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Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
media, the creator economy and the digital space.
Every Monday through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
I'm your host, Lauren Meissner, the founder of the Australian
youth digital media brand Centennial World.
Welcome back to Mini Scroll, everyone.
OK, I went to the coolest event this morning.
I need to talk about it. It's not often that I talk about
brand events that I've gone to, but this one was so special.
So it was for Lush and they took us to the Lush factory in Sydney
and we got to like make our own Lush products and see how
they're made. And it was actually like the
most fun. I got to make my own bath bomb.
We got to make soap. I got to like decal some soap
and it was really cool. Like I, I guess I've just never
thought about how Lush products are made.
I know that they say that they're handmade, but I didn't
realize like how handmade. Like we got to meet everyone who
was working on the products in all the different areas.
It was so cool. It was really amazing to see how
almost it feels almost like still very grass roots.
The brand was behind the scenes. It was so cool.
Oh, we also got to make our own face masks, you know, our fresh
section. So we got to make our own like
fresh face masks. And it was so much more
impactful to see like how the sausage is made, you know, how
the products are made and to really like understand the
behind the scenes of the brand and that they truly like
practice what they preach. That was like so much more
impactful for me than if it was, I don't know, like a breakfast
or some type of like party or something that we often do with
brands. It was such a cool experience.
I had a really good time. So that's what I did before this
all right, before I get into it, Please remember to rate review
and subscribe and please Spotify star rate US.
OK, the first story that I have for you guys today is Chapel
round is facing mixed reactions after confronting paparazzi.
So a video of Chapel is going viral right now.
In it, she's surrounded by paparazzi, but instead of posing
for them, she starts filming them.
In the video, Chapel is facing the camera and showing what
seemed to be paparazzi behind her.
And you can hear her saying this is what it's like to be
disregarded as a human. She also points out a specific
person saying this person I've asked several times to go away
and they will not and then she goes on to ask them to stop
following her. Now, like I said, the reaction
has been mixed. Unsurprising with the Internet,
so many people are sympathetic to her.
This is obviously an issue that she's been vocal about across
her career. However, others on social media
are frustrated by her reaction. So for instance 1 user made the
claim that quote celebrities have gotten lamer.
I don't know if I just grew up or if celebrities got lamer and
started acting like normal people larping as celebrities.
They technically have the wealth and status but they have
absolutely no aura. Celebrities used to be a lot
cooler. Everything they do now is so
unbearably forced and cringe. You can tell they go into every
interview or event with the mindset that it will go viral on
social media. They're actively trying to farm
iconic pop culture moments. So I guess they think that this
was Chapel trying to farm an iconic pop culture moment.
It's all impossible to watch without cringing because it's so
glaringly unnatural. It literally feels like we don't
have any new celebrities that are naturally cool.
None of them have aura. They all feel like glorified tik
tokers LMAO. And this particular tweet.
The reason why I'm reading it is because it has over 1.2 million
views. That is a sweeping statement if
I've ever heard one. OG YouTube Tyler Oakley shared a
tweet backing Chapel he wrote. Personally, I like Chapel Roan
establishing her boundaries and not just putting up with those
who don't adhere to them. She already changed how
photographers treat celebrities on red carpets.
Maybe this will change how paparazzi treat celebrities
simply existing in public. OK, so I think there's a couple
things here. First of all, when people say
all like celebrities back in the day, they used to be so much
more appreciative of this attention and paparazzi and
stuff like that. First of all, I absolutely
disagree with that. There were tabloids constantly
that showed photos of celebrities where they were
like, smashing paparazzi's cars and yelling at them and begging
them to leave them alone. I think we feel like it's
happening more now because when one instance like this happens,
it doesn't just get printed in the tabloids.
It's viral across social media for days and days and days.
So I feel like that's part of it.
We also usually get footage of the actual, like, exact
interaction, which back in the day we didn't.
We would get like one photo and then the retelling of that
situation, you know, from the tabloid.
Another element here is that celebrities don't just have the
pressure of paparazzi surveillance now, but they also
have the pressure of social media surveillance.
So I understand why modern day celebrities feel more and more
out of control in terms of their ability to like lead any type of
like normal personal life because they probably feel so
constantly surveilled, like they can't go do anything because if
it's not a paparazzi filming them, it's a random person
that's going to go put it on TikTok.
And then everyone's going to take it out of context and
they're going to go viral for something that they may or may
not have even done. Plus, back in the day, there
were some really horrible things that happened with paparazzi and
celebrities being driven off roads, sometimes getting really
injured by trying to escape paparazzi, occasionally getting
killed trying to escape paparazzi.
Like there were some horrific things that were happening in
like the late 90s, early 2000s. So the sentiment that
celebrities now are just like, not as cool and they just like,
can't hack it the way that like OG celebrities back in the day
could is so misguided. I think it's totally untrue.
And what Tyler Oakley wrote is true.
So many celebrities have come out and said that because Chapel
started standing up for herself against the photographers on red
carpets that the photographers treat them differently now.
So I agree with him that, you know, she did make headway there
and I don't know, maybe this is the next iteration of that.
But I do think unfortunately, to make that change, like Chapel
has to become the spectacle, which of course comes with like
so much backlash, so much discourse, so much opinion that
is probably so challenging to manage.
So I also understand why she likes to retreat from the public
eye and has a very complicated relationship with it.
OK, the next right that I have for you guys today, if you guys
are in our Discord, then you will have seen that I shared a
very small insight, a very small tippet of how many comes to
life. Yesterday I posted this in
Discord of how many comes to life, how we pick the stories.
And it was just messages between Annabelle and I and I basically
wrote OK, Timothy Jesselyn jealousy girl backlash and Mera
beauty caught using creators videos as ads unpaid.
And then tomorrow I'll do the vegetables.
And then Annabelle wrote that sentence is crazy heart.
And so people in the discord were like, I'm very excited to
see what you mean by tomorrow I'll do the vegetables.
So we're talking about the vegetables, we're talking about
the fruit and vegetable brain rot that is literally taking
over everyone's For You page right now.
If you haven't seen it, this is going to sound insane, but AI
generated fruits and vegetables are dominating the For You page
Now. The reason why they're
dominating is because these videos have plot and drama.
It's like watching mini soap operas on your phone on TikTok,
but instead of humans or cartoons, it's AI generated
fruits and vegetables playing out this plot and drama for you.
So for example, some stories might start with a strawberry
cheating on her banana husband and then having a baby out of
the affair. Other stories show various
fruits getting kicked out of their homes or even ending
relationships because they can't stop farting so much.
OK, like it's unhinged. There doesn't seem to be one
single account posting these stories, which is also
interesting. So it's unclear if it was like
one account started posting it, they were going viral, and then
others started adopting this or if it's like a strategy, like I
imagine it could be like a media brand.
Do you guys remember this was years ago when we all found out
that this number of drama channels that were like cartoon
and voiced that they were all owned by this media company
based in Canada. And they've been producing these
channels and getting like millions of views, some of the
millions of subscribers. And people thought that there
was like a single human behind them, but turns out it was
actually just like a media conglomerate behind them.
I feel like it could also be that that could be happening
here. And part of that is because
there are some key characters that come up again and again,
like Water Molina, Pupita and Strawberrita.
OK, so this style of content is very reminiscent of Italian
brain rot, which took over the Internet last year.
It's the genre of almost like surrealist memes.
Like, that's probably the best way to describe it.
And I think on one hand, people enjoy it because it's so
absurdist. It's so surreal.
And you're kind of like, what is happening here.
Of course, you can't really look away.
Aside from the initial shock value, I think they get popular
partly because we like an escape and because it is so unrealistic
and so removed from real life. It's escapism.
But I also think because I know I say this all the time on Mini,
but people like to feel in on the joke.
These videos are getting millions of views, but they're
also still like very niche and very new.
And I think people like feeling like they are part of something
that's like a niche in joke right now.
And Speaking of people who like to be in on the joke, Tricia
Paytas is commenting on like all of them.
She'll be in the comments like, oh, this was a good one or one
that she commented on yesterday. She wrote the pair was valid for
that one, and it's the pair leaving a banana because she
farts too much. So if anyone has any insight
into who's creating these, please let me know.
Let me know if my conspiracy theory about a media
conglomerate opening a bunch of accounts and doing this, if
that's accurate. OK.
And the last story that I have for you guys today is Australian
influencers Sam Guggenheimer, as in Sam Guggs and Bill Barker
have apologized after posting a controversial TikTok video about
finding a new flatmate. OK, so Sam's moving out of her
house. She was making a video talking
about how she's looking for someone to move into her room.
And then Bill is in the background and this is what
happened. Everything.
You can even have a picture of me on on the wall that you need.
You're still be a skinny girl that.
No, you can have drawers. Lily's not living.
With a fatty. Covered Bill What the.
Fuck. That is so fucking true.
That is so true. Though no it is not.
So they got a ton of backlash for that.
Obviously it's a very fat phobic thing to say.
There were a lot of people who felt like Sam, even though she
was saying like, oh, that's not true.
And she obviously didn't seem to be supporting it in the moment.
People thought that she was like smirking.
People felt like, oh, maybe they talk like this in private to
each other, whatever. And there are also theories that
Sam posted this to make herself look better because she
obviously reacted in shock and was saying, like, that's not
true at all. And then he's like, please
delete that. And she was like, no, I'm
leaving it in. So then this escalated because
they went on live together to address the backlash.
And Sam basically said, you know, this is how we joke around
together. But on the Internet, jokes and
we make silly things all the time, and sometimes it's not
appropriate to put it on the Internet.
And I will admit, Bill asked me to delete it.
I still thought it was funny. I didn't think it'd get taken
out of the context. But again, I forget that the
Internet doesn't know how to take a joke sometimes and it was
purely an inside joke. If James Charleston say block me
down fat. Yeah, it was just like a.
After this disastrous live situation, the backlash kept
escalating. And then Sam posted this.
A few days ago, I shared a video that included a conversation
which should have never happened and absolutely should never have
been posted online. The language used in that moment
was inappropriate and unacceptable.
I want to make it clear that the comments made were never
directed at any specific person or influencer.
However, I understand that regardless of intent, what was
said was offensive and hurtful. I take full responsibility for
posting the video without properly reviewing it
beforehand. That was a mistake and it does
not excuse what was said. I should have exercised better
judgment. I'm genuinely sorry to anyone
who was hurt by my actions. I take accountability for this
and will ensure to learn from it and do better moving forward.
Now near the end of the video, the original video, you can hear
them mention an influencer. I think they mentioned SOPA DOPA
but they like mute that section. I'm not adding it out, just.
Careful because you have a phone calls coming out.
So people are like, OK, so you were editing the video enough to
like mute a specific section so Sofajova's name wasn't in the
video, but you didn't think to cut that part out?
And then here is Bill's apology. I.
Just want to say how genuinely sorry I am for the comments I
made in that video from the bottom of my fucking heart.
I'm so sorry. Matter what context I say my
words in, they still carry meaning and they were wrong and
it was unacceptable. I just want to preface clearly
that those comments were directed at no person, no one.
Regardless, I said it and I have to take responsibility for that.
I should know it better than anybody how impactful comments
are about other people's bodies. My body was my biggest
insecurity growing up and it really it hurts me more than
anything to know that my words have contributed to people
feeling that way. I can't express enough how
damaging that kind of thing is to post in 2026.
There is so much discussion right now about how skinny is
back. Everybody is shrinking.
The pendulum has swung so far. Like, we made so much headway
from like the early 2000s where we saw so many of our favorite
celebrities just waste away. Culture did make positive
headway on that. And we are slipping so far back
and it's so scary to see. I'm so terrified for all the
girls and young women now. Like being a 90s baby.
I was born in 91, you know, like peak early 2000s culture was so
fucked up. I can't tell you how much it
messed up all of my friends and I.
And I think we were so happy to feel like, OK, we actually like
made some headway here. We made some progress here.
And and it's all getting taken away and to have something like
this posted where you're making a joke, quote UN quote joke like
that, it's so toxic. It just reaffirms everything
that we're all afraid of right now.
That's coming back. This culture and the doubling
down on the live before the actual quote UN quote actual
apologies. No, anyways, guys, that's it for
mini scroll today. Thank you so much for listening.
I love you guys. Please remember to rate review
and subscribe, please Spotify star rate US.
I love you and Annabelle will talk to you guys tomorrow and
then I will talk to you on Thursday.
Bye.