CATCHING FIRE: Romy Mars, near nostalgia and ginger is the new black
Do keep up!
So hot right now
Romy Mars… was already highly flammable’s favourite nepo baby after going viral for trying to charter a helicopter using her dad’s credit card aged just 16, and now a few years on her pop banger is blowing up after getting hype from Charli xcx.
Romy Croquet Mars Coppola, 18, is the daughter of film director Sofia Coppola and musician Thomas Mars, which almost guarantees her hot status, but she’s not resting on her laurels and is actively leveraging her family connections by getting her mother to be a prop in TikToks to promote her music.
Mars is also using her starry upbringing as material for the track A-Lister by referencing movie set flings, sniffing lines and living in a “sceney plastic world”. And it’s not just Charli who approves, Jake Shane, a creator with over three million followers, has also been bigging up the song.
Court cases… Criminal trials are dominating feeds and our attention. I’m tracking so many I feel like a court reporter…
Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing sex trafficking charges which has seen bombshell testimony from his ex-partner, the singer, Cassie. Catch up here.
Karen Read is being re-tried in a gripping murder or cover-up case over the death of her cop partner John O’Keefe near Boston. A timeline can be found here and updates here.
In Australia the mushroom murders trial sees Erin Patterson accused of killing four relatives of her estranged husband by feeding them beef wellington that included deadly mushrooms. A comprehensive explainer here.
Disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein is in the midst of a retrial for two counts of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and one count of third-degree rape after an appeals court overturned his previous conviction. Updates here.
Kim Kardashian appeared as a witness in a Paris court in an armed burglary case which saw her tied up and robbed of jewellery worth $10 million/£7.5 million
While it’s not novel for some trials to attract outsized attention, the rise of commentary content from true crime fans and online sleuths has changed how the public views them and how the media covers the cases.
I’m working on a bigger piece about the Karen Read trials and if anyone wants to share their theories, talk about tail light fragments, give their take on Action Jackson or Jen McCabe’s internet searches then I am all yours.
Ginger-haired white people… are actually black according to one commentator and TikTok has fully embraced the theory.
The original video, which provides no rationale for the left field argument, has been watched over 67 million times and prompted hilarious responses from redheads.
Some are even reframing their marriage…
And others the diversity in their work place…
Blue Ivy Carter… after she was dubbed Manager Blue by Beyoncé fans because they’re convinced she’s calling the shots on her mom’s tour after a string of viral moments showed her large and in charge.
Not only is she front and centre as a dancer in the Cowboy Carter shows, she crushes solo routines and has even been spotted providing stage cues for her mom. The name stuck when one fan at a Los Angeles show made a sign saying “We Love U Manager Blue” that she acknowledged by giving an enthusiastic thumbs up.
RELATED: I had the absolute pleasure of experiencing the second night of the Cowboy Carter tour in Los Angeles and was totally mesmerised for every moment of the 2 hour, 40 minute show. I’m a Beyoncé super-fan so no one ever trusts my rave reviews but more than ever before it’s clear that she is operating on a level without any peers. As she says herself on Alien Superstar she is “one of one”. I will die on this hill!
ALSO RELATED: Beyoncé spotted the “very demure, very mindful” TikTok creator Jools Lebron in the audience and uttered their famous catchphrase. Thoughts and prayers for Lebron as I would stop breathing if Beyoncé acknowledged my presence.
Emma Grede… is suddenly everywhere after the entrepreneur launched a podcast and went on a media blitz to promote it.
Grede, 42, who co-founded clothing brands SKIMS and Good American with the Kardashians, also appears to be single handedly bringing back girlbossery by saying that ambitious people need to be in the office, work on Saturdays and that it’s not an employer's responsibility to provide work, life balance.
Pom Klementieff… The French actress, and star of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, is having a moment as she wows red carpets while promoting the movie.
Klementieff stunned in this lilac Loewe number with structured hips at Cannes and takes my prize for best dressed at the film festival so far. Andie MacDowell’s immaculate bowtie and tux comes a close second. And Pedro Pascal’s flirty muscle tank and toned arms are in third.
Going viral
The whisk… Ballroom dancers are finally getting their time to shine on TikTok after a hip-popping dance took over the app.
Seemingly the trend started after a video of Russian dancer Ruslan Aydaev went viral and prompted others to try his killer moves. It became known as the “blue shirt guy” dance first before evolving into “the whisk”. Both are performed to a slowed-down version of the song Assumptions by Sam Gellaitry.
There are so many ace performances from ballroom pros like Derek Hough, Sasha Farber and Valentin Chmerkovskiy but my favourite is from rain dancer Brian Michael Hinds.
For those of us with two left feet, ballroom legend Shirley Ballas has done us a solid and made an idiot’s guide.
James Charles, again… The problematic YouTube make-up vlogger, who’s been embroiled in a string of scandals is attracting heat for all the wrong reasons once more.
The beauty creator, who has 40 million followers on TikTok and 24 million YouTube subscribers, is in the middle of a dispute involving his former friend Kayla Malec, who recently revealed that she was abused by her ex, the influencer Evan Johnson, who’s since pleaded guilty to domestic assault.
Malec, who has over 17 million followers on TikTok, claims that Charles knew about the abuse but got into a relationship with Johnson after their separation and shared information about her with him. The drama prompted calls to unfollow Charles. Despite reports that he’s hemorrhaged followers he’s still at 40 million.
On the upside Malec’s willingness to share her experiences has helped to highlight partner abuse and her emotional videos, many of which went viral, have received warm support from millions of viewers.
Trends, trends and even more trends
Near nostalgia… for fan favourite songs after two tracks charted years after their release.
First we had Lorde’s 2013 song Ribs hitting the Billboard chart after fans made it go viral. Then Charli xcx stans led a campaign to get her 2020 album track party 4 u to chart.
While it’s not unusual for old songs to re-emerge because they’re used in a TV show or advert, this is different. Fans are pushing for their favourite album tracks to finally get their flowers. It also speaks to how much nostalgia is a forever trend and how the window for what constitutes the good old days gets shorter.
The world’s greatest marketeer, aka Charli xcx, understands these concepts better than anyone and after hearing the call from her “angels” she gave party 4 u the full release treatment, even making a video for the song.
Liffner’s belted bucket bag… which is universally adored by the Substack fashion girlies.
Video memes… The proliferation of text prompt to video tools like Sora are reshaping the most powerful tool of online communication - memes.
This has been bubbling for a while but these unhinged videos from the Man Meets Machine Instagram account had me shook when I saw them this week…
Both depict Sean “Diddy” Combs, who as mentioned earlier is currently on trial for sex-trafficking. One shows Diddy enjoying a bromance with notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the other shows him guzzling baby oil, a product that’s featured heavily in the court case.
Even if viewers can spot that the videos are AI-generated, many are apt to consume and share them because they tell a story much like an editorial cartoon.
I first wrote about how AI images have become metaphorical back in October following the spread of aa AI image in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Republican National Committeewoman Amy Kremer, a cofounder of Women for Trump, was one of many who shared a picture of a young girl clutching a puppy, posting it on Twitter/X to her 124,000 followers. When told that the image was not real, Kremer hit back saying that it didn’t matter and that it was “emblematic” of the disaster.
The same sentiment will apply to these videos, and as they become more sophisticated, and packaged like entertainment, they’re likely to have even more impact and influence.
Cheating… through school and college with the help of AI according to a viral article in New York magazine that claims that “ChatGPT has unraveled the entire academic project”.
While the tone of the feature was alarming, Gen Z researcher and commentator
provided more sober analysis after conducting listening sessions with high school students in Arkansas. She describes AI’s impact as a “reshaping” of the student experience after they admitted that they use the tools all the time. “I don’t know anyone who’s not using it,” said one of Janfaza’s teen participants.But while the New York piece painted a picture of unbridled ChatGPT usage no matter what the cost, Janfaza notes that American high schoolers remember a time before AI and that makes them conflicted. She notes that the students can “see both what's gained and what might be lost,” by embracing the technology.
Younger members of Gen Beta, who started being born this year, will have no such perspective. Their entire education will happen in an AI-powered world.
RELATED: A senior at Northeastern University demanded a refund on her tuition after she discovered that her professor had created course materials on ChatGPT
ALSO RELATED: AEO (answer engine optimisation) is the new SEO (search engine optimisation) after ChatGPT and others snatched a significant chunk of traffic away from search tools like Google. Brands are now desperate to figure out how they can show up in responses. While there will be some organic ways, I’m sure a paid-for “solution” will be launched soon enough because… capitalism.
AND ANOTHER THING: A video created using AI brought a dead man ‘back to life’ to address the judge in a hearing which considered the sentencing of his killer.
Need to know
YouTube’s new podcast chart… is tracking the popularity of the format in the United States for the first time. Unsurprisingly the juggernaut that is The Joe Rogan Experience ranked number one for watch time the first week the rankings were published.
Hasan Piker was detained at the U.S. border… and questioned about his political perspectives. The hugely popular Twitch streamer, who shares pro-Gaza views and is critical of Donald Trump, described it as “an insane situation” in a video posted to TikTok.
This week I’m…
OBSESSED WITH
Lauren Sánchez’s extremely bougie Paris bachelorette party
The fact we’ve made it to the back half of May and we don’t have any serious contenders for song of the summer. This time last year we’d heard Espresso 679,438 times and Man in Finance had gone viral.
David Armstrong, 32, who’s divorcing billionaire David Geffen, 82, after less than two years of marriage and reports say there’s no prenup
Virgin Island, the Channel 4 reality series which aims to help 12 people with intimacy anxiety overcome their issues. The show somehow manages to make me sob AND experience full body cringe all at the same time.
Whoever dubbed the Pope’s first speech with an Italian Brain Rot soundtrack
How much Club Chalamet dislikes Kylie Jenner. The Timothée Chalamet fan account posted this in response to Vanity Fair picturing the couple on a red carpet together for the first time.
THINKING THAT the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue hasn’t evolved its aesthetic in decades. But at least they’re booking hot-right-now social media talent like gymnast and TikToker Livvy Dunne.
READING
The Washington Post’s take on our girl Jordon Hudson
That Gen Alpha’s former fave brand Drunk Elephant saw sales slide 65 per cent after the brand fell out of favour with tweens in The Business of Fashion
Pope Crave Won the Conclave from Vulture
Teens don’t want to be on social media all the time but they fear missing out according to this Teen Vogue op-ed
A look at Donald Trump’s penchant for AI slop imagery of himself from 404 Media
Meta Battles an ‘Epidemic of Scams’ as Criminals Flood Instagram and Facebook from The Wall Street Journal
AGREEING whole-heartedly with this Twitter/X observation…
LISTENING TO
Empire of AI author Karen Hao’s warnings on the true cost of AI’s rapid development on the Hard Fork podcast
Little Bit Closer, my favourite track from Sam Fender’s newish album, which now has a video staring Adolescence’s Owen Cooper
BUYING touchland’s hand sanitizer for two British school girls, aged 9 and 11, who desperately wanted me to bring the $10 products back from the U.S.
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
Romy Mars looks like a Sofia Coppola character. Oh, wait, she's exactly that!