Eating For Free

Former 1MDB consultant 'Jho Low' famously embezzled billions of tax-dollars to fund his lavish Hollywood lifestyle. Celebs like Leonardo DiCaprio & Kim Kardashian received millions to party with him, only to find they'd been tricked years later. We break it down in today's episode!   Links: How Malaysia's 1MDB Scandal Shook the Financial World [ Washington Post ] [Aug 2022] Big-spending Malaysian...

In 1990, a landmark case about "obscenity" in rap music sparked decades of discourse. 30 years later, hundreds of black artists have been prosecuted based on lyrics and their music. Part three of "Pop Music That F*cks", The Long War on Rap, is out now! Links:  Obscenity or Art? Trial on Rap Lyrics Opens [ NYT ] The state of obscenity in rap (June 29, 1990) [ EW ] 2 Live Crew's Obscenity Trial, Rem...

From 'The Real Housewives' to A-listers, controversial diabetes drug Ozempic is the talk of TikTok and Tinseltown med-spas. This week, we trace its origins, unpack its ubiquity, and link it to past weight loss drug disasters like fen-phen in the '90s.  About: Hosted by journalists Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson, Eating For Free is a weekly podcast that explores gossip and power in the pop culture...

For over 40 years, the specter of the "Satanic Panic" has loomed large over the American cultural psyche, with many claims made about what happened, who were the players involved, and what its lasting impacts on pop culture and politics really were. This episode, we take a peak into the panic, and unpack how racist segregation policies and outrage against the growing popularity of Black musicians...

As Kim Petras and Sam Smith don 'devilish' attire for their Grammy performance of 'Unholy', right-wring pundits claim Satanic panic, echoing outrage seen in American politics since the 1830s. Our new series charts 200 years in American moral panics about music, race, sexuality, and the conservative religious zealot's war for control of America's heart and mind. Links: Kim Petras Defends Sam Smith...

While the nepo baby panic rages on with no end in sight, everyone tip-toes around that rather obvious pile of class anxieties 🤔 So join us and special guest Emily Alford  this week in search of an answer to the ancient question: What's up with rich and famous people?! Featuring cameous from our favorite friends and enemies, like Allison Williams, Lena Dunham, Anderson Cooper Vanderbilt, Edith Wha...

Jen Shah has faced many accusations for many crimes. But what of the cast members and producers in her orbit, who've hung around her like carrion vultures desperate for every last scrap of rotted flesh? This week, we look into all the ways people like Heather Gay, Meredith Marks, and Andy Cohen have desperately clung to her rapidly ascending public profile, ensuring screentime and enriching the ne...

In the final episode of our series on James Cameron's latest aesthetic monstrosity, Avatar 2, we talk about the impact on the film industry of shooting four "billion dollar movie sequels" at once, the terrifying prospects of Weta's 3D technologies, and more! Links:  James Cameron Praises 'Avatar 2' Nearing $2 Billion: 'Enough With Streaming Already! I'm Tired of Sitting on My A–' [ Variety ] Will...

James Cameron's Avatar series promises to haunt us for another decade, after disappearing into the jungles of Pandora since 2009. In our first series of the year, we look at the making of James Cameron's $2 billion sex dream phantasmagoria nightmare horror fest featuring suburban heterosexual Americans cosplaying as blue people! Links:   'Avatar 2' Needs $2 Billion to Turn a Profit. James Cameron...

2022 was a monumentally horrible, terrible, no good, evil, despicable, heinous, apocalyptic year in pop culture history. Everything happening everywhere all at once all the time! Links: Jimmy Fallon, Justin Bieber, Serena Williams, and her Reddit cofounder husband among the celebs being sued over Bored Ape NFT promotions [ Fortune ] MrBeast is inspiration of soon-to-open Airbnb [ Reflector ] MrBea...

Once upon a time, a Hallmark CEO scandalously quit his job after pulling a wedding ad for a gay couple. Now he's back (alongside Candace Cameron Bure) with a mission to save America...one Lori Loughlin Christian Christmas movie at a time! Over the last two weeks, we dove deep into Great American Family, former Hallmark CEO's new Christian family network that streams almost exclusively Christmas mo...

Once upon a time, a Hallmark CEO scandalously quit his job after pulling a wedding ad for a gay couple. Now he's back (alongside Candace Cameron Bure) with a mission to save America...one Lori Loughlin Christian Christmas movie at a time! Over the next two weeks, we'll dive deep into Great American Family, former Hallmark CEO's new Christian family network that streams almost exclusively Christmas...

In the final installment of our series on Balenciaga, we look past the right wing fundamentalist conspiracy theories and instead explore the haunting images of photographer Gabriele Galimberti. Through our investigation into his work and legacy, we ask: Where will all the good art go when Christian nationalists tighten their grip on the media and artistic reproduction? We also would like to prefac...

In our new two part series, we seek to unpack the controversy around Balenciaga, and the malicious fascist forces whipping up a 24/7 moral panic news cycle concerning the brand's latest campaign photos. Who stands to benefit from the outrage, and who might lose everything?  We also would like to preface that this episode concerns frank and serious discussions about sexual assault, trafficking, and...

Content warning for this episode: we talk about domestic violence, abuse, and harm to children. We will give verbal warnings in the episode before those segments.  Brad Pitt and Emily Ratajkowski have been in the headlines recently for their brief romantic outings, however the narrative Page Six and other tabloids report may not be the whole story. Violence and abuse allegation about Pitt recently...

Which celebrities ate Rick Caruso's assh*le during an extremely spooky L.A. mayoral race? We dive deep into Hollywood's election meddling in the city of angels... and everywhere else! Most notably: Pennsylvania's hotly debated Senate race between global eating disorder merchant Dr. Oz and local "guys being dudes" hero John Fetterman! As always, there's a darker story hidden beneath the flurry of e...

Mr. Beast is a person who quickly transformed the Youtube industry with extreme acts of philanthropy and millions of dollars wasted on frivolous acts of torture on random people. Specifically those most desperate for money! But is he the generous Willy Wonka figure he's made himself out to be, or is there more to the story? Links: 'A cashier leaked he was going to be buying people's groceries and...

Links: GROCERY HAUL | Favorite Healthy Food MY WEIGHT LOSS STORY Has posted about 5G. Most of the tweets are deleted but this one: [ Tweet ] YouTuber Tati Westbrook Moves to Texas, Buys Lavish Suburban Estate [ Dirt ] MAKEUP BREAKUP ... Goodbye 💔 SHOCKING BEAUTY FAVES ... I'm Obsessed! 100+ FOUNDATIONS ... This is Heartbreaking 💔 About: Obsessive about the dark underworld of Instagram influencer...

About: Obsessive about the dark underworld of Instagram influencers, celebrity-induced conspiracy theories, and modern media shenanigans? You're in the right place! Hosted by Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson , Eating For Free is a weekly investigative podcast reporting live from the absolute edge of the internet. We're a new wave of gossip sleuths at a time when our culture is increasingly chaotic...

You begged us for it, so here you go! Links: "The Try Guys" Form Independent Production Company, Enter Into New Strategic Partnership With BuzzFeed [2018, Buzzfeed ] Try Guys tearfully admit they knew of Ned Fulmer's affair weeks ago [ Page Six ] [ Youtube ] I watched their TryPods episode "ok, let's talk about it" so you don't have to… [ YouTube ] Buzzfeed News article about the podcast episode [...

About: Obsessive about the dark underworld of Instagram influencers, celebrity-induced conspiracy theories, and modern media shenanigans? You're in the right place! Hosted by Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson , Eating For Free is a weekly investigative podcast reporting live from the absolute edge of the internet. We're a new wave of gossip sleuths at a time when our culture is increasingly chaotic...

Links: RIHANNA: I'M GOIN' TO THE SUPER BOWL!!! Headlining Halftime Show [ TMZ ] KiKi Layne claims 'most' of her 'Don't Worry Darling' scenes were cut [ Page Six ] 'Don't Worry Darling' Crew Disputes Claims of on-Set Drama Between Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh [ People ] Constance Wu Says She Experienced 'Sexual Harassment and Intimidation' by 'Fresh Off the Boat' Producer [ Youtube ] [ People ] A...

Links:   Short-sellers' bets against Boohoo reach £45m as shares tumble [ Retail Gazette ] Sustainability at Boohoo [ Boohoo ] Kourtney Kardashian wants to make Boohoo's fast-fashion sustainable. Spoiler alert: she can't [The Guardian ] Here's What Boohoo Has to Say About the Backlash [ Women's Wear Daily ] Kourtney Kardashian Uses 101k Gallons of Excess Water During Historic Drought [ NPR ] Kourt...

Links: Kourtney Kardashian: Boohoo collab backlash was 'exactly what I was hoping for' [Page Six ] So, let's go to boohoo and see what this is all about… On Tuesday, Sept. 13 — the day of her line's launch — Kardashian finally addressed the backlash on Instagram . [Click here for the official campaign page] Campaign series [ Youtube ] About: Obsessive about the dark underworld of Instagram influen...

Hold me closer tiny dancer, we've got a whopper of an episode today! Links: Why Do Harry Styles Fans Hate Olivia Wilde? [ Daily Beast ] Shia LaBeouf Denies He Was Fired From Olivia Wilde's 'Don't Worry Darling': 'I Quit Your Film' [ Variety ] Olivia's Wilde Ride: Directing 'Don't Worry Darling,' Making Harry Styles a Movie Star and Being 'Blown the F— Away' by Florence Pugh [ Variety ] Harry Style...