Maybe next time, they should make Hal 9000.

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    Jason P. Frank

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  • TikTok Divest-or-Ban Bill Passes in the Senate

    TikTok Divest-or-Ban Bill Passes in the Senate

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    The U.S. Senate passed the TikTok bill on Tuesday evening in a vote of 79-18. The bill, which bans TikTok unless Bytedance sells it to a U.S. owner, flew through Congress this week as part of a broader package to provide $90 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. President Joe Biden said in a statement following the Senate vote that he would sign the package as soon as Wednesday, clearing the last hurdle before the TikTok divest-or-ban bill becomes law.

    Mourning the Loss of Addison Rae’s Debut Album | The Meme Machine

    “We’ve learned in recent years that democracy is a fragile and precious thing,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor Tuesday. “It will not survive the threats of this century – the new threats – if we aren’t willing to do what it takes to defend it.”

    TikTok is prepared to wage a legal battle against the U.S. government over the so-called ban, Bloomberg reported on Sunday. The social media company claims the so-called TikTok ban is “a clear violation” of the First Amendment rights of TikTok’s 170 million American users. A court case of this kind is unprecedented and could go up to the Supreme Court.

    TikTok did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.

    The “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” also known as the TikTok bill, grants the White House new privileges to crack down on apps it determines to be a national security threat. The bill gives U.S. presidents the power to label apps as “foreign adversary-controlled applications” and force them to be sold to a U.S. owner within 270 days, though Biden can extend this to 360 days (a previous version only provided 180 days). If no sale occurs, the apps will be banned from app stores and blocked by internet service providers in the United States.

    TikTok has long denied that it shares any data with the Chinese government. However, Senators received classified briefings on TikTok from national security officials in March, which reportedly revealed the app’s “shocking” spy capabilities. Senators told Axios that TikTok could be used to tap the microphone on users’ devices, and even determine what users are doing on other apps. That said, none of this evidence has been made public

    A previous version of this bill swiftly passed through the House in March but stalled in the Senate for more than a month. By tying the TikTok bill to a crucial foreign aid package, lawmakers were able to nearly ensure it would be taken up by the Senate.

    One concern tech lawyers have raised about the TikTok bill is that it could ban apps other than TikTok. The bill features vague definitions of what constitutes “foreign adversary-controlled applications,” and gives the president a near unchecked power to make such a categorization.

    As President Biden seems poised to sign the TikTok bill into law, former President Donald Trump has flipped his stance on the social media app. Trump now supports TikTok’s existence, posting on Truth Social Monday that “Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok.” Trump was the first to attempt a TikTok ban in 2020 when he signed an executive order that was later rejected by a federal court.

    Trump’s reversal, which seems contradictory, is likely to curry favor with younger voters. Despite the overwhelming support in Congress, a U.S. TikTok ban is not popular with voters. Just 38% of U.S. adults say they would support a TikTok ban, according to the Pew Research Center. If Biden signs the TikTok bill, he’ll appear strong against China, but could potentially lose important swing voters.

    TikTok says this bill would “trample” free speech in America, an increasingly popular claim among social media apps. Elon Musk’s X and Trump’s Truth Social make similar First Amendment arguments for their app’s controversial content. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is going in the other direction. Facebook, Threads, and Instagram how vowed not to prioritize news on their social media sites, making duller apps in exchange for less controversy.

    TikTok has fought tooth and nail to avoid a U.S. ban under Bytedance’s ownership. The app sent push notifications to millions of American users asking them to call their local congress member. Lawmakers’ offices were flooded with phone calls later that day. TikTok and Bytedance also reportedly spent over $7 million lobbying in Congress this year to fight the potential ban. Those attempts were unsuccessful, so now TikTok is poised to take this battle to court.

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    Maxwell Zeff

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  • The Yesterday Lawsuit Was Not Here to Stay

    The Yesterday Lawsuit Was Not Here to Stay

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    Leak the Ana de Armas cut.
    Photo: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

    Over two years and thousands in legal fees later, we can all forget about the Yesterday lawsuit, much like every character in Yesterday forgot about the Beatles. The class-action lawsuit from two Ana de Armas fans mad she was cut out of the film despite being in the trailer was officially settled on April 12, according to Variety. The details of the settlement are unknown. Peter Rosza and Conor Woulfe initially sued Universal in 2022 after renting Yesterday for $3.99 on Amazon. They got an early win when a judge agreed with them that trailers are commercial speech, rather than art in their own right, and thus subject to false-advertising claims. Then, however, they needed to prove that a large group of people were falsely led to watch the movie because they wanted to see Ana de Armas, but when the movie is based on the Beatles, that’s a tough sell. The case was thrown out. Rosza and Woulfe were left with $126,705 in Universal’s legal fees. The famed Ana de Armas stan account, @ArmasUpdates, has yet to weigh in.

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    Jason P. Frank

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  • Elon Musk Punishing Popular X Users With Blue Checkmarks

    Elon Musk Punishing Popular X Users With Blue Checkmarks

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    Elon Musk reinvented the blue checkmark Wednesday night, regressing to an old Twitter policy where anyone with a certain amount of status gets a check. Now, accounts with more than 2,500 verified subscriber followers automatically received a blue checkmark for free Thousands of influential X users were devastated to find out they’d been marked with Elon’s stamp of approval, so they ran to X to clarify they did not pay for this.

    Mr. Tweet Fumbles Super Bowl Tweet

    “Yo, Elon, take this blue check and scratch your t***t with the long end of it,” said David Simon, creator of the award-winning TV show, The Wire. “Does anyone out there know how to turn this f****r off?”

    “What happened? I didn’t pay for this. I would NEVER pay for this,” said one user.

    “I didn’t ask for a blue check,” said another. “I need to make this abundantly clear.”

    The revival of free blue checkmarks comes over a year after Musk started asking users to pay for verification services in 2022. Users with less than 2,500 followers can still pay for premium features today, but it’ll cost you $8 a month and your dignity. As of Wednesday, X users with over 2,500 followers automatically get X Premium features, while users with over 5,000 followers get Premium Plus features.

    The blue checkmark’s reputation was tarnished when Musk made it a paid feature. While Twitter’s verification used to be a status symbol, it quickly became a mark that you were writing Musk a monthly check for increased reach. That has, potentially, forever changed the internet’s association with the blue checkmark, so many popular users are racing to remove it.

    “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit,” Musk said in 2022 when he made people start paying for verification. “Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.”

    Users can still turn the blue checkmark off by simply navigating to the “profile customization” page within X’s settings. You’ll still get all those free features without any of the embarrassment.

    This decision puts influential X users in an odd predicament. For one, some popular X users have been paying for premium features for the last two years. Now, they’re supposed to stop paying, simply because Elon decided this experiment wasn’t working out. Not to mention, the blue checkmark may not be the gift it once was.

    So why the change? The free blue checkmarks and premium features could be a sign Musk is looking to increase engagement on X. Drastically more users will get access to features such as longer posts, bookmark folders, Musk’s AI chatbot Grok, and access to an ad revenue sharing program. It’s unclear exactly why Musk is reversing his stance on verification, but it’s the latest unexplained policy reversal on the confusing hellscape of X.

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    Maxwell Zeff

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  • Woman Discovers Fleetwood Mac in Wholesome Viral Tweet

    Woman Discovers Fleetwood Mac in Wholesome Viral Tweet

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    One woman’s recent journey through Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 opus Rumors led to a truly wholesome moment online.

    Raven Baxter, who goes by @ravenscimaven on X (formerly Twitter), shared on Tuesday night that she heard one of the hit songs from Rumors, “Go Your Own Way,” and was shocked to learn about the drama behind it and the whole album.

    Rumors, which was an instant hit upon its release, came as multiple interpersonal relationships between Fleetwood Mac’s band members went sour: Stevie Nicks’ relationship with Lindsey Buckingham had ended; the group’s namesake drummer, Mick Fleetwood had learned his wife had cheated on him; and the late Christine McVie and John McVie divorced in 1976 after eight years of marriage, and still worked together on the album. All of this turmoil was channeled into what is regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, sitting at No. 7 on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list.

    Baxter’s post went viral, and she continued to add to the thread as she listened to more of the album. “Wait is this WHOLE album two people in the band breaking up and fighting?!?!” she wrote.

    Her posts about experiencing the great album for the first time endeared her to others, who delighted in her joy of discovery, and responded saying that they wished they could relive learning about the drama of Fleetwood Mac for the first time. The band trended on X on Wednesday, as users chimed in with suggestions for other Fleetwood Mac songs to listen to.

    “If you love “Go Your Own Way” you have you to listen to “The Chain” *especially* after a couple of margaritas lol,” one person wrote. “that whole album is a trip. two couples breaking up and singing their feelings at each other,” another person wrote.

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    Moises Mendez II

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  • Meet the Internet’s Award Season Boyfriends

    Meet the Internet’s Award Season Boyfriends

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    What is a white boy of the month? The term originated on the social media app formerly known as Twitter, as most ubiquitous pillars of stan culture do. The Twitter white boy of the month began as a joke poking fun at the cyclical nature of thirst on the internet. Almost every month, everyone’s feeds would erupt with photos and fancams of a new heartthrob — usually a young, white actor or musician with heartthrob hair — just to be replaced by the newest flavor of the month only weeks later.

    Then came the ranking system. Stan communities pitted their white boys against each other, ranking them according to whether they were hot or not. But soon, as the term entered the mainstream, the internet seemed to come to a consensus: these are all our parasocial boyfriends. We should all just get along.

    Thus, the internet boyfriend or the white boy of the month has become a fixture of being chronically online. The term has evolved so much that this flavor of the month doesn’t even have to be white. Often, his relevancy doesn’t even last an entire month in our minds. Blame our TikTok-addled brains but these heartthrobs are being cycled through like micro trends.

    However, during award season, we are inundated with content from the same fleet of internet boyfriends — keeping them in rotation and lodging their gorgeous faces in the centers of our brain for longer. Don’t mind if I do.

    We get red carpet content, heartwarming speeches, interviews, group photos — how can we choose just one white boy of the month under conditions like these? The sight of them keeps us entertained during peak Seasonal Affective Disorder months, and for that, I thank them for their service.

    @indiewire

    Callum Turner, Austin Butler, and Barry Keoghan at last night’s “Masters of The Air” premiere. Watch the series’ teaser at the link in our bio. #indiewire #fyp #austinbutler #barrykeoghan #callumturner #redcarpet #tvtok #tvtiktok

    No matter who gets awarded the most statues by various guilds and academies this season, I just hope all my internet boyfriends have fun.

    A Field Guide to Internet Boyfriends

    If you’re overwhelmed and hot under the collar, look no further than this field guide to internet boyfriends. As talented as they are beautiful, this year’s slate of award season hotties is serving up more than a few white boys of the month and we’re eating good.

    Callum Turner

    If you’ve been paying attention to the indie scene, you’ve likely had a crush on actor Callum Turner for a while. This year, Callum Turner — Masters of the Air and The Boys in the Boat under his belt — he’s made it into the mainstream and straight into the running for white boy of the month. It also doesn’t hurt that Callum Turner’s girlfriend is none other than Dua Lipa. I want to be them so bad.

    Notable Callum Turner Movies and TV Shows: Masters of the Air, The Boys in the Boat, The Only Living Boy in New York, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Emma

    Austin Butler

    If you’re an Austin Butler fan, he’s been your white boy of the month since Elvis — maybe even before if you remember him before his voice changed and took on the spirit of Elvis himself. Gorge yourself on Austin Butler photos because he’s been serving alongside Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh, and Anya Taylor-Joy on the Dune 2 press tour. And if that’s not enough he’s also promoting Apple TV’s Masters of the Air alongside aforementioned white boy of the month, Callum Turner.

    Notable Austin Butler Movies and TV Shows: Elvis, Masters of the Air, Dune: Part Two, Once Upon A Time … in Hollywood, The Bikeriders, The Carrie Diaries

    ​Timothée Chalamet

    Timothée Chalamet’s personal life has been my Roman Empire lately. Did Timothée Chalamet dump Kylie Jenner? And what about the Selena Gomez and Kylie beef? It’s gag city, and I’m enthralled. But watching Dune 2 reminded me that I’m also enthralled by his work. The boy can act, which is why he’s been a white boy of the month since 2017.

    Notable Timothée Chalamet Movies and TV Shows: Wonka, Dune, Dune: Part Two, Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, The French Dispatch, The King, Bones and All, Don’t Look Up, Interstellar, Little Women

    ​Charles Melton

    Charles Melton, known for May December (and that May December prosthetic), has truly done the impossible and transcended from Riverdale heartthrob to art house film darling. Though he was snubbed for this year’s Oscar, his career seems to be shooting up and I can’t wait for him to be an enduring award season internet boyfriend for years to come. He’s proven he’s more than just abs and a jawline — but what fantastic abs and what a fantastic jawline.

    Notable Charles Melton Movies and TV Shows: Riverdale, May December, The Sun Is Also A Star, Poker Face, American Horror Stories, Bad Boys for Life

    ​Barry Keoghan

    Short kings are so up. Barry Keoghan danced into our hearts to the tune of “Murder on the Dancefloor” in Saltburn alongside Jacob Elordi. After already being applauded for his performance in 2022’s Banshees of Inisherin, he’s finally become the leading man and heartthrob he deserved to be. Sabrina girl, I so see the vision.

    Notable Barry Keoghan Movies and TV Shows: Saltburn, Banshees of Inisherin, American Animals, Killing of the Sacred Deer, Eternals, Chernobyl, Dunkirk, Masters of the Air, Top Boy, The Green Knight

    ​Archie Madekwe

    One of the sleeper stars of Saltburn was Archie Madekwe, who also starred alongside David Harbour and Orlando Bloom in Gran Turismo. I hope we see more of this rising star on our screens for years to come.

    Notable Archie Madekwe Movies and TV Shows: Saltburn, Gran Turismo, Midsommar, Beau is Afraid

    Jeremy Allen White

    All I can say is: Yes, chef. Thanks to those abs, those biceps, and a particularly thirsty Calvin Klein ad, Jeremy Allen White is not going anywhere. Just the other day he was spotted buying heaps of flowers from a farmers market in Los Angeles. Peak internet boyfriend behavior. And after The Iron Claw and The Bear, he’s sweeping up awards and showing what a force he is as an actor. And a short king.

    Notable Jeremy Allen White Movies and TV Shows: The Iron Claw, The Bear, Shameless, Fingernails, Fremont, The Birthday Cake, Homecoming

    ​Paul Mescal

    Paul Mescal, park running menace of East London (IYKYK), has quickly emerged as one of Ireland’s premier heartthrobs. Thus far, all his roles have made me ugly cry. But he’s preparing for Gladiator 2 so some pure heartthrob fodder is on its way soon. But if you ever see Paul Mescal running, watch out.

    Notable Paul Mescal Movies and TV Shows: Aftersun, Normal People, All of Us Strangers, Foe, Carmen, The Lost Daughter

    ​Ayo Edebiri

    Okay hear me out. Though she’s neither white nor a boy, Ayo Edebiri has been receiving very white boy of the month flavored attention on social media during award season. She’s the people’s princess but she’s also giving heartthrob, especially whenever she steps out in menswear and proves she’s a menswear god. God bless the Irish.

    Notable Ayo Edebiri Movies and TV Shows: Bottoms, The Bear, The Sweet East, Theater Camp, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Abbott Elementary, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

    ​David Jonsson

    David Jonsson’s versatility is perhaps why he’s everywhere right now. From reinvigorating the romantic comedy in Rye Lane to taking a turn at Agatha Christie in Murder is Easy, he’s just showing off at this point — especially after being one of the most compelling characters in HBO’s Industry.

    Notable David Jonsson Movies and TV Shows: Rye Lane, Murder is Easy, Industry, Alien: Romulus, Deep State

    ​Dominic Sessa

    Imagine going from being a random theater kid to being Twitter’s white not of the month. He lived it! Dominic Sessa, Carnegie Mellon grad (or student???), has had a whirlwind year after he was plucked from his high school (Deerfield, the same one attended by former presidents and Connor Kennedy, Taylor Swift’s underage ex) theater department to star in this indie masterpiece alongside Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Good for him and theater kids everywhere.

    Notable Dominic Sessa Movies and TV Shows: The Holdovers

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    LKC

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  • It’s Kurt’s Turn (to Get Memed)

    It’s Kurt’s Turn (to Get Memed)

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    When God closes a door (takes Taylor and Lana’s music off TikTok), he opens a window (gives us another Glee meme). And finally — finally! — everything is coming up Hummel.

    It all started when Universal Music Group took their songs off TikTok. Many of the app’s biggest sounds and most iconic memes were reliant on UMG-copyrighted material. But there was always the Glee version! The Glee soundtracks were released by Columbia Records, so as long as you could figure out a way to say something interesting an universal using the Gwyneth Paltrow version of “Forget You,” TikTok was as good as it ever was!

    Enter the Kurt Hummel version of “Rose’s Turn.” The Gypsy closer was used in season 1 to great effect, and now the beginning of that number is being used to express every form of regret. “All that work and what did it get me?” England asks about colonizing the world for spices, only to find out salt is too much. “Why did I do it?” someone who just finished Supernatural asks. We’re still waiting for a full Glee renaissance à la Twilight, but with this little internet divertissement, we are one step closer. Now figure out a meme for the New Directions version of “Chandelier.”

    Related

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    Bethy Squires

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  • Marc Sebastian Talks About the Ultimate World Cruise

    Marc Sebastian Talks About the Ultimate World Cruise

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    Marc Sebastian is noticeably frazzled. The TikTok star—who recently disembarked Royal Caribbean’s Ultimate World Cruise after an 18-day stint on its nine-month global tour—is about to answer a question about the experience when our interview is stopped by Whoopi Goldberg. 

    Goldberg, Sebastian says, was chosen a while back to be the godmother of the Serenade of the Seas, the name of the ship that takes passengers on the Ultimate World Cruise (continuing a longtime tradition of cruise lines selecting someone, usually a woman, to be the godmother of a ship and bless it with good luck before it sets sail). Now, she is about to play his TikTok—where he talked about learning that Goldberg was the godmother of the Serenade of the Seas—on The View. He then asks what many under the age of 40 might wonder: “Quick question: where does one watch The View?”

    Sebastian, 33, is a TikTok creator and former model who gained popularity in 2022 with videos on fashion and pop culture recommendations, and featuring him opening gashapons (miniature toys). When the nine-month cruise set sail in December and went viral in early January, Sebastian made a video emphatically suggesting he join it to catalog the inevitable drama—or maybe be the cause. “Put cameras on that godd-mn cruise,” he says in the video. “Alternatively, put me in. I’ll go… I’ll go cause chaos, I’ll wreak havoc, and I’ll record everything.”

    The viral nature of the nine-month world cruise has gained comparisons to the popularity of Bama Rush, the annual event where young women rushing sororities at the University of Alabama show off their daily outfits online, or the infamous Fyre Festival. The Ultimate World Cruise is a nine-month-long cruise that embarked on on Dec. 10 and is visiting all seven continents across 274 nights. To be on board for all nine months, rates start at about $60,000 per person and goes up to $117,600 per person on the higher end. Not everyone who is on the ship is there for the whole time; there are options to go for certain legs of the cruise.

    Marc Sebastian on the Ultimate World CruiseCourtesy of Marc Sebastian

    As soon as this was announced, TikTok creators knew that being on a cruise ship for this long would inevitably spark drama and discourse, making it the perfect opportunity for creators to make content on the ship and about their time on it. Some, like Sebastian, also suggested reality television show producers were missing out on an opportunity for good television. Creators started making videos about their fascination with the people who chose to spend nine months of their lives on a ship, suggesting people to follow. Some of the most notable people to follow include Little Rat Brain, who chooses to keep her identity a secret and provides updates on what it is like to live on a cruise; Joe and Audrey Martucci, a retired couple with the username @spendingourkidsmoney; Amike Oosthuizen, a South African influencer; and many more. Every day, a new person posts videos from the ship or makes videos about what they saw someone else post.

    Sebastian saw an opportunity for some fun, low-stakes chaos. His intentions were clear: get the gossip and report on the dynamics on the ship.

    He got on the ship by convincing Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, to fund his trip on the Antarctica leg of the Ultimate World Cruise on the promise that he would start a book club on his TikTok Live, where he’d read and discuss The Last One by Will Dean—a book chosen by his followers after he asked them to vote in the first video he made on the boat. In an emailed statement, Atria says it jumped at the opportunity to work with Sebastian and that the partnership helped to increase “Atria’s TikTok presence exponentially and saw a nice pop in sales across all formats of The Last One.” While he admittedly did not wreak total havoc after boarding in Buenos Aires, Sebastian provided honest and transparent updates about everything he was experiencing—making him the enemy of the boomers on Facebook and on and off the ship.

    Sebastian’s videos from the ship included promotion for his book club and Atria Books, as well as brutally honest reviews of day-to-day life. One of his most popular videos is him opening a gashapon as the ship goes through the Drake Passage, accumulating over 13.5 million views.

    One of his other most viewed videos is one in which he discusses the middling color options at the ship’s nail salon and details getting kicked out of the ship’s exclusive Pinnacle Lounge after another guest told on him for not being a pinnacle member, which was watched over two million times.

    Royal Caribbean, he says, was undoubtedly keeping up with his and other creators’ videos. After the Pinnacle Lounge debacle, he says he was called into the “guest service’s version of the principal’s office” and was “scolded.” But “if they had kicked me off or reprimanded me, it wouldn’t have looked good on them,” he says. Other moments also showed him that the company was watching his TikTok closely: After he complained in one video about only having wire hangers in his room, he received plastic hangers the next day. Royal Caribbean did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sebastian’s presence on the cruise.

    For Sebastian, the 18 days on the Royal Caribbean cruise have opened his eyes to the blurry lines of promotion and entertainment. As one of several creators posting about the ship, whether the videos are positive or negative, he’s giving Royal Caribbean free promotion. Sebastian says he was more than happy to speak up on the issues he faced, including the “bad vibes” at the ship’s cafe, dealing with older cruisers, and mishaps at the ports. 

    On the ship, he says he witnessed other creators being treated unfairly, which he says they would not speak up about because they would “have to admit that maybe it wasn’t worth that much money to pay.” When he unfollowed the company on TikTok while on the ship, he says he was called out for saying they weren’t treating influencers correctly. He says, “I was not referring to me. I was referring to the other influencers that are on board that are giving them millions and millions and millions of free views, and they’re being treated like garbage.”

    For example, he says, the company invited a group of influencers to the Chef’s Table, which was supposed to be seen as a thank you, but Sebastian says they all had to agree to post a video about the meal, which defeats the purpose of a free meal. “You’re not giving them a ‘Thank You,’ you’re giving them work to do,” he says. Royal Caribbean did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its work with and treatment of influencers.

    @angielinderman

    Day 18: Sea Day ( 12/27/23) Chef’s Table Experience A few of us were invited to the Chef’s Table onboard, and we had a great night hanging out, eating, and drinking! The food was amazing, but not as good as the team who prepared and served the food!   Course One Scallop Carpaccio: Yuzu vinaigrette, crispy quinoa paired with a Pinot Grigio, Attems from Italy   Course Two: Smoked Tomato Soup: Garlic focaccia croutons, parmesan paired with Conundrum’s Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon Napa Valley, California   Course Three: Maine Lobster Salad: Hearts of palm, pineapple, cilantro, vanilla dressing paired with Yealands Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand   Course Four: Roasted Branzino: Grilled zucchini, peppers, lemon confit, pesto paired with Mer Soleil Unoaked Chardonnay, California   Course Five: Grilled Filet Mignon: Truffle potato puree, asparagus, and bordelaise sauce paired with Silverado Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley California   Dessert: The World: Peanut butter ganache Valrhona chocolate mousse salted caramel gelato, paired with a salted caramel espresso martini. #RoyalCaribbean #crusing #explore #solotravler #worldCruise #UltimateWorldCruise #UWC #SerenadeOfTheSeas #cruise #travel #9monthworldcruise #9monthcruise @Brooklyn Schwetje, @Madison Schwetje, @Andrew & Ale Kenney, @drjennytravels, @Amike Oosthuizen, @Brandee Lake, @Shannon Marie, @Little Rat Brain, and @Royal Caribbean

    ♬ original sound – Angie

    Sebastian was not concerned about ruffling feathers on the ship; he went on the boat with a plan to execute a marketing plan to see how well something like this would work. While it was a success, he says he will not be getting back on a cruise anytime soon. “I cared about showing people that I could execute this marketing plan within an inch of its life and do it in a calculated way and exit that ship like a marketing genius,” he says. “I feel like I’m proud of the work that I did there.”

    Sebastian says he didn’t make any money from the videos he posted on the ship. While he got a budget to book his travel to and from the ship and for his time on the ship, he didn’t monetize any of the 40 videos he posted on the boat, which accumulated over 55 million views. He’s not a part of TikTok’s Creativity Program Beta and says he didn’t want to monetize the videos because he feels that TikTok doesn’t push monetized videos in the same way they push non-monetized videos. TikTok declined to comment on its monetization strategy. The platform recommends videos to users based on several factors, including looking at their interests and interactions with others.

    “I wanted it to be pushed out as far as possible, with the hopes that I would see a return on my investment, and I did,” he says. “Cast a wide net, catch more fish. Cast a short one… I don’t know, get less views? I just made that saying up.”

    He says if he monetized his content, he could’ve made around $15,000 to $20,000 based on the views his videos have now received. “That’s a lot of money, but that was a short-term goal, and I had a long-term vision,” he says. The only thing he made was incredible content and some friends along the way, he adds, half in jest.

    Playing the long game might prove to be the right move: Sebastian has seen a boost in his visibility, with his cruise ship journey getting coverage in major news outlets like the Washington Post and the New York Times. Recently, he’s put out retrospective content looking back at his time on the Serenade of the Seas and it seems like he’s ready for another trip, this time on land. Some of his followers suggested he go to Coachella, taking place in the California desert in April—he’s open to the idea.

    He’s glad to know that his trip wasn’t in vain. “I went out there and said, ‘I’m not here to make friends,’” he tells TIME. “I went out of there making friends and won, so now what?”



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    Moises Mendez II

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  • MrBeast X Video Experiment Raised Concerns

    MrBeast X Video Experiment Raised Concerns

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    Earlier this month, YouTube star MrBeast decided to take up an offer from Elon Musk to try out a monetization opportunity through revenue share payments on X (formerly Twitter). MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, uploaded a video to X on Jan. 15 to see how much ad revenue it could make. On Jan. 22, Donaldson shared that the video made $263,655, in a screenshot posted to X.

    “But it’s a bit of a facade,” he wrote in the post, “Advertisers saw the attention it was getting and bought ads on my video (I think) and thus my revenue per view is prob higher than what you’d experience.”

    As MrBeast, Donaldson is one of the most popular YouTubers, with over 233 million subscribers. He previously expressed reservations about uploading a whole video to X, after Musk replied to one of his posts and suggested he post one directly on X. “My videos cost millions to make, and even if they got a billion views on X, it wouldn’t fund a fraction of it,” Donaldson responded.

    By earning $250,000 on the video he posted to X in January—a repost of a video he put on YouTube in September—Donaldson’s cost per mille (CPM, or money he earns for every thousand views) is $1.68—much higher than the $0.03 earned on average by creators on X. 

    On X,  the video received over 162 million views, compared to its 215 million views on YouTube.

    In August, a post on X’s official Support page announced the creator program and changes to the eligibility threshold. Users who are subscribed to X Premium (which costs $8 a month) can begin monetizing their content if they are able to garner five million impressions on their content within three months of subscribing. The minimum payout was changed from $50 to $10. Musk later wrote in a post that in order to be eligible for monetization, users had to be subscribed, and “only impressions from other X Premium subscribers count towards monetization.”

    Concerns were raised about the rate at which MrBeast’s video was being shared on their timelines. Business Insider reported that the “ads tend to appear in someone’s feed multiple times, so people used this as evidence Donaldson’s post was labeled as one on the backend of X’s system.” An X user posted that they’d seen the post in their feed “[seven] times now.”

    Mashable reported last week that X has been serving their users with unlabeled advertisements since September. Ryan Broderick, who writes the Garbage Day newsletter on web culture, wrote on X, “Per X, the MrBeast video is technically not an undisclosed ad. There is a pre-roll ad for Shopify in the video, which is labeled as such. X boosts posts containing pre-roll ads, but because the post itself is not the ad, it doesn’t have the label.”

    Musk responded to the suspicions of “juicing” MrBeast’s views on X in a post where he writes, “To the best of my knowledge, we have done nothing to amplify his viewers.” However, MrBeast said that he would be giving away the earnings in a post he uploaded on Tuesday. He will be picking 10 people to receive $25,000 from him. In just a little over 24 hours, the post received over one million likes and over three million reposts.

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    Moises Mendez II

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  • Selkie founder defends use of AI in new dress collection amid backlash | TechCrunch

    Selkie founder defends use of AI in new dress collection amid backlash | TechCrunch

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    When Selkie, the fashion brand viral on Instagram and TikTok for its frothy, extravagant dresses, announces new collections, reception is generally positive. Known for its size inclusivity — its sizing ranges from XXS to 6X — and for being owned and founded by an independent artist who’s outspoken about fair pay and sustainability in fashion, Selkie tends to be highly regarded as one of the morally “good” brands online. 

    The brand’s upcoming Valentine’s Day drop was inspired by vintage greeting cards, and features saccharine images of puppies surrounded by roses, or comically fluffy kittens painted against pastel backdrops. Printed on sweaters and dresses adorned with bows, the collection was meant to be a nostalgic, cheeky nod to romance. It was also designed using the AI image generator Midjourney. 

    “I have a huge library of very old art, from like the 1800s and 1900s, and it’s a great tool to make the art look better,” Selkie founder Kimberley Gordon told TechCrunch. “I can sort of paint using it, on top of the generated art. I think the art is funny, and I think it’s cheeky, and there’s little details like an extra toe. Five years from now, this sweater is going to be such a cool thing because it will represent the beginning of a whole new world. An extra toe is like a representation of where we are beginning.” 

    But when the brand announced that the collection was designed using generative AI, backlash was immediate. Selkie addressed the use of AI in art in an Instagram comment under the drop announcement, noting that Gordon felt that it was “important to learn this new medium and how it may or may not work for Selkie as a brand.” 

    Criticism flooded the brand’s Instagram comments. One described the choice to use AI as a “slap in the face” to artists, and expressed disappointment that a brand selling at such a high price point ($249 for the viral polyester puff minidress to $1,500 for made-to-order silk bridal gowns) wouldn’t just commission a human artist to design graphics for the collection. Another user simply commented, “the argument of ‘i’m an artist and i love ai!’ is very icky.” One user questioned why the brand opted to use generative AI, given the “overwhelming number” of stock images and vintage artwork that is not copyrighted, and “identical in style.” 

    “Why make the overwhelmingly controversial and ethically dubious choice when options that are just as cost effective and more ethical are widely available?” the user continued. “If you have indeed done the research you claim to have on AI, then you also understand that it’s a technology that requires the theft and exploitation of workers to function.” 

    Gordon said she spends about a week designing collections, but it takes months to a year of development and manufacturing before they’re actually sold online. In the year since she finalized designs for this drop, public opinion of AI art has shifted significantly. 

    As generative AI tools become more sophisticated, the use of AI in art has also become increasingly polarizing. Some artists like Gordon, who designs Selkie’s patterns herself using a blend of royalty-free clip art, public domain paintings, digital illustration and Photoshop collaging, see AI image generators as a tool. Gordon likens it to photography: it’s new now, but future generations may accept it as another art medium. Many artists, however, are vocally opposed to the use of generative AI in art. 

    Their concerns are twofold — one, artists lose opportunities to cheaper, faster AI image generators, and two, that many generators have been trained on copyrighted images scraped from the internet without artists’ consent. Pushback against generative AI spans across all creative industries, not just in visual art. Musicians are speaking out against the use of deepfake covers, actors are questioning if SAG-AFTRA’s new contract adequately regulates AI in entertainment, and even fanfiction writers are taking measures to prevent their work from being used to train AI models. 

    Of course, not all generative AI is exploitative; as a VFX tool, it’s immensely useful to enhance animations, from creating more realistic flames in Pixar’s “Elemental” to visualizing complex scenes in HBO’s “The Last Of Us.” There are plenty of examples of morally bankrupt applications of generative AI. Creating deepfake revenge porn, for example, or generating “diverse models” instead of hiring actual people of color is objectively horrifying. But most of the generative AI debate settles into a morally gray area, where the parameters of exploitation are less defined. 

    In Selkie’s case, Gordon solely designs all of the graphics that are featured on Selkie garments. If someone else designs them, she makes it clear that it’s a collaboration with another artist. Her designs typically involve a collage of digital watercolor painting, stock images and “old art” that is no longer copyrighted. Many of her popular designs incorporate motifs from famous works of art, like Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and Monet’s “Water Lilies,” which she uses as a base to create a unique, but still recognizable pattern. After she alters and builds upon the already existing work, it’s printed onto gauzy fabric and used to construct billowing dresses and frilly accoutrements. 

    The Valentine’s Day drop, Gordon argued, is no different, except that she used generated images as the design base, instead of public domain artwork. The patterns that she created for this collection are just as transformative as the ones she designed for previous drops, she said, and involved as much altering, original illustration and “creative eye.” 

    “I say this is art. This is the future of art and as long as an artist is utilizing it, it is the same as what we’ve been doing with clip art,” Gordon said. “I think it’s very similar, except it gives the artists a lot more power and allows us to compete in a world where big business has owned all of this structure.” 

    Gordon bristled at accusations equating her use of generative AI to that of companies that have replaced employed artists with AI image generators. She pointed out that she couldn’t have “replaced artists,” since she is the brand’s only in-house artist, and that the steep prices that Selkie charges for each ruffled dress account for material and labor cost. If clothing is cheap, she said, it’s usually because the garment workers making them are not being paid fairly. Gordon added that although she’s paid as the “business owner,” she doesn’t factor her own labor as a designer into her salary in order to cut overhead costs. 

    Gordon also noted that she didn’t use any other artists’ names or work as prompts when she used Midjourney to generate the base images. She turned to AI for efficiency — she said that it was a “great brainstorming tool” to visualize what she wanted the collection to look like — and out of fear of being left behind. Artists face mounting pressure to adapt to new technology, she said, and she wanted to be ahead of the curve. 

    “I’m not using AI models. I’m only using the AI as a tool where I would usually be doing it. I’m not trying to take away anyone’s job at my own company,” she said. “I’m using it as a way for myself to be efficient instead. If I had been utilizing lots of artists to make my prints, and then I suddenly used AI, I would definitely be taking away from them. How can I take away from myself?” 

    This is the nuance that isn’t always reflected in conversations about art and AI. Gordon owns a popular, but relatively small fashion brand that she uses as a vehicle to monetize her own artwork. Could she have commissioned another artist for oil paintings of lovesick puppies and kittens? Yes. Is it likely that the generated images of generic, vintage Valentine’s Day cards lifted the work of any living artist? Unclear, but so far, nobody has publicly accused Selkie of copying their art for the new collection. Gordon’s use of AI generated images is nowhere near as egregious as those of other, bigger fashion brands, but more sanctimonious critics argue that any use of AI art perpetuates harm against artists. 

    Gordon, for one, said she’s listened to the criticism and doesn’t plan to use AI generated images in future Selkie collections. She believes that regulation is lacking when it comes to generative AI, and suggested that artists receive some kind of payment every time their names or work is used in prompts. But she does plan to continue experimenting with it in her personal art, and maintained her stance that at the end of the day, it’s just another medium to work with. 

    “Maybe the way that I did it and this route is not the right way, but I don’t agree that [AI] is a bad thing,” Gordon said. “I feel that it is tech progress. And it’s neither good nor bad. It’s just the way of life.”

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    Morgan Sung

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  • Logan Paul promises CryptoZoo refunds, as long as you don't sue him | TechCrunch

    Logan Paul promises CryptoZoo refunds, as long as you don't sue him | TechCrunch

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    Logan Paul is offering refunds for CryptoZoo, the failed and allegedly fraudulent Pokémon-inspired NFT game that he launched in 2021. The catch? You can’t sue him if you get a refund.

    In an X (formerly Twitter) post on Thursday, Paul announced that he is “personally committing” more than $2.3 million to buy back NFTs purchased through CryptoZoo. Claims can be submitted online until February 8.

    “I never made a single penny from the project, period. In fact, the opposite is true, because I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to make it happen,” Paul said in his post. “Like you, I was highly disappointed that the game was not delivered.”

    Claimants will receive 0.1 ETH per eligible NFT — known as “Base Eggs” and “Base Animals.” Players were supposed to be able to “breed” the animals that “hatched” from the base NFT that they purchased, which would create “hybrid” animals that were also NFTs. Hybrid animals are not eligible for the buy-back program.

    The form’s terms and conditions also note that any submitted NFTs that Paul “in his sole discretion deems ineligible” will not be returned. To be eligible for a refund, claimants also have to agree to waive any “actual or anticipated claims against Paul” — which means promising not to take legal action against him in relation to CryptoZoo.

    The influencer, who faces a class action lawsuit for allegedly making millions of dollars of cryptocurrency by promoting a game that ultimately didn’t exist, also filed a cross-claim. In an X post, he said that he “filed a lawsuit in federal court in Texas to hold these bad actors accountable.”

    “This lawsuit is the result of an exhaustive investigation that included the review of the entirety of conversations and tracking nefarious trading activity related to the project,” Paul continued in his X post. “Nefarious trading activity taken behind our backs, without our knowledge, and with the intention of defrauding us all.”

    Rob Freund, a Los Angeles-based lawyer who represents brands and creators, told TechCrunch that the buy-back program could be Paul’s attempt at minimizing damages. Class action lawsuits can be “devastating” for defendants, as damages can include what the plaintiff and class members initially lost, in addition to punitive damages and attorney’s fees. Freund suggested that by refunding NFTs in exchange for waiving claims against him, Paul can individually settle with class members, effectively minimizing the potential damages.

    “Paul may be betting (or at least hoping) that enough people who would otherwise be potential class members will take him up on this offer and drastically reduce his potential exposure in the pending case by doing so,” Freund said. “That would let him angle for a much more favorable settlement.”

    Paul described the NFT project as a “really fun game that makes you money” when he announced it during an August 2021 episode of his podcast, “Impaulsive.” CryptoZoo was marketed as a collecting game using Ethereum — each NFT was an egg that was supposed to hatch into an animal that was assigned one of five levels of rarity. Those animals could be bred to produce hybrid animals, which also varied in rarity. Every time an egg hatched, it was supposed to yield a certain amount of $ZOO tokens, which were determined by the animal’s rarity. Players were supposed to be able to either buy more eggs or cash out each time an animal hatched.

    Paul also promised that CryptoZoo would include interactive minigames and that the project would eventually “enter the metaverse.”

    A three-part investigation by independent YouTube reporter Coffeezilla documented how the project unraveled; the game was never finished because developers quit due to nonpayment, Paul and his associates allegedly planned to engage in market manipulation and players couldn’t breed their hatched eggs or cash out.

    Coffeezilla reported that two anonymous accounts received payouts from the project — one received $364,000 (92.7697 ETH) and the other received $1 million (260.000 ETH). At the time of Coffeezilla’s reporting, CryptoZoo held approximately $79,875,629, or 1,214,225,001.8 $ZOO for “wildlife charities and CryptoZoo development.

    In now-deleted response videos, Paul accused another CryptoZoo developer of scamming him and the rest of the team, but later told fans on Discord that he would be “taking accountability.” He then outlined a plan to pay back investors and finish the game.

    The class action lawsuit filed last year in the Western District of Texas alleges that Paul and other CryptoZoo associates promoted the project to “consumers unfamiliar with digital currency products,” and that they “manipulated the digital currency market for Zoo Tokens to their advantage.”

    In an answer and cross claim filed on Thursday, Paul alleged that Jake Greenbaum and Eduardo Ibanez, who worked on CryptoZoo and were also named in the class action lawsuit, were “con artists” who “sabotaged” the project. Paul also claimed while he lost “hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the duplicity and deceit of those he trusted,” Greenbaum and Ibanez pocketed “millions.”

    CryptoZoo, however, is dead. Paul posted that after “personally” spending $400,000 to complete it early last year, releasing it was unfeasible. He also reminded followers that the Zoo Token was created to support the game, and was never intended as an “investment vehicle,” so the buy-back is not intended to “compensate those who gambled on the crypto market and lost.”

    “Unfortunately, there are too many regulatory hurdles that would need to be cleared that I did not originally understand and would ultimately delay this buy-back even further,” he said. “This buy-back is a way for me to make whole those who intended to play CryptoZoo.”

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    Morgan Sung

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  • A Nine-Month World Cruise is TikTok's Latest Obsession

    A Nine-Month World Cruise is TikTok's Latest Obsession

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    TikTok is the perfect place to develop niche obsessions and find communities of like-minded content creators and consumers. And sometimes, those obsessions find their way out of their niche online spaces when they get popular, get shared across other platforms, and create discourse, causing audience sizes to balloon. From the #BamaRush craze of 2021, which saw the Alabama Sorority Rush take over the internet and even lead to a documentary on Max, to the private chefs of TikTok, who kick off each summer as they make their way to the Hamptons and give their followers a look into the world of the rich (and what they eat), the habits of others, especially when they do something unusual, consistently draw in viewers. The internet’s latest obsession is a nine-month world-spanning cruise that set sail on Dec. 10.

    The Royal Caribbean Ultimate World Cruise, taking place on the Serenade of the Seas ship, is set to take passengers to over 60 countries across all seven continents. There are four legs of the cruise: The Americas (Dec. 10 to Feb. 11), Asia Pacific (Feb. 11 to May 9), the Middle East and the Mediterranean (May 9 to July 10), and Europe & Beyond (July 10 to Sept. 10), according to the Royal Caribbean website. People can opt to join any part of the tour, or stay for the whole thing, and the cheapest option for interested parties starts at $59,999 per person, with the more expensive options going for $117,999 per person.

    Serenade of the Seas is attracting a lot of social media attention; the hashtag #UltimateWorldCruise has over 155 million views, and #WorldCruise has over 128.9 million. The content is coming from land and sea, turning the voyage into, as one creator put it, a “nine-month-long reality show.” On the cruise ship, creators have gone viral on TikTok for broadcasting their day-to-day lives, showing their rooms, and talking about spending their kids’ inheritance on a great trip. Just as popular are videos on TikTok from creators who aren’t on the cruise, but simply commenting on the journey.

    One creator, @whimsysoul shared a virtual bingo card for those invested in following updates from the cruise ship. Some of the spots include “staff dates passenger,” “pirate takeover,” and “minor mystery to solve.”

    One creator, who is on the ship, with the username @nchimad appointed herself the “Sea Tea Director” and has promised to post about any drama that is sure to come up on the nine-month voyage. In her Dec. 14 video, she pointed out that the price of admission also comes with a deluxe unlimited beverage package.

    Another concern creators have brought up is a potential COVID-19 outbreak on the ship. According to @nchimad, an anonymous source tipped her off to a positive case on the cruise on Dec. 22, but it doesn’t seem to have created an outbreak (which is also on the bingo card).

    So far, most passengers seem to be enjoying their time on the cruise, according to their videos. However, Black TikTok creator Brandee Lake shared in a video that she dealt with microaggressions from passengers and the crew while on the ship, saying that she was mistaken for an employee on the ship and that she was asked how she could afford the cruise.

    “If I get asked if I work on this ship one more time,” Lake says in the video. “It’s gonna be a long nine months.” Royal Caribbean did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment.

    In Lake’s most recent videos, she has posted general updates from the ship.

    As the cruise ship makes its way toward Antarctica, TikTok creators and influencers are planning lots more content. One TikToker, Marc Sebastian, says he will be joining the ship for a couple of days to scope out the drama and interact with the passengers to report back to his followers.

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    Moises Mendez II

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  • Remembering the weirder news that happened in 2023

    Remembering the weirder news that happened in 2023

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    Remember 2023? The answer can be no. It was a lot. Between a deluge of major games — Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo IV, Baldur’s Gate 3, Armored Core 6, and Starfield, to name a few — the eclipsing cultural moment of Barbenheimer, the writer and actor strikes, the morphing of Twitter into X, the multi-pronged legal action against the Microsoft-Activision acquisition, and the rise of AI, the year in Culture was a constant drone of milestone moments.

    Which could easily make you forget everything else that happened. Below, please find select things that really seriously actually happened over the last 365 days that no one would judge you for forgetting.

    The M&Ms had a spokescandy controversy that ended with a Super Bowl

    The year kicked off with the de-sexification of the green M&M, conservative pundits yelling about melt-in-your-mouth-not-your-hands candy, and then a Super Bowl commercial that only added to the chaos. 2023 promised to be a year!

    Shrek was rumored dead

    Image: DreamWorks

    Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was a late-December 2022 surprise, so we spent a lot of time thinking about what it meant for Shrek in January. Our leading theory: Shrek died. Eventually we got to ask the directors for comment. Believe them if you must.

    Two dudes tried to steal $300,000 worth of GenCon goods and got extremely busted

    We do not condone theft but if you were gonna walk into GenCon to pilfer a pallet of MTG cards, wouldn’t you wear a mask? Well, two New Yorkers who thought they were the Danny Oceans of the collectible card game scene did… not do that.

    E3 imploded

    E3 2023 was a no-go, but at least in April 2023, the organizers believed there was hope for the legacy gaming event. But alas, by the fall, E3 was 100% dead. Time to reminisce about the very first E3!

    Amouranth, Seinfeld, and the Pope all had an AI moment.

    An image of a Jerry Seinfeld-esque character. The character is rendered in chunky 3D pixels and there is a feint watermark in the bottom left corner that says, “Nothing Forever.”

    Image: Twitch/Watchmeforever

    Nothing may explain the dizzying anything-goes moment of AI tools quite like the 14-day lifespan of the automated Seinfeld episode generator that — inevitably? — made a transphobic remark and wound up getting banned. But maybe good can come of the technology: This sounds like a troll, but actually Amouranth is all in, if only for the rest. And then there was the puffer coat Pope… maybe the most 2023 story of 2023.

    BioWare apologized for a commemorative Commander Shepard corpse statue

    “This statue was intended to be part of a series commemorating some of the key and most emotional moments in the series” — and it very much did.

    Max announced a 10-year-long Harry Potter TV series

    After the release of Hogwarts Legacy, everyone was dying for the promise of a decade more Potter discourse, and Warner Bros. Discovery delivered.

    Charles Martinet wrapped a legendary career as the voice of Mario and all he got was a cameo in the Mario movie

    The Super Mario Bros. Movie gave Martinent his due after replacing him with Chris Pratt, and he still has a place at Nintendo, but it all went down… in a shady way. At least the new guy seems nice.

    The War Thunder Discord was somehow at the center of another classified document leak

    The FBI arrested 21-year-old Jack Teixeira earlier this year over leaking documents that contained information about Russia’s war on Ukraine, amongst other classified topics. Note to all gamers: Git less gud at leaking!!

    Grimace shake, we shook

    An old photo of Grimace, the Hamburgler, and a Birdie and Early Bird sitting around a table, eating McDonald’s.

    Image: McDonald’s/YouTube

    It’s not too early to be nostalgic for simpler times, when we ordered purple milkshakes at McDonald’s and pretended to die on the floor.

    People got super weird about Oppenheimer’s sex scene

    The Barbenheimer double-feature reinvigorated movie-going, yet a few people left the theater worried that it was unnecessary for Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh to be naked with each other. C’mon folks, it was July and really hot outside.

    Post Malone bought Magic the Gathering’s $2 million Lord of the Rings One Ring card

    Shame on you for forgetting that our leading rapper-turned-mana-caster swooped in to grab Wizard of the Coast’s golden ticket. (But geez, think of the taxes!)

    Colleen Ballinger aka Miranda Sings performed a ukulele song to respond to toxic workplace allegations

    There’s a lot of sensitive material in this report on Ballinger’s year of controversy, but perhaps the most sensitive thing is your ears as they listen to a classic YouTube response vid backed by a small stringed instrument.

    “Planet of the Bass” exploded as a listenable shitpost

    A close-up of Kyle Gordon as DJ Crazy Times saying “BASS!” from the Planet of the Bass music video

    Image: Kyle Gordon

    Song of the summer.

    Kai Cenat incited a riot in New York City in attempted PS5 giveaway

    The streamer power is real, and as Cenat taught us all this year, potentially dangerous if wielded without much thought. Cenat in particular has become a subject of curiosity, and as we wrapped up the year, was worth exploring.

    “You’re so Skibidi, so Fanum tax”

    There’s no quick explanation here, you are either in or out.

    Kojima did a Kojima thing just before calling it a year

    With most of the major game releases in the rearview mirror, Hideo Kojima took to The Game Awards to really melt brains with the unveiling of OD, a… game? Experience? Horror thing? Kojima and Jordan Peele babbled for a bit after airing a cryptic trailer and when it was all over we collectively forgot everything that happened in 2023, thus this round-up.

    Now, this is your moment: What has the world collectively forgotten from the past year?

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    Matt Patches

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  • No, spiders don't want to mate with your viral body butter | TechCrunch

    No, spiders don't want to mate with your viral body butter | TechCrunch

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    Skincare girlies, fear not — your moisturizer probably does not attract spiders.

    Sol de Janeiro’s Delícia Drench Body Butter, which launched earlier this month, is quickly becoming a holy grail product among skincare enthusiasts. In addition to hyaluronic acid, the lotion is packed with flashy ingredients like copaiba resin, passionflower seed oil and prebiotic hibiscus to lock in moisture and soothe parched, “lackluster” skin, according to the brand’s website. Scented with velvet plum, vanilla orchid and sandalwood for a “mind-boosting experience” and packaged in cute violet jars, the $48 body butter is sure to be a staple in beauty hauls and GRWM videos.

    Sol de Janeiro went viral on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit this week after users claimed they were hunted, bitten and (unsuccessfully) courted by wolf spiders when they applied the brand’s new moisturizer. While the body butter may be irresistible to humans, it’s unlikely that it’s sexually arousing to lonely arachnids.

    Catherine Scott, a spider behavioral ecologist and postdoctoral fellow at McGill University’s Lyman Lab, told TechCrunch that wolf spider mating involves visual and vibratory signaling, not just scents.

    “They have excellent vision (for spiders) and they would not simply run toward the source of an odor, even if it did smell like a potential mate, unless it also looked like a spider,” Scott said.

     

    The product began gaining popularity in beauty circles when early reviews lauded it for its hydrating properties and irresistible fragrance, but went viral on mainstream social media this week after a Sephora reviewer known as chemkats claimed that the scent “attracts wolf spiders.”

    “I wanted to love them sooo bad, but one of the ingredients is like kryptonite to wolf spiders! When I put it on instantly one will come out,” the reviewer wrote.

    They added that they’d normally see one “every like 3 years,” but since using the lotion, said they began seeing wolf spiders “every day.”

    “Oh and one time, the spider wanted to eat whatever ingredient it is so bad that it chased me,” chemkats continued. “Like it was legit following the scent.”

    One person claimed that a wolf spider bit them after they used their wife’s lotion. Another Sephora reviewer wrote, “Spiders love it, so do the people in the elevator.” A Reddit user said they put another product from the brand — known as “Brazilian Bum Bum Cream” — on a tissue, and a different brand’s lotion on a different tissue, and that spiders only appeared to be interested in the tissue with Sol de Janeiro’s product.

    Scott noted that the phrase “wolf spider” can apply to an “entire family of spiders” scientifically named Lycosidae. What many people might mistake as “wolf spiders” are likely house spiders in the Agelenidae family, which behave and chemically interact differently. 

    If the users did correctly identify their arachnid pursuers as wolf spiders, it’s “technically possible” that the lotion could contain compounds that spiders might investigate because they think they’re following chemical cues associated with prey.

    “But the story about the spider chasing the person wearing it does not hold up,” she continued. “This sound typical of when people are moving a lot near a spider and it is frightened, so it tries to run for cover, often into the person’s shadow — which makes the person think it is ‘attacking’ when in fact it is trying to hide.”

    Wolf spiders are “visual hunters,” and would only try to prey on a target smaller of them, she said, and they don’t feed on human blood, so they generally don’t have any reason to approach humans. 

    The original reviewer’s story is especially dubious because they’ve left similar Sephora reviews about beauty products attracting spiders, including a nearly identical one on another Sol de Janeiro product in March this year. In 2022 reviews of two different BondiBoost products, chemkats claimed that spiders kept landing on their head because of the products’ fragrance.

    “If they’re just trying to have fun, or if they truly have a grievance with Sol de Janeiro is uncertain,” a Reddit user wrote in a thread warning others about chemkats. “What [is] clear is that they’re trying to spread misinformation … I know that it’s been fun and games, but I just wanted to nip this in the bud before it gets even bigger.”

    But hysteria over the body butter has already spread, and many online — including news outlets — quoted a Reddit comment about the “pheromones” in the product. In response to a thread asking about the body butter, a Reddit user posited that the chemicals in the Sol de Janeiro’s product are also found in spider pheromones, and that the right combination of those compounds “might bring all the thirsty boy spiders to your yard.”

    The commenter appeared to cite a 2009 paper that identified compounds in the webs of sexually receptive female spiders, indicating “possible pheromone components.” The researchers also found that a combination of two of the identified compounds, farnesyl acetate and hexadecyl acetate, attracted male spiders. Both compounds are used in cosmetic products for fragrance and texture — just not in the viral body butter.

    “All of our products, including our new Delícia Drench Body Butter and upcoming Cheirosa 59 Perfume Mist are free from farnesyl acetate, diisobutyl phthalate, and hexadecyl acetate,” Sol de Janeiro said in an Instagram Story posted Thursday. “So while they may attract a lot of attention from people, they won’t from arachnids (even though we love all creatures at Sol de Janeiro. Hope that clears up any concerns and Happy 2024!”

    Even if the products did contain those compounds, as many cosmetic products do, the paper only identified components in the female-products sex pheromone of a specific species of spider, Scott said. Pheromones are used for members of the same species to communicate with each other and provide species-specific information like age, sex and previous mating experience.

    “Many spider pheromones used for sexual communication are short-range and require direct contact, with the spider essentially ‘tasting’ the silk or body of another individual to determine if it is the correct species and sex before approaching and attempting to court and mate,” Scott added.

    In other words, the compounds that would attract one species of spider wouldn’t attract another, like wolf spiders or house spiders.

    “What we are more likely talking about here are kairomones, which are info-chemicals produced by one species (like an insect pheromone, intended for communication between males and females of that species) used by another species (a spider) which is not the intended recipient of the chemical message,” Scott said.

    Some wolf spiders, for example, user kairomones to avoid larger spiders that might hunt them, or hunt in areas where there’s more prey for them. Research into the specific compounds that make up wolf spider pheromones is limited, but it’s highly unlikely that common beauty products will send them into a hunting (or mating) frenzy.

    It’s unfortunate news for those who were planning on building a spider army, like one Reddit user who asked others to send them unwanted body butter.

    “I believe pesticides can be harmful, despite the need for them, and spiders are a natural way to keep harmful insects from overpopulating!” the user said. “Taking on the first part of this project in winter means I can release my spider army when the weather is the best for them to survive and do their duty of killing these damn mosquitoes.”

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    Morgan Sung

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