Pop Culture Mondays/4.24.23
The “CakeGate” Edition
Happy Monday, my darling pop culture junkies. We have made it another week. Some of you may be JUST returning from the 2nd weekend of Coachella and according to my socials, I know a few of you were there for a fact, and I applaud your strength, stamina, and courage. I couldn’t do it unless I had a helicopter on call at all times and a way to get to said helicopter in no less than 6 minutes. THEN…then I could do Coachella.
BUT, if someone had told me Zendaya would be making an appearance, then I might have broken my rule. Labrinth, the incredible singer who did the entire score of the original “Euphoria” soundtrack, brought out the show’s star who hasn’t performed musically in 7 years (she’s been busy!)
The crowd went NUTS.
But instead of being there, I spent the week AND weekend on TikTok and Twitter, so you didn't have to…at least for Twitter because, like, WHO WANTS TO BE THERE anymore? Just to get you up to speed on the latest from Space Karen:
4/20: Like a 12-year-old, he marks 4/20, making do on his promise of removing all legacy blue check marks so famous people, leaders, and state and city governments were no longer verified. It went about as well as one could expect.
Good times.
And then, all of a sudden, a few people got their blue checks back. THREE to be exact.
Three men who had publicly said they wouldn't pay for the new service. And Elon announced he would be buying theirs to spite them.
But then…THEN…blue checks started appearing all over the place and it would seem for accounts of people (some people) with over a million followers. BUT…but…with the notification that they HAD PURCHASED TWITTER BLUE. But they had not. Many came out saying so.
Yeah, it’s all going great. Now I am not a legal expert BUT it seems to me that this could maybe be a legal headache for Elon and team? SO, if you are a lawyer, PING ME!!
So let’s get to what the kids are talking about!
We have in THIS week’s PCM:
- CakeGate
- Sofia Richie wedding (THIS IS WILD)
- PITY CITY
- Drag Queens
- Lemon8
- Some TikTok trends and more…
So let’s get to it.
Xx,
Brooke
CAKEGATE 2023:
I don’t want to be writing about this; I really don’t. You know, war is breaking out in Sudan, and the climate is collapsing as shown by THIS house sliding into the abyss due to loose soil brought on by a change in weather patterns:
Jeff Bezos has truly morphed into a cartoon character (I think we liked poor scrappy Bezos better, right?) — here he is obvs at OLDCHELLA.
AND TUCKER CARLSON IS OUT AT FOX NEWS!! Though some think his next move will be as CEO of Twitter. So we shall see.
AND more breaking news….DON LEMON IS OUT AT CNN.
WHAT A DAY!!
But….we have CAKEGATE to discuss. So let me make this as PAINLESS as possible.
First of all, I would normally not get into the weeds on something like this BUT it has taken over my (and millions of others) For You Page. This storyline has hit a nerve, and there are a few compelling pieces to it, so let me first explain what happened.
A baker took to TikTok (yes, this is all self-inflicted) to complain about a customer and the customer’s upset over the cake she made for them. The baker was INDIGNANT over the customer’s disappointment. The baker is Kylie and she has a company called Kylie’s Kakes which already annoys me because, see cake is NOT spelled that way, you know? 🤪
Kylie’s video is still on her TikTok but you cannot share it so here is another TikTok by a creator who breaks down the drama and she is one of MANY creators who have analyzed Kylie’s video and stance and it’s like a whole side hustle happening:
Then the TikTok world who are all their own Nancy Drews, decided to deep dive into the baker who is self-taught vs being professionally trained. And they learned that MANY of the cakes she used to promote her brand were images she grabbed off the Interwebs and not her own cakes — which is a BIG no-no.
The best thing to come out of this whole thing for me is this guy who introduced me to the term: “Crusty Custies” for annoying customers which is funny. Also, please note that Kylie, the OG baker in this drama, doesn't use gloves, has bad handwriting, and the cake IS an overall mess. AS are some of her others.
And then brands like Flourshop — which is honestly one of my favorite albeit outrageously expensive bakeries, BUT THEY MAKE INCREDIBLE SPRINKLE cakes — got IN on the action.
See how they did that? Just an exaggerated sigh and then showing off what a sprinkle cake SHOULD look like.
And here is one showing how Flour Shop creates the cakes. The funniest part of both videos (which by the way are NOT tagged CakeGate, but because so many people are watching cake videos at the moment, the ALGORITHM KNOWS!!!) is all the comments.
And PS: #JusticeforTrilby is the one trending in many places (Trilby of course was the OG recipient of the cake that had her name scribbled illegibly on the cake.
For MORE on this cake drama, read ALL about it here:
AND here:
THE WEDDING THAT UNEXPECTEDLY TOOK OVER OUR HEARTS:
Literally, the best wedding I have ever ever been to was this weekend’s nuptials of Sofia Richie and Elliot Grange.
No, no, I was NOT ACTUALLY there, but because of the GENIUS of Sofia and her team, millions of us from around the world were there in real-time. And this was unexpected tbh. I knew a few people at the actual wedding, and initially, I saw their insta stories about being at the Hotel du Cap, and I was excited for them. Made a mental note to ask about the wedding.
But then, all of a sudden, I started seeing it all play out before my eyes on TikTok.
Because of wedding guests socials? No, I mean yes, that too but it was from Sofia HERSELF. She did a “GET READY WITH ME” video (known simply as a GRWM) before each event from her room at the du Cap and would tell her followers what she was wearing and the reason for the choice, and it was the first time in my experience, a celebrity or someone well known has brought the public into what is traditionally very private moment.
Sofia used her wedding weekend to launch herself on TikTok and in mere days, has turned so many people into Sofia stans. Here is just a SAMPLE of the comments:
As THIS creator points out so beautifully, this was a genius move IF, of course, her intent was to become the world’s next IT GIRL:
And fans loved the fashion and while it could have landed badly as it was a lot of wealth and designer labels, the way Sofia approached it was so real and weirdly relatable that the community ate it up:
And it IS a sensational rebrand for Sofia who went from being known as the sister of Nicole, the daughter of Lionel and the TOO young girlfriend of Kardashian-ISH Scott Disick, to becoming Hollywood royalty and marrying the son of one of the most powerful people in music.
And if Sofia herself wasn't posting, she had Vogue there to do it for her.
And lastly, many many creators tied this wedding to the wedding last year of Nicola Peltz and Brooklyn Beckham, which has been tabloid drama from the start with rumors of fighting in-laws and fashion snafus to real-life lawsuits between the bride’s family and wedding planners. OY. Many wondered on TikTok how Sofia’s wedding was the wedding Nicola envisioned for herself and how she wanted it to be received by the public. But that’s the difference here…Sofia and her team knew exactly what to do to make it so the public would EMBRACE her vs attack her. Brilliant marketing tbh.
A LITTLE THIS, A LITTLE THAT:
Look, it is quite a busy news day, and my thoughts and prayers to all the media reporters out there, so let this be a little sugary escape from the media news madness for a minute. And let us look at some highlights (and lowlights) of some OTHER pop culture-y things that have gone down this week.
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING HERO.
We need more of this guy in Florida.
HAILEY BIEBER SMOOTHIE!
I am late to this because I chose to be, but more and more people are asking me about this. So here you are. Erewhon, the world’s most expensive grocery store, or at least in LA and for which I succumb to buying $25 jars of soup, does collabs with people at its juice/smoothie bar. And this is the one that is a sensation. I saw people waiting 20 minutes this weekend for their Hailey Biebs smoothie, so it is only gaining steam.
I mean, this launched almost a year ago, but it keeps growing and growing in terms of popularity:
So when your kids ask you for a Hailey Bieber smoothie…now you know! (Sorry for the delay, I was in denial.
Lewis Capaldi has broken everyone’s hearts!
His new music video came out, and it should have a warning label attached to it. I learned about it naturally on TikTok, and the creators were too undone by it I had to check it out. I was NOT ok. You will not be ok.
🚨TRIGGER WARNING🚨 (old age, pets): I COULD NOT WATCH ALL OF IT.
FASHION:
A little round-up here as I thought this was a good time to educate you on what the kids are buying and where they buy it from. We touch on this here and there so this week we are focusing on:
- Selkie
- Polly Pocket fashion
- Loewe (Lo-AY-VAY)
SO, let’s get into it.
Selkie is a UK-based fashion brand that calls itself a ZERO WASTE company and it has lots of ethereal dresses and some of them are SUPER SHORT what one would call POLLY POCKET dresses (we will get to it..)
Selkie is also VERY inclusive with sizes ranging from XXS to 6X which is really cool to see.
They also offer a cool marketing gimmick which is called a Selkie Surprise Bag meaning you can buy a mystery item and have the surprise be part of the fun.
So check them out:
Ok, moving onto POLLY POCKET fashion.
You MIGHT remember a toy brand from even way back in the 1900s when I was a kid called Polly Pocket which were teeny dolls with teeny worlds:
And now fashion designers and labels have brought us what is being called:
“Polly Pocketcore”
And entirely new “aesthetic”. Clothes are super short, super cartoonish, super DOLL-like.
And the high-end fashion brand that is really leaning into this and doing it so successfully I have seen a lot of thisout and about is LOEWE who many pronounce as LOWE but it is pronounced Lo-AY-VAY. Got it? Let’s look at some of it shall we? This is one hell of an expensive label so seeing the young running around in a ton of Loewe makes me think of Warren Buffet and avocado toast.
You’re welcome.
WE DO NOT DESERVE “RuPublicans” BUT THANK GOD WE HAVE IT!!
May I introduce you to MOTHER PENCE:
And RUDY GARLAND:
And RHONDA SANTY!
My lord these are so good and if THIS is what AI is going to give us then I am totally ok with the weird, wonky hands it gives us. This Instagram profile is a GIFT:
And because the actual conservative nazis have gone to war on drag queens, the world is responding. This past weekend, Lizzo invited a bunch of Queens up on stage with her at a show in Tennessee, where it is now ILLEGAL to have them perform in a public setting where minors are.
And Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedwick launched a t-shirt to raise money for the Drag Defense Fund:
PITY CITY:
By now, MOST of you have seen this video of MillerKnoll CEO (maker of the Herman Miller brand) berating her staff and it did NOT go over well…especially when she was telling them not to complain about comp and lack of bonuses when she herself took home millions.
What is Lemon8??
A new app from TikTok parent ByteDance (new to the US at least) is becoming quite popular, and it should concern Meta as it really seems more like Instagram than anything else. Called a LIFESTYLE app, basically, you can follow subjects like fashion or nails or wellness and get insta like feed.
Just what we need…ANOTHER video and photo-sharing app!
THAT IS IT, my darlings…
This one goes out to ALL YOU MEDIA REPORTERS. Drinks on me this weekend in DC!
If you aren’t already a subscriber (PLEASE PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!!! to MEDIUM) and please do SHARE this with all your friends as I am trying to grow this little thing…BUT IF you want this in your inbox for NOW, please send an email to:
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Xx,
Brooke
