HQ Trivia exposé, rare bourbon scandal & Happiest Baby's toxic workplace 👀🍿🧃
Hi Wrecklings!
We were busy last week working on our piece about the disastrous customer service nightmares over at The RealReal— check it out if you haven’t already.
I’m also jumping back into
“The Conscious Life Expo: Where crystals and chakras are a gateway to far-right conspiracies”- Just like this headline, this article has some really unexpected twists and turns.
''Inaccurate Calculation' Leaves Laid Off Google Employees Confused About Severance Package''- Oof. That’s some pouting of salt into a wound.
“Voice Actors Enraged By Companies Stealing Their Voices With AI”- Between this and deepfakes, things are about to get real Black Mirror-like.
''Fast Fashion Brands Are Distorting Charity Shops''- Funny, considering shopping at most fast fashion shops feels like sorting through a thrift shop anyway (if not even less organized)
''Adidas is looking to repurpose unsold Yeezy products. Here are some of its options''- If I learned anything about the article above, it’s that they should probably just donate these shoes for a tax write-off.
''Super Bowl ticket prices are declining. They’ll still cost thousands of dollars''- Unrelated(ish) but one time I got insanely low priced tickets on a Red Sox vs. Yankees game (yes, I know, different sport) only to realize the seats were in a no-drinking section. Which explained a lot.
''Ahead of the Super Bowl, Short-Term Rentals Fumble in Phoenix''- I don’t feel too badly if Airbnbs are trying to outprice hotels, especially with hosts charging guests to still do chores.
Couldn’t find an accompaying article but thought this was an interesting tweet:
BeReal's decline. Downloads are down 95% from peak. Here's why it never had staying power.BeReal's weekly US downloads (down ~95% from their 2022 peak) show how difficult it is to keep up a consumer app's growth once you have crossed the chasm An amazing product, team, some great investors, but this shit is hard https://t.co/NE7qV9P55fSasha Kaletsky @SashaKaletsky''U.S. fighter jets shoots down unidentified object off northern Alaska coast; was ‘threat’ to civilian aircraft''- I really hope we’re not making any aliens angry.
''Neiman Marcus says it's only targeting ultra-wealthy customers who can spend around $27,000 a year at the retailer''- I guess since “the top 2% of the group's customers drive roughly 40% of its total sales, and 80% of those customers are worth at least $1 million” this strategy makes sense.
“‘It Is Very Risky’: The People With a Fetish for Being Inside Inflatable Pool Toys”- … blueberry cosplay? This article left me with so many questions that I’m comfortable with being left unanswered.
Ok, I’m running out of jokes with this man. Whyyyy is he still in office??
''What Happens When A Corporate TikTok Girlie Gets Laid Off? She Posts Through It.''- No snark, I’m glad these women learned sooner in their careers that companies “won’t love you back, so have a Plan B.”
''‘Only one of these is real’: Influencer lifts the veil on fake social media''- Danae’s content has always been so great, well worth a follow!
''Cheapskate' influencer worth millions is busted selling a $850 rug as 'basically brand new' when she's actually owned it for three years and even put it in her young son's room''- Kind of gross when any follower passionate enough to want to buy something like this from her would probably have already noticed the rug in previous content.
''Oregon liquor director to resign amid scandal over rare bourbon''- Can’t imagine the bourbon was that good to risk it all, but who knows.
''Why Do People Keep Throwing This Bald Doll at Celebrities?''- What a strange, unexpectedly educational read!
''A former HQ Trivia host said there was a "toxic environment" at work where hosts were often pitted against each other''- I’m so incredibly excited for this documentary, this place sounded like an absolute 🗑️🔥.

“Jordyn Woods responds to woman who spent $400 on her new clothing line and compared it to the 'clearance section of Shein'“- Opeee. But she’s also… not wrong? Unless this is the intended look?
''Is the end nigh for beauty influencers?''- Learning about how brands have paid influencers to do negative reviews of competitors is wild.
''‘Don’t buy from Ashley Furniture’: Customer says Ashley Furniture signed him up for several credit cards weeks after buying living room set''- Gross. This also further reinforces that the Better Business Bureau is a scam.
''‘I always wondered what this $9.99 was every month’: Customer says Amazon signed her up for random subscription''- Huh. That’s concerning as I wouldn't catch this for probably months.
''MoneyGram Fraud Victims Get $115m in Compensation''- Wait, I didn’t realize until doing some background googling that the USPIS was responsible for investigating Charles Ponzi (the uh.. father of the ponzi scheme).
''Crypto, forex platform CEO pleads guilty to $248M fraud scheme''- I feel like every week is like a Scooby Doo episode where another Web3 founder gets unmasked as a scammer.
🔏“A husband-wife duo turned the $1,700 Snoo into the holy grail of parenting, but some say they run their company like a dysfunctional 'surveillance state'“- This piece is INSANE. They had the office cleaner narc’ing to the founder on when employees would use the bathroom, WHAT? If you can’t access the article, I’m going to be filming a TikTok on this, so give me a follow!
More Serious Stories
We realize some of these can be triggering for some readers, so feel free to skip! Also, sometimes we use weird letter subs so we’re not flagged as gross spam email.
''Neuralink Is Transporting Brain Implants Covered In Lethal Pathogens, Allegations Claim''
''Florida Straight Up Lied About AP African-American Studies Course, College Board Says''
''What Happens When You Become Viral Content Without Your Consent''
''Jinger Duggar Vuolo Rails Against The Cult That Raised Her”
''Alleged SIM Swapper Ransomed Instagram Influencer for Dates, Striptease Video''
''Video Game Voice Actors Doxed and Harassed in Targeted AI Voice Attack''
''The deepfake scam era begins with an AI-generated Joe Rogan pushing p3nis pills on TikTok''
''The Conspiracy-Verse Thinks "Fake UFOs" Are a Distraction From a Disastrous Train Derailment''
''Inside the Near-Collapse and Resurrection of the Redstone Media Empire''
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P.S. While we’re obsessed with these stories, we don’t endorse any of these insane behaviors. 💋