More influencers in cults, the Vatican's metaverse & one-click deceptions ššæš§
Also if Goop's Conference got religious
Hi Wrecklings! Authoring The Wreck List has made me realize that joining a cult actually is, apparently more common than Iād have ever imagined. Meanwhile, contrary to what I was warned about as a kid, the Bermuda Triangle has never been a problem. Then again, school also taught us how to square dance but not how to file taxes, so...
Anyway! Hereās this weekās scamdal:
āA Top YouTube Beauty Guru Has an Ugly History of Peddling Pseudoscience Bullshitā- Michelle Phan appears to have possibly, maybe joined a cult (no, not referencing her crypto shilling) which I guess for those familiar with her career, isnāt surprising.
āInside the colossal failure of VENN, the āMTV of video gamesāā- This piece is WILD, a real corporate šļøš„, if youāre into those kinds of things.
āBolt Built $11 Billion Payment Business on Inflated Metrics and Eager Investorsā- Whatās going on with these one-click payment startups? Hereās an article about the shady background of Fastās founderā which was shut down less than two months after the NPR piece ran.
āI Went To Former Fitness Influencer Brittany Dawnās Conference And I Guess I Understand Her Nowā- This basically sounds like the religious, less fancy version of the Goop Conference. Which, Fast Company did an amazing piece on a few years agoā and then again a year after that when the conference āgot even weirder, but somehow more professional.ā
āIt's a Hot Mess': Why Influencers Are Ditching Bella Thorneās OnlyFans Companyā- Explaining that your āmom runs day-to-day operations and is our creative directorā is a really strange way of not taking accountability for a company you founded.
āA Texas Tale of Tinder, Millions in Stolen Crypto and Murderā- Letās š not š send š strangers š off š the š internet š money š anymore!
āPatriots Traded Jimmy Garoppolo Because He Allegedly Got Owner Robert Kraft Girlfriend Ricki Noel Lander Pregnantā- Love when tips spilled on DeuxMoi get coverage. Who knows if any of this is true but the Patriots seem to have a penchant for scandal.
āMiami Grand Prix felt ālike the Fyre Festival of F1 racesā: attendeesā- Idk if one of the Spice Girls really almost got run over by cops but the response to this tweet still has me chuckling two days later.

āVatican Offers, Mysteriously Rescinds Interview About Popeās Metaverse Plansā- From a former publicist' perspective, this is 100% the case of a PR team trying to buy time⦠Why theyāre doing this, is the question. Looks like you can get cold feet in the Metaverse.
āDancing in the Name of the Lord The ācultā claims about a TikTok-famous set of performers shocked everyone ā except L.A.ās dancefluencer community.ā- We flagged this Gawker piece a couple months ago and the buzz about 7M have gained in traction sinceā including pieces in The Daily Beast and The Daily Mail.
āFast, Cheap, and Out of Control: Inside Sheinās Sudden Riseā- Iām proud I havenāt ordered from Shein yet but thereās clearly something amiss if their prices are so suspiciously low.
āDefamation suit: Influencer Rachel Wong fails in bid to find woman, who accused her of infidelity, in contemptā- This story is⦠messy messy. Much like with the Depp vs. Heard trial, seems like there are just a lot of skeletons being dragged out of closets for the public to see. No winners, everyone loses.
āRussian influencer could be jailed over nude Instagram photoshoot by sacred tree in Baliā- All these bad choices but luckily isnāt being tried for treasonā¦ š„š„ So sorry, Iāll see myself out.
More Serious Stories
We realize some of these can be triggering for some readers, so feel free to skip!
āNXIVM sex cult guru wants new judge to decide evidence-planting claimā
āIsrael: Turkish flight aborted as passengers get plane crash picsā
āGina. Rosanne. Guy. What do you do the day after you storm the Capitol?ā
Because the article title is gonna trip some email spam filters: this piece covers how the writerās dad was in the cult that was featured in the Wild Wild Country documentary. The whole thing is INSANE but the part I remember most was the rumor about blended up beavers being put in the water supply to poison the Wasco County residents.
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P.S. While weāre obsessed with these stories, we donāt endorse any of these insane behaviors. š