Eating For Free

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains long conversations about violence, terrorist attacks, suicide, drug use, and alcohol addiction.

As moral panic descends, let's be brave, and critically examine the mess Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater made of everything! In this week’s third installment of our deep-dive series, we look into Ariana’s modern pop culture moments and the events leading up to the Manchester bombing attack, as well as Mac Miller's death in 2018--both of which fundamentally changed her life, and her perception in the public media.

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 landscape: Where it comes from, who wields it, and who suffers at the hands of it. Find out the stories behind the stories, as together they look beyond the headlines of troublesome YouTubers or scandal-ridden A-Listers, and delve deep into the inner workings of Hollywood's favorite pastime. The truth, they've found, is definitely stranger than any gossip.

You can also find us on our website, Twitter, and Instagram. Or buy our merch! Any personal, business, or general inquires can be sent to [email protected]

• Joan Summers: Twitter: @laracroftbarbie
• Matthew Lawson: Twitter: @_matthewlawson

Sources:

1. Intro Clip/Interview [Zach Sang Show]
2. Watch Ariana Grande Fall On Stage [03/10/2015] [Billboard]
3. Ariana Grande Leaning On ‘Scream Queens’ Co-Star Lea Michele After Big Sean Split, 04/20/2015 [Hollywood Life]
4. ARIANA GRANDE: BIG SEAN'S 'BILLION DOLLAR P***Y' LYRIC The Final Straw, 04/24/2015 [TMZ]
5. Ariana Grande Issues Important Feminist Manifesto, June 8, 2015 [Vanity Fair]
6. ARIANA GRANDE Tongues New BF [Ricky Alvarez] ... AND AN INNOCENT DONUT!!, 07/07/2015 [TMZ]
7. Ariana Grande faces California police inquiry over doughnut-licking incident, July 9, 2015 [The Guardian]
8. Twitter Slams Wendy Williams After Ariana Grande Body-Shaming Comments, Prompts Hashtag #CancelWendyWilliams, 08/14/2015 [E!]
9. Ariana Grande Speaks Out About Body-Shaming After Being Compared to Ariel Winter, November 2, 2015 [People]
10. Ariana Grande Blasts DJs for Sexist Questions: ‘You Need a Little Brushing Up on Equality’ 11/03/2015, [Billboard]
11. Ariana Grande spent this entire interview educating these lowkey sexist and homophobic interviewers! [Youtube]
12. Billboard Cover: Ariana Grande on Defending Female Pop Stars and Staying Away From Drama [05/19/2016] [Billboard]
13. Ariana Grande Had a White House Performance Turned Down After Donut-Licking Incident, 07/22/2016 [Billboard]
14. Mac Miller on How His Friendship with Ariana Grande Evolved Into More: 'Everything Just Happened Organically', 09/16/2016 [People]
15. Ariana Grande shuts down Ryan Seacrest's probing questions 09/16/2016 [Mashable]
16. Ariana Grande Ple...

In the wake of unexpected tragic news, we regret to inform you that Joan Summers was unfortunately too booked-and-busy with her extensive live coverage of the 92nd Annual Oscars ceremony to join us on this week’s episode! However, in lieu of her absence, we brought on the amazing and talented Kendall Close from the backdoors of the Eating For Free studio, to bring you the latest in pop culture discourse. From Jameela Jamil’s failures within the voguing community, Kendall Jenner’s imposter account on TikTok, the latest with deepfake, and Bloomberg’s continued plan to ruin America, it’s still a classic, non-stop mania episode of Eating For Free.

--------

Eating For Free is an investigative podcast reporting from the edge of the internet! We're a new wave of critical reporters at a time when pop culture and tech coverage is increasingly chaotic and media lacks the ability or moral direction to make sense of this capitalist nightmare!

Become a Patreon backer for exclusive access to monthly bonus episodes and more! You can also find us on our website, Twitter, and Instagram. For behind-the-scenes gossip and access, join our exclusive Facebook group: Girls & Gays (G.A.G.S.)!

Any personal, business, or general inquires can be sent to [email protected]

• Joan Summers: Twitter, Instagram.
• Kendall Close : Twitter
• Matthew Lawson: Twitter, Instagram.

• HBO Max chooses Jameela Jamil to host a voguing competition (LATimes)
• Kendall Jenner Imposter Appears on TikTok (BusinessInsider)
• ByteDance & TikTok have secretly built a deepfakes maker (TechChrunch)
• Mike Bloomberg Is Paying ‘Influencers’ to Make Him Seem Cool (TheDailyBeast)

In this multipart series we've explored how Amazon uses its various spheres of control to manipulate our ideologies surrounding labor, consumer rights, mass surveillance, and corporate dependency. In part four, the series ends on the political ramifications of Amazon, and thereby Jeff Bezos’ control of American ideology, and how some current organizations, even presidential candidates, plan to stop this.

If you or anyone want to contact us about tips, stories, or personal experiences that relate to any of what we plan to discuss in this series, please contact us by our hotline or email below, we appreciate any inquiry!

Eating For Free is a bi-weekly gossip podcast reporting from the edge of the internet! We're a new wave of celebrity reporters at a time when pop culture is increasingly chaotic and media lacks the ability or moral direction to make sense of this capitalist nightmare!

Do you have a tip for us? Got some hot gossip? Need to get any questions off your chest? Call our hotline at Call 1-810-EAT-FREE (1-810-328-3733) or send us an email at [email protected]!

Become a Patreon backer for exclusive access to weekly bonus episodes and more! You can also find us on our website, Twitter, and Instagram. For behind-the-scenes gossip and access, join our exclusive Facebook group: Girls & Gays (G.A.G.S.)!

• Joan Summers: Twitter, Instagram.
• Matthew Lawson: Twitter, Instagram.

Links:

• Jeff Bezos’s Master Plan (Franklin Foer, The Atlantic)
• Karlie Kloss, Josh Kushner, and Jeff Bezos Are All on Vacation Together, and You Can See It on Instagram (Town and Country)
• Bernie Sanders’ Plan for Action (Campaign Site)
• Elizabeth Warren’s Plans for Action (Campaign Site)

In part three of our TikTok installment, we round-out out our coverage of the new global phenomenon taking over social media. We talk about the new censorship against users dissenting against China, those not deemed worthy of the algorithm’s promotion, the way their app directs data to 3rd party companies, and the recent class-action settlement with the United States Federal Trade Commission.

Eating For Free is a bi-weekly gossip podcast reporting from the edge of the internet! We're a new wave of celebrity reporters at a time when pop culture is increasingly chaotic and media lacks the ability or moral direction to make sense of this capitalist nightmare!

Do you have a tip for us? Got some hot gossip? Need to get any questions off your chest? Call our hotline at Call 1-810-EAT-FREE (1-810-328-3733) or send us an email at [email protected]!

Become a Patreon backer for exclusive access to monthly bonus episodes and more! You can also find us on our website, Twitter, and Instagram. For behind-the-scenes gossip and access, join our exclusive Facebook group: Girls & Gays (G.A.G.S.)!

• Joan Summers: Twitter, Instagram.
• Matthew Lawson: Twitter, Instagram.

Sources:

• Tik Tok and the Uighur Muslims (BBC)
• Feroza Aziz’s Banned TikTok Video (YouTube)
• Privacy Analysis of Tiktok’s App and Website (Rufposten)
• TikTok prevented disabled users’ videos from showing up in feeds (The Verge)
• TikTok and Chinese Surveillance Software (The Independent)
• Privacy Analysis of Tiktok’s App and Website (Rufposten)
• TikTok chief, facing criticism over China ties, cancels meetings with US lawmakers (CNBC)
• TikTok's chief cancels planned meetings with US senators amid concerns over privacy and app's ties to China (Business Insider)
• TikTok music app owner agrees to $1.1 million class action settlement for alleged underage privacy violations (Chicago Tribune)

In this two-part series we explore the international phenomenon and emerging social media platform: TikTok. From the failing Shanghai tech company that created Musical.ly to ByteDance’s $1b acquisition in 2017, we explore how TikTok became the highest-valued startup to date now totalling over $75b.

Part 2 will examine the way TikTok has changed our perception of content production, how its paying the most popular users, and breakdown what exactly is going on between the new controversy regarding Mark Zuckerberg and the US Gov. plan to investigate the app’s Chinese background. We also realize over the course of recording, that this may be our most important episode to date!

Eating For Free is a bi-weekly gossip podcast reporting from the edge of the internet! We're a new wave of celebrity reporters at a time when pop culture is increasingly chaotic and media lacks the ability or moral direction to make sense of this capitalist nightmare!

Do you have a tip for us? Got some hot gossip? Need to get any questions off your chest? Call our hotline at Call 1-810-EAT-FREE (1-810-328-3733) or send us an email at [email protected]!

Become a Patreon backer for exclusive access to weekly bonus episodes and more! You can also find us on our website, Twitter, and Instagram. For behind-the-scenes gossip and access, join our exclusive Facebook group: Girls & Gays (G.A.G.S.)!

• Joan Summers: Twitter, Instagram.
• Matthew Lawson: Twitter, Instagram.

Sources:

• Meet the Head of TikTok, a 35-Year-Old Who Makes Employees Do Push-Ups if Their Videos Don't Get Enough Likes - Money, Julia Glum (2019)
• How a failed education startup turned into Musical.ly, the most popular app you've probably never heard of - Business Insider, Biz Carson (2016)
• Chinese Tech Firms Forced to Choose Market: Home or Everywhere Else - NYT, Paul Mozur
• My conversation with Zhang Yiming, founder of Toutiao - Technode, 2017
• Musical.ly, a Chinese App Big in the U.S., Sells for $1 Billion (Paul Mozur) - NYT, 2017
• Who’s Too Young for an App? Musical.ly Tests the Limits - NYT, John Herrman, 2016
• The popular Musical.ly app has been rebranded as TikTok - The Verge, Dami Lee. (2018)
• These Teens Are Making Thousands a Month With Karaoke App Musical.ly - Money, Gabriela Fernandez
• AI In China: How Buzzfeed Rival ByteDance Uses Machine Learning To Revolutionize The News - Forbes, Bernard Marr
• A Look at Toutiao: China’s Artificial Intelligence Powered News Platform - Wei Chun Chew, Medium
• The Hidden Forces Behind Toutiao: China’s Content King - Ycombination, Anu Hariharan (2017
• The History of TikTok (TeenVogue)
• How TikTok is Rewriting the World (NewYorkT...