Mama, a Meme Behind You

Night changes. On October 16, One Direction singer Liam Payne died after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires. In the weeks prior, the 31-year-old had become the subject of internet mockery and malice after a clip of him at bandmate Niall Horan’s concert went viral, and his ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, accused him of harassment and abuse in an October 6 TikTok video. As the fandom gathers at vigils to mourn, others have aimed their anger at Henry, who has deactivated comments after an onslaught of abuse.

.

Erivo erasure

Wicked has taken the Pumpkin Spice Latte approach to its marketing: We’re hearing too much about it, too early for it to be relevant. Case in point, the November 22 movie already had its first viral moment after Cynthia Erivo went Wicked Witch of the West on the fandom when they adapted the film poster to look more like the original Wicked book cover. These minor adjustments involved covering Erivo’s eyes with her hat, and moving Ariana Grande’s hand, but to Erivo amounted to the “wildest, most offensive thing� she had “ever seen.� The actress lambasted the edit in her October 16 Instagram stories, saying that to eliminate her choice to “look right down the barrel of the camera� was to “erase� her. No, no, no, you’re confused — Elphaba melts.

Why It’s a 2: Even if the reaction hadn’t been notably ridiculous and the resulting memes so plentiful, you still couldn’t go anywhere (not even Calabasas) and not hear about this movie.

.

Mold habits die hard

Your nightmare blunt rotation (Logan Paul, Mr. Beast, and KSI) now make food for children, and to no one’s surprise: There’s mold in it. After a number of videos on social media showed consumers of Lunchly—the trio’s new Lunchables knockoff — discovering mold in their food, YouTuber and Mr.Beast’s No. 1 Hater Rosanna Pansino tested it herself. In a video meant to compare Lunchly to its Lunchable predecessor, she, too, discovered mold in the cheese of the “The Pizza� (their quotes, not mine, but apt given this turn of events).

In response, Lunchly told the Daily Mail, “All Lunchly products go through a stringent review process to ensure the quality and safety of its products. That process consists of multiple inspections and approvals, including that of the USDA, before any product can even leave the manufacturing facility.� What happens after, however, seems to be anyone’s guess.

Why It’s a 2: Given the trio’s multimillion following of children, it’s significant on its own that even a percentage of that following could be consuming mold. However, the specific callout from Pansino is an escalation in a feud between the longtime creator and Mr. Beast. Pansino has been part of the call for investigation into Mr. Beast’s company’s treatment of employees and use of finances. She can now add “purveying of mold� to that list.

.

Brianna Chickencry

It’s hard to say which new kind of breakup is worse thanks to dating and technology: ghosting or hard-posting — especially when the other person doesn’t know about it. On October 22, country singer Zach Bryan shared on Instagram that he and Barstool Sports personality Brianna LaPaglia (known online as Brianna Chickenfry) “have broken up with each other.� “I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart,� he wrote. LaPaglia begs to differ. Hours later, she posted a video on YouTube revealing she was “blindsided� by the post. According to Us Weekly, Bryan’s amicable statement may have been a bit too rosy, since a source claims “someone sent her Zach’s Raya profile and girls were reaching out about him dating around.� LaPaglia ended her video by saying she’s taking a break from social media, which means she’ll be back online any minute now.

Why It’s a 2: Although the creator’s stage name continues to baffle unsuspecting headline readers, the breakup was covered by E!, Us Weekly, “Page Six,� People, Rolling Stone, Slate, and more. Next time, you have no excuse for not knowing “Chickenfry,� even if you still don’t understand it.

.

Aspyn unleashed

If this year has been about anything, it’s women talking shit. Beginning with Reesa Teesa’s “Who the Fuck Did I Marry?,� creators like Brooke Schofield and Madeleine Argy have eagerly followed suit. Now, YouTuber Aspyn Ovard is cashing in on her own messy divorce. This first made news on April 13, when Ovard announced the birth of her third child the same day she filed for divorce from her longtime husband, Parker Ferris. After remaining silent all summer, she began to slyly referencing the divorce in August, only to go full send this month with accusations of betrayal (although not cheating), while also featuring Ferris in videos that suggest they’ve continued to hook up. It’s a lot of fun to watch, and thank God it’s not happening on a platform with an obsessive audience that preserves every little detail for her kids to one day come across — oh, wait.

Why It’s a 3: Ovard has millions of followers across her platforms, which means her antics keep earning her write-ups in People. But then again, so do the stars of something called McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys.

.

Washed a(callo)way

If you’re sitting here asking yourselves, who would ever not evacuate from the eye of a hurricane and tease the disaster on Instagram? Then you blacked out 2019. On October 8, just 24 hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida as a category 3 storm, Caroline Calloway posted on her Instagram Story that she and her cat would not be evacuating from their beach-facing Sarasota condo. In an interview with New York Magazine, she cited her past traumatic experience of evacuating in 2022 during Hurricane Ian, and a desire to help her elderly neighbors who weren’t able to evacuate. This, FWIW, is a very legitimate reason, but that’s easy to say in hindsight after Calloway’s October 10 update: “I lived, bitch.�

Why It’s a 3: Despite their predictability, Calloway’s viral antics never stop making press. If you were to bring it up with a normal person, they’d rightfully point out there were other, less online Floridians to worry about.

.

Carter conspiracy

Before I start this blurb, let it be known I thank Beyoncé for the opportunity to write about this trend. While conspiracy theories about the singer and husband Jay-Z have lingered for years, they were given new life this month when TikTok users began posting compilations of award-show winners thanking Beyoncé, even when she had nothing to do with their award. Notable examples include Adele, who won the 2017 Album of the Year Grammy over the Lemonade album singer, and even Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift to praise Beyoncé at the VMAs in 2009, leading some to believe that Beyoncé wields power so formidable, celebrities trip over themselves to thank her to avoid her wrath. In response to this frankly ridiculous notion, other users began thanking Beyoncé for any and everything they experienced, “just in case.� Although if Kamala Harris wins the upcoming election, then we might really have Beyoncé to thank.

Why It’s a 4: This only really required an explanation so the next time you see “Thank you, Beyoncé� in the comments section, you’ll know you can just ignore it … at your own risk.

.

Caught snooping

SnoopyWeekly’s silence on the election was deafening. Turns out, people preferred the silence. On October 5, the cartoon fan account posted a now-deleted endorsement of Donald Trump, leading to all out war in the Snoopy fandom. “snoopy hates you,� one account tweeted in response. But when one Snoopy burns, another rises from the ashes: DailySnoopy, which frequently posts in support of more progressive causes, was quickly ushered in as SnoopyWeekly’s successor. In fact, SnoopyWeekly’s entire account appears to be down like it can’t get up after trying and yet again failing to kick a football.

Why It’s a 4: While they boast hundreds of thousands of followers, none of these accounts are officially affiliated with Snoopy. Plus, we all know Snoopy is really just a single-issue voter.

.

Pull the rug out

What started as a fun ghost story took a sharp turn into “true crime documentary� when Katie Santry shared on TikTok that something had broken her laptop overnight. In the initial video, Santry also mentioned that she and her husband had come across a rolled-up carpet buried in the backyard while building a fence. TikTok, already true-crime-pilled, immediately told Santry to call the police. Initially, the police didn’t want to pursue the lead, but on October 3, she was contacted by homicide detectives who later brought cadaver dogs to the property. These good boys both sat at the location of the rug, indicating they had picked up a scent of blood. By October 4, it felt like my entire Twitter and TikTok feeds were glued to this saga, only for Santry to learn a truth that is somehow both disappointing and a relief: forensics found no body in the rug. Why, exactly, it was buried is a mystery that remains unsolved — as is, lest we forget, who broke Santry’s laptop in the first place!

Why It’s a 4: The anticlimactic nature of the story means Santry won’t be getting a Netflix adaptation anytime soon, but 20 million people did watch her most-viewed video, which is basically the same thing.

.

Across (and down) the aisle

Leave Liam Payne out of this! In a now-deleted photo shared on Twitter October 21, adult content creator James Jacobson posted a picture of him and his boyfriend. In the photo, Jacobson is wearing a “Harris-Walz� hat, his boyfriend “Make America Great Again.� “We’re boyfriends and I don’t care who he votes for,� Jacobson captioned the photo, to the astonishment of the internet. The post went viral on Twitter, along with Jacobson’s response to the backlash: “This type of bullying is why Liam Payne ended his life.� Payne, whose death has not been ruled a suicide, would likely appreciate being excluded from this narrative, thanks.

Why It’s a 5: While the situation was worth a day of discourse, ultimately the story isn’t that impactful. Call me if SnoopyWeekly and DailySnoopy fall in love, instead.

Apple attack

A rule of thumb we should all write down: Treat anyone like they could be a content creator — especially if you’re going to push them out of the way of a camera at a Charli XCX concert. On October 16, internet personality formerly known as “Kombucha Girl� Brittany Broski was chosen as one of the attendees to do the “Apple� dance on the big screen, only for a man to push through and ahead to serve the camera White Walker eyes instead. He couldn’t possibly have known the sheer layers to his faux-pas, but it’s safe to say one deleted Twitter account later,, he does now.

Why It’s a 5: While the Broski hive revolted, encountering a freak at a Charli XCX concert isn’t really news, now is it?