CATCHING FIRE: Glazing, Labubus and a juicy Jordon Hudson update
Do keep up!
Before we get into the main course of this super-sized update, let’s tuck into a Met Gala appetiser
The boys won the first Monday in May event by nailing the Superfine: Tailoring Black Style theme, with the model and Elvis actor Alton Mason taking my best dressed prize
The girls stunned too, even though some missed the mark by ignoring the tailoring dress code. Shout out to Lauryn Hill (below) who ate with this butter yellow drama. Zendaya as per usual crushed in a slick white Louis Vuitton suit, and so did Anna Sawai who went with an almost identical look. Lupita Nyong'o, Tessa Thompson and Monica Barbaro also understood the assignment.
Met Gala first-timers are often a reliable indicator of who’s popping and this year’s debuts included:
Model and TikTok star Alex Consani and the content creator Khaby Lane
The White Lotus actress Aimee Lou Wood, Stranger Things star Sadie Sink, Thai actress Freen, Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan, Sinners director Ryan Coogler and the aforementioned star of A Complete Unknown Monica Barbaro
Musicians Doechii, Chappell Roan, Clairo and Shaboozey
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and WNBA star players Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart
Kiss curls were everywhere
The most entertaining red carpet commentary was from the ‘Joan Rivers of TikTok’, Nicky Campbell, because it always is
Going viral
Our girl Jordon Hudson… As regular readers will know I've been tracking the antics of Hudson since February after she nabbed a surprising role in the Dunkin’ Donuts Super Bowl ad alongside her boyfriend, the legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick.
Looking back, that unexpected star turn didn’t raise eyebrows enough, and it took a car crash interview with CBS Sunday Morning for everyone else to get obsessed with Hudson, and her 49-year age-gap relationship.
The 24-year-old former cheerleader went viral when she was caught on film objecting to a question being asked of Belichick, 73, as he promoted his new book. “We’re not talking about this,” she said from the sidelines after the coach was asked how he met Hudson.
The segment went on to describe Hudson as a “constant presence” and it left many wondering why she is so involved in the professional life of a man who’s handled the media with little help for decades.
As the criticism grew Hudson fought back in the most chronically online way possible by taking to Instagram to post receipts. Set to audio of Taylor Swift’s Look What You Made Me Do, she published an email Belichick had sent to his team days earlier predicting that the media would want to focus more on “current events that don’t have anything to do with the book”.
The next day Belichick released a statement defending Hudson and claimed that CBS had agreed that questions would be limited to the contents of The Art of Winning, but they issued a rebuttal saying there were no pre-approved parameters.
Later Daily Mail reported that Hudson had “quietly amassed a $9 million real estate empire since hooking up with the 73-year-old sports legend”. And others caught up on reporting from before the CBS fallout which detailed how Hudson had trademarked Belichick’s catchphrases, asked staff at the University of North Carolina (UNC) to include Hudson on all emails and that she was partly why the Hard Knocks series pulled out of planned coverage of Belichick’s first season coaching UNC.
Hudson’s Instagram also had an autopsy. And many got to see for the first time how much she loves to involve her “twin flame” in photoshoots…
While it’s fair to criticise her for overshadowing the book launch with her cack-handed interjection, so much of the coverage has clutched pearls at the audacity of a young woman being so involved in a man’s working life. Some reporting has even described her as a “runaway train” and hinted that she’s a gold digger.
What’s rarely said is that Belichick, a famed micromanager and talent spotter, clearly wants her there. Not only is he asking others to involve her, he’s defending her against the backlash.
The coverage reveals a broader truth. We’re much more willing to assume that a successful and strategic man can be easily manipulated by an ambitious young woman than we are able to consider that she’s adding value.
This show feels like it has a few more seasons to go so let’s see how it all nets out, but for now I hope Hudson carries on with her self-promotional and confident style because it’s just so entertaining to watch the horrified reactions.
Ballerina Cappuccina… after tweens and teens became obsessed with Italish-ish AI-generated characters created by TikTokers.
Collectively the personas have become known as Italian Brain Rot and viewers have helped to build an absurd universe by creating even more characters, back stories and plot lines.
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One of Italian Brain Rot’s most popular is Ballerina Cappuccina and saying her name in a heavy Italian accent has become the thing to do. highly flammable’s regular source for language trends, the teacher Mr Lindsay, says that his middle school pupils just can’t stop saying it.
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100 men v one gorilla… is the latest masculinity debate to grip the internet. It follows questions about whether a regular guy could beat a professional women’s tennis player or an untrained man could land a plane. What connected all the discourse is that men show remarkable confidence in their own abilities.
The discussion, which went super-viral on Twitter/X, generated hundreds of millions of views, endless arguments and hilarious memes before experts weighed in to say that the chances men could win were extremely slim.
So hot right now
Labubus… after the latest drop of the key ring dolls caused a near riot in a Los Angeles shopping mall.
The cute collectibles, which are sold by POP MART, have been in-demand since they launched last year. Their popularity surged when Lisa from BLACKPINK (she really is very hot this week) told Vanity Fair she was obsessed with the toys and was spotted with one swinging from her Louis Vuitton bag. Dua Lipa and Rihanna are also fans.
Demand for the accessories is so high that thousands of shoppers and resellers descended on Westfield’s Century City mall in the early hours. They were trying to nab a surprise doll in a “blind box” for $27.99/£21, or to bag all six for $167.94/£126. Some TikTok posts reported that the launch was eventually cancelled because of the pre-sale chaos.
Alex Warren… whose track Ordinary is number one on Billboard’s most streamed chart. It’s been a slow burn rise for the love song, which was released back in February and blew up with the help of TikTokers who’ve added it to their dramatic and romantic videos.
Warren crushing it on social media shouldn’t surprise anyone. He was a co-founder of TikTok’s controversial Hype House and is married to fellow influencer Kouvr Annon, who herself has 15 million followers on the clock app.
Tefi Pessoa… who’s pivoted her TikTok fame into a podcast deal with Vox Media as well as a new advice column with The Cut.
Known as hellotefi online, the 34-year-old has built a loyal following of over two million on TikTok through her sharp cultural commentary and sisterly advice.
Robotaxis… Waymo, the Google owned autonomous driving taxi service, is enjoying explosive growth with paid rides up 5x in a year. The cars are now performing 250,000 trips every week in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin and Phoenix.
I’ve reluctantly loved every one I’ve taken in Los Angeles - smooth ride, privacy, the ability to control the music and temperature and often cheaper than Uber - even though I feel like I am actively participating in accelerating our “extinction” era with every booking :(
Trends, trends and even more trends
Ice bucket challenge… is back, baby! Teens are chucking cold water over themselves to raise money for charity 11 years after the trend popped on Instagram. I first saw this on my 16-year-old’s god son’s profile and had to do a double take, but it makes sense given that those taking part were too young to experience it the first time around, and considering the broader nostalgia for simpler times.
I’m hungry prank… which is getting more and more savage by the day so be warned in case you’re next.
It started as a fun joke on TikTok where users would say to another “I’m so hungry I could eat…” and then say the name of someone obscure from their past.
The most common targets are now parents unaware of the trend who get bent out of shape very quickly at the mention of ghosts from their previous lives.
Peak protein… has officially been reached after Khloe Kardashian launched a protein-infused popcorn.
Our obsession with proteinmaxxing has become so total that we’re consuming it in water, powder, even ice cream, and nutritionists are sounding the alarm that we’re over consuming it at the expense of other key nutrients like fibre.
Young people’s growing discomfort with social media… Another week another study which shows young people believe more than ever that social media has a negative effect on them and their peers.
Pew Research Center found that almost half of 13 to 17 year old Americans say that the platforms have a “mostly negative” effect on people their age, up from 32 per cent three years ago. Just 11 per cent say it’s “mostly positive”, down from 24 per cent in 2022.
They also found that teen girls are more likely than boys to say social media damaged their mental health (25 per cent v 14 per cent) and confidence (20 per cent v 10 per cent).
The findings come after The New Britain Project and More in Common reported that 62 per cent of 16 to 24 year old Brits believe social media does more harm than good for young people, and four in five said they’d try to keep their own children off social media for as long as possible.
On the flip side the Pew study did identify some benefits, with the majority of teens saying that they see social media as a positive space for friendships and creativity.
Need to know
Glazing… is a word you’re going to hear a lot more of after it was used to describe how AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT can adopt a sycophantic tone and are apt to shower users with praise.
A recent release of ChatGPT was adjusted after users complained about being licked up and down by the chatbots leading the company’s CEO to admit that it “glazes too much” on Twitter/X.
RELATED: A Rolling Stone report headlined People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies detailed how some users started to believe they were the next messiah after ChatGPT convinced them they were a prophet. The story highlighted a Reddit thread titled ChatGPT induced psychosis where users are discussing their experiences. Truly alarming.
Becca Bloom… who I introduced you to last month has since been profiled by Air Mail and The Free Press. The “relatable billionaire”, who now has nearly three million followers on TikTok, has also signed with super agents UTA.
Seems bad that… half of all UK advertising spend went to Google and Meta last year
This week I’m…
OBSESSED WITH
These “like a blizzard” girlies. It’s got the same energy as Sambas and a little red bag, which is what inspired Gen Z boss and a mini…
The re-trial of Karen Read, who’s accused of ramming her cop boyfriend with her car before leaving him to die in a snowstorm. If you need a primer watch A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read. If you want updates on the latest trial NBC 10 Boston is covering it live.
W Magazine’s magical cover shoot with Chappell Roan
The TikTok moms who show off their big babies
JoJo Siwa dumping her partner Kath at the Celebrity Big Brother wrap party after developing a flirty relationship with Jesy Nelson’s ex-boyfriend Chris Hughes on the show
This fit, which all the cool girls will be wearing this summer
Elizabeth Hurley and Billy Ray Cyrus hard launching their romance on Instagram
Darshen who popularised the “my name is” trend
This incredible song about Elon Musk set to Cake’s The Distance
Éros Brousson’s viral explanation of how hard it is to date long-term single women
Beauty vlogger James Charles’ ability to be involved in controversy
EXCITED FOR Succession creator Jesse Armstrong’s new film, Mountainhead, which follows a group of billionaires who meet for a summit at an alpine resort as civil unrest unfolds below them. It drops on May 31 on Max.
READING
on the Glennon Doyle saga, which explains why the author joined, angered then left Substack in days ’s excellent take on the horrors of Aritzia fitting rooms ’s charming and extremely comprehensive guide to Marks & Spencer’s foodThat we’re now judging men by their bodies after this New York Times headline about the Twitch streamer Hasan Piker (gift link)
Semafor’s deep dive on the group chats that changed America, that surprise, surprise, appeared to contain very few women
Another Jeff Horwitz scoop on Meta which reports that staff inside the company are concerned about ‘digital companions’ that will talk sex with children
Drew Harwell’s profile of Emily, the Twitch streamer who’s been live for three years, in The Washington Post
A MAGA influencer’s take on why Donald Trump was able to make such a stunning political comeback in The Atlantic: “It backfired on the tech people who deplatformed him, because it platformed all of us.” (gift link)
The Washington Post’s report on the Twitter/X super-poster @Acyn headlined: The 40-something single dad shaping liberal media from his laptop (gift link)
The New York Times’ report on how Twitter/X suppressed the reach of accounts that criticised Elon Musk (gift link)
My Brain Finally Broke by Jia Tolentino in The New Yorker
TRYING Meghan Markle’s sold out $9/£7 raspberry spread. Very tasty, very sweet, very much like a less dense version of Bonne Maman jam.
highly flammable is produced and written by me, Rachel Richardson
I’m a content creator, commentator and consultant at Beginning, Middle and End
Want more? Check out Threads, Twitter/X and Instagram. I’m also dabbling in some Bluesky thinking.
Email rr@bmend.com
I’ll be rewatching the song about Elon Musk about 999 times today.
Thank you for including me Rachel!