Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe - Pop Apologists | Royal Conspiracies, Blake Lively Feuds & Embarrassing Confessions!

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

#809. Lauren and Chanler from Pop Apologists had to shut down their first podcast thanks to their Mormon upbringing—turns out, discussing Orlando Bloom’s nudes didn’t sit well with their parents. But since reviving the show in 2020, they’ve been unstoppable, going viral this year for their Kate Middleton conspiracy theories (and let’s just say, their source still isn’t backing down). They also break down the Blake Lively controversy, spill behind-the-scenes Gossip Girl drama, and wrap up with some hilariously embarrassing confessions. Buckle up—this one’s juicy! If you’re LOVING this podcast, please follow and leave a rating and review below! PLUS, FOLLOW OUR PODCAST INSTAGRAM HERE! Thank you to our Sponsors! Check out these deals! Apartments.com: The place to find a pet friendly place! Chewy: Chewy has everything you need to keep your pet happy and healthy and right now you can save $20 on your first order and get free shipping by going to Chewy.com/vine. Spade & Sparrows: Use code OFFTHEVINE to receive 15% off your first order at www.spadeandsparrows.com EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS: (12:13) – The Orlando Bloom nudes saga that led to their podcast shutdown (thanks, mom!). (25:03) – Going viral with the Kate Middleton conspiracies – what really happened after the backlash. (36:10) – The Blake Lively vs. Justin Baldoni feud: What’s going on behind the scenes? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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audible.c.a. slash Wondery. That's audible.ca.ca. slash Wondery. This episode of Grape Therapy is brought to you by Apartments.com, the place to find a pet-friendly place. Chewy has everything you need to keep your pet happy and healthy, and right now you can save $20 on your first order and get free shipping by going to chewy.com slash find. and spade and sparrows low sugar wine. Use code Off the Vine to receive 15% off your first order at spade and sparrows.com. I'm Caitlin Bristow. Your session is now starting. How do you feel like?

Welcome to the... Hey everybody, welcome to Off the Vine today. We have two sisters who are pop culture queens. They're brutally honest and hilarious. Lauren and Chandler from Pop Apologists. And we're diving into... to their story, life outside of religion, and of course the latest in pop culture, Obama, Jennifer Aniston, what? The Blake lively and Justin Baldoni feud that I know nothing about

and more. So let's get into it with Lauren and Chandler. Well, welcome to the pod. Okay, we were just talking about living situations. Did you grow up in Orange County? Yes. Okay. So I feel like a lot of people, when you hear Orange County, you're like, oh my gosh, you probably grew up like a surfer and in the sun and just like they think of real housewives culture and this, but you grow up very differently. You were Mormon. Yes. Yeah, we did grow up actually in San Clemente, which is a surf town. Okay. So definitely surf sun. Neither of us are surfers, though. Okay. But we definitely, I always had a crush on the surfer. But yeah, we did, we did grow up Mormon. So in a very conservative, like, you know, we wore one pieces growing up, no bikinis. Okay. Is that part of the Mormon cultures? You can't wear

bikinis? Kind of, yeah. It used to be more strict. Yeah. Are you still practicing? No. No. Okay. Yeah. No. So what happened in life, like you were, you grew up this certain way, and then at what point in life were you like, this is not for me? So I actually, I took it super seriously. And so I just read as much as I could about it. And I just found when I was actually really young, like 13, and I just found that it didn't seem like it was true at all. And so it was just pretty cut and dry, like, okay, well, this, to me, factually, just seems like there's no way it's based in any sort of reality. And so that was kind of my journey out of it.

And then my journey kind of began a little bit later. was like 16, 17, 17, and there was legislation in California, Prop 8. I don't know if you remember that at all. I mean, you're from Canada. Yeah. Anyway, it was just about, like, can gay people marry each other? Okay. And it was a big deal. And there was like kind of a encouragement from our, like, local church or local Mormon church to like go and protest, like the legislation getting passed. And that was the first time where I was like, I feel like I have like a soul. And then it's like the theology that I think I believe in. Right. You know, that it was like kind of, I also thought was my soul. And, like, there was a disconnect there between, like, I actually don't care about

that. I think that that should be, that's like my, like I would never, you know, tell someone they couldn't marry the person they love. Yeah. So anyway, that was the beginning of my journey of just kind of like, huh, there's a disconnect here. And, and then, you know, it kind of snowballed as like other things just like didn't sit right with me. And then I ended up just, you know, you spend an hour on Google and a lot of things get opened up to you. Yeah. Yeah. I feel that. Wait, how old are you both right now. I'm 34. I'm 29. Okay, because I'm like thinking about when I was like, I don't even know if Google was a thing when I was 16. Like, I feel like that's crazy to think about. Yeah. Yeah. It was like I remember hearing an AOL, you know, dial up. Yes. Yeah, me too.

That's, I saw a meme the other day. There was like a grandma with her walker and like her, I don't know, granddaughter walking her. And she's like, back in my day, when you dialed up the internet, It sounded like robots were screaming at you. And the little girl's like, okay, grandma, let's get you to sleep, like crazy lady. And I'm like, oh, my God, I remember those sounds. That's so funny. It's so scary how quickly that happens to you in your life, though, where all of a sudden you're just like older than everyone else. I know.

And you're right. No, no, I'm used to being the young one. No, I can see it happening. I for sure see my mom and myself so many times. And I'm just like, do you just embrace it or do you try and like change it? I don't know. I'm caught in between right now. I'm so caught because I still dress like I'm like a 15-year-old boy and I'm a 39-year-old woman

and this year I turn 40 but I still feel like I'm 20 and it's just so confusing. It really is in mind-off for sure. We have a little bit of that dynamic where Chandler's still like the young whippersnapper and kind of, and I obviously sound like I'm an old lady with the way I'm talking. Wipper Snapper. Wimper-Snapper. The young buck here. I don't whippersnapper.

Sometimes I'll say these on the podcast. show. I was like, we're going to edit that out. I know. Keep it in. I love that. Whippersnapper. I mean, I will, and this might be annoying because sometimes you chastise me for, you know, talking about feeling old. But I do think, like, at my job, so I have, like, a full-time job still. And I used to kind of feel like I was, like, the youngest person. And that was, like, my superpower a little bit. It was, like, being really in touch with culture. And I still feel like I am. You know, I'm still a young whippersnapper. But now, it's like there are other people at my job. And I'm, like, there are other people at my job.

like the sun is setting on that time for me. And that is, that's, that is sinking in. Yeah, there's a few things where I'm like, again, the confusion of so many different feelings at once because I'm like, I should be so grateful. I'm alive and like aging is a blessing, but don't make me look like I'm aging. Like, when Botox studies are coming out and telling me something different and I'm a drinker and now this and I'm like, ah. They're trying to take away all the good things in our life. All of the good things. Well, and then it's annoying because I feel like, you know, I am a person who thinks about my age as a woman. Yeah, it's pretty common.

And I asked my fiance, I'm like, you the other day I said, I'm like, I can't believe you're going to be like 33 or 34, you know, just like me just processing that. Like that age feels, you know, crazy to me. Sorry, I know that's so annoying. No, that's okay. I'll get it. And anyway, I'm like, how often do you think about your age? And he's like, never. Really?

Like, it's just like, it's so annoying. Yeah, it is, it is very annoying. I feel like there's a lot of those things. Like men definitely get better looking with age. Yes. Yeah. And then I'm like, do we too and we just have been trained to think we don't? Or do we actually just not age as well as them? You know, I actually have a hot take on this, which is really you have to be good looking to begin with, which a lot of men are not. And so I don't think all men just like age so well and look so good. That's true.

And I also think that like women do too. We just don't celebrate like the beauty of the older woman as much as we celebrate the distinguished older successful guy. But I feel like I look at so many women who are older now and they're so stunning to me. Yeah, I agree. So I think it's the conversation about it because yeah, it's like with a. man, it's like, oh, how you, like, really aged like a fine wine, you know, Patrick Dempsey or whatever. And then, like, with women, it's like, oh, you look so good. It's like, you know, you still held on to that, you know? You actually maybe look better. I like listening to

Kate Winslet talk about this. Have you heard her talk about aging? I'm just like, she is just a class act. And I feel like she's doing, and she looks beautiful. She's beautiful. She really does. Yeah. And Pamela Anderson, just rocking no makeup. I can't even know. Her whole thing, you know, for her career was based on her look. like being the hot girl having the best body looking young like that was literally what she was known for and now she's like I don't want to be known for that I want to be known for like gardening and I'm here for that yeah I'm maybe this sounds naive but I'm here for all the iterations you know yeah I get that I like I like that I had a different look at 12 than I do at 34 and like I want

I I'm excited to be a different version of myself at 72 yeah I'm like no like no knowing that I'm turning 40 this year, I'm like, I want to fully lean into being 40. Like, I want to, like, feel 40. And you know how people talk about it gets empowering in your 40s and you give less? I'm like, I'm going to just lean in instead of being like, well, now 50 different story. I want to freak the fuck out. I am not going to be well. Gwyneth Paltrow says that 40 is when it starts getting good.

So I don't, I think she's probably right. She's right about most things. She's right about most things. Yeah. Were you too close growing up or did you have your sibling rivalry? we we were close but there was always this like a little bit of a tension because Chandler was religious and I even though I went to all the stuff and I still did everything because our parents made you yeah because it was very strict yeah there was kind

of like this encouragement for us not to be that close and so there was a separation for sure we didn't really get close until she was in high school and I was in college oh that makes sense I mean yeah I was very devout and a rule follower and Lauren And, like, I, I don't know, I just kind of, you know, looked at her like, oh, like, this woman, you know, what it, like, and I remember I was kind of a tattletail, like, at one point she listened to, like, do you remember Damien Rice at all, the musician? Of course. Yeah. Cannibal, one of my favorite songs. Yeah.

There's, like, one of his songs, the chorus is just like, fuck you over and over. I don't know if we can cuss, but it was just F you over and over again. And I remember, like, I heard that in my room. I heard that playing from Lauren's room and I was just like, I have to tell our mom. Like, I have no choice. Wait, what age? I had maybe it was 11 or 12 probably yeah oh my gosh anyway so that that was our dynamic growing up yeah so was there a moment that you both were like let's come together and like start talking about pop culture and like make

this a thing like how did your brand come to be yeah so we we really grew up pretty obsessed with pop culture you did you're always into pop culture completely yeah reading people magazine reading us weekly reading teen vogue in my bathtub you know before before there were iPhones and Honestly, before, you know, celebrity news was even on the internet, like just reading it. Yeah, the magazines, yeah. You know, that's when we got our information. And did you believe it? Would you see the headlines?

Be like, I always, I didn't believe, like, in touch or any of that. But us weekly was, was Bible for sure. Really? Yeah, I remember, like, we'd go get our nails done with her mom. And, like, if the nail salon had a fresh people magazine, I was like gold, like Bible. Like, I'm getting, like, the truth. And, yeah, anyway, so, yeah, us weekly and people definitely believed those. but we, you know, we knew the inquirer was, you know, not to be believed.

Right. Yeah. What about TMZ? Are they reliable? TMZ can a lot of times be the mouthpiece for a celebrity. So generally, like, if there's any sort of lawsuit that happens or any sort of announcement, you'll hear, like, immediately TMZ will release a story that's like a source says. And a lot of times it is that celebrity.

Really? Yes, for sure. That was always my biggest fear because when I was, like, highly in the media right after Bachelorette, it would be like a source close to Caitlin says. And I'm like, who is the tattletail? Well, like, and they can just say that about anybody. You know, anyone, they can pretend. Well, some of them said a family member, which I was like, it could have been like a distant cousin.

You know, like it does. I do not think my family, whatever. And then one said a best friend. One said a roommate once. And I actually do believe this. I did live with somebody for a minute. And he called me brist. And it said brist in the thing.

And I was like, bye. Wow. Didn't trust him ever again. Wow. I see. Okay. Yeah. So, okay, so you've always been into it. Yeah, we grew up in a very, like, fun household, even though it was religious, it was a super fun, cool parents. Like, it was a fun life. And so anyway, we were into housewives, we were into celebrities. We were just, yeah, that was kind of our mom-like celebrities, you know. What is it about them? Like, what is it about celebrities or celebrity gossip that interests you?

Is it just because you're like, they live such a different life from? everyone and like what would that be like is it just the mystery intrigued what honestly i don't know that i can answer that question almost feels like how did you learn english like i just was yeah it just happened yeah yeah yeah crazy i think to like starting with real housewives which was really our bread and butter at the beginning or just like that was i think how i got hooked on all of this yeah that was the gateway drug for me like i think just seeing these characters up up close and they're like imperfect lives and i don't know. I just, it was, it was to be studied for me. I just loved it so much. Did you have a different name for your podcast when you started it? No, it's always been a popapologist. It always has. So, it

started in 2016. Yes. And you were still in college, but then it didn't last long. So what happened there? We recorded 10 episodes. Okay. And, you know, we were just being very sacrilegious, saying, there was one episode we were talking about Orlando Bloom's Nudes. Oh, I remember those. The paddleboarding. Oh, yeah. I remember those. We were pretty excited about this release. And so we were, you know, reviewing the nudes, like, anyway.

And we'd go back to our parents about the podcast. And at the time, we were both, you know, still had some financial ties. And so we were, they're like, if this is not deleted immediately, your cell phone fan is over. Yeah. And we were like, no, no, no. You know, like the 24 countdown where it's like, like, you know, or like the 24, you know, numbers pop up and then it's like, starts beeping. That was like our mom to us. It was like, you have 24 hours. No. Take down the podcast or else like you'll be cut off. But I actually don't know what you're

talking about. Oh, you don't anyway. Like the show 24. The show 24 with like jacked hour anyway. Like just like this clock started where it was like you have to take it down or it's like you'll be cut off from the phone plan and other things. And was this at the podcast time for your podcast at the time. Was this just for funzies or were you making money off of it? Oh, no. It was just for fun. It was just like we were bored. We literally we were bored. Yeah. Yeah. I was an OG juicy. scoot for her. So I don't know if you listened to Heather McDonald's podcast. So I just, I think that's what gave me the idea. Like, oh, we should start a podcast. I just love listening to this in

2016, you know, so. I think nobody had a podcast in 2016. I know. If we had kept going. Yeah. Instead of a. I can't even go there. It was also like the heyday, I think, of Kim and Kanye. Oh. Which we were just like, 2016. Was Kim and Kanye? Yeah, yeah. It was like, I remember her selfie book had just come out. It was just like, we just had so much to say about our favorite celebrities. Yeah. Wait, what's your take on Kanye now? Where is he? What's going on? Do you believe in conspiracy theories? Is he even here? That's a great question. Thanks. You know, I don't believe on clones quite yet because I just feel like if that technology was really here, we would know more about it. So I know I'm disappointing a lot of listeners right now who do believe. But I do believe

he's here. So I have a friend who's worked with him closely. And I've seen text messages between the two of them. He really is, like, the stories I have heard of just of this person's interactions with him are so beyond what anyone could imagine. Like, putting someone on timeout, like, publicly in a workplace environment. Oh. And, like, everyone knows that person's on timeout. What do you mean?

Like, go sit in a corner? Like, yeah, and like, no one's allowed to talk to you. Yeah. And it's. What? I've seen, like, very lewd, awful text messages. Oh, no. So he, I think Kanye has gone to the dark side, unfortunately.

Yeah, he seems like he's gone to the dark. He's lost. I can't really listen to Kanye's music at all really anymore. Like, it just kind of is all, it all feels, like, tainted, and I just feel sad for his kids. Me too. It is sad, because if it was just him and his own thing and you'd be like, you're kind of a dickwad. Yeah. But, like, you've got a family.

Yeah, exactly. just feel like his kids are old enough to like see his life now. And I think like the whole Bianca Sensori thing just like like her stepping out. She's wearing nothing but like one piece of string over her vagina. It just like just the whole thing feels gross to me. You know, I don't know. It doesn't it doesn't feel artful in the way that I think Kanye used to feel. It just feels like for shock value. It's a little surprising from someone who started a church, you know? I always think about that. I'm like, is his church still going or? I don't know where he falls as far as goes now. But he'll post pictures of Bianca and then delete them immediately that are super

pornographic. This is happening like recently. Is this his girlfriend? This is his wife. Oh, yeah. Bianca Sensori. Who is this what I'm talking about when I'm like, I don't know pop culture. I'm like, he's married. I don't even know who Bianca was. Really? Yeah. They've been together for a couple years. Oh, okay. And I think the whole like Malibu house that was like was a house and then it's now like a parking structure. Like it's just like this. big open cement like structure yeah it just like weird stuff that I just feel like he's on his own journey that uh does not feel like someone who's mentally well yeah that's I think at the end of the day I'm always like he like mental illness is alive and well in the whole country and you're

just like what is going on it's so sad yeah it's for sure an epidemic I feel like celebrities are losing their minds like some of them obviously and I'm like I can't keep up yeah I just can't keep up with the world and especially pop culture. I feel like it. Do you agree with this theory that like people are just wanting to take celebrities down at this point? Like I feel like we used to like worship them and now I feel like we want them to fail. I think people have always delighted in a downfall. Yeah. Because I think it just people see other people doing maybe better than them. And then they like to see people all of a sudden lose everything. Yeah. So I think it's a very human thing unfortunately. And I do believe that people want to take celebrities down. And I think just in the

way that, I mean, have you ever experienced like online hate or negativity in the comments? Has that ever happened? Like 20 minutes ago, yes. The negativity in the comments is so surprising to me because we'll have a benign video about Amber Heard or we actually, this is funny. We just had a reel about Erica Gerardi's, Erica Jane's designer, their interior designer. in the level of vitriol we've received and people so upset for us kind of joking about this designer's look. Yeah. It was like his outfit. It was so pathologically upset. Like this is the worst thing they've ever heard and they're so frustrated. So I don't know. There's just like because you're upset about his outfit? Yeah. Like people that people like sending crazy DMs. People are

just unwell right now. Yeah. I think and it manifests on the internet. Yeah. I think that The state of the comments section, like, it's not good. It shows the state of the world. Yes. It's exposing the state of all of our mental health. There's the people that are online trolls. Yes. It's like manic, chaos, negativity, and it's dark.

Do you think it'll change? You think it'll go back? Or do you think it's just going to get worse? No. No, I definitely don't think it will change. It'll get worse. Yeah. Yeah.

That's scary. I know. I know. Well, and that's why I think it's interesting. So many people said that TikTok was nicer, comment-wise. Oh. Instagram Reels were. Yeah, that's what like some people said.

Not online. Yeah, I was going to say, you don't read the comments. Well, no, I'm not saying I'm pop apologist, but for some other creators. Like, they felt like TikTok was nicer than Instagram. I don't know. The trolls are different on different platforms, I guess. That's true. And they're different for different, like, reality shows, too.

Like, Big Brother fans are so mean. Really? And Batsar Nation is so passionate and it comes across me sometimes. And then it's, yeah, it's just, there really are different. categories of assholes out there, depending on what it is, who you are, where you came from. It's absolutely banana. So, okay, when you finally brought back pop apologists back in, what was 2020? 2020, yeah. Was that just like a fun quarantine little project, or were you really wanting to take it seriously and, like, grow it? Well, we actually started it a little bit before quarantine,

like, where we talked about starting it. Yeah. It wasn't, it wasn't like a COVID project. We brought it back and then COVID happened two years later. So, but we, I think we always wanted to do it. It was just kind of like, when are we going to restart it? I think that like, we were both working in corporate jobs and we were just like, okay, we need like another thing that's, like, exciting to us. That's not like our job, you know. I have a question.

Are you Swifty fans? Huge. Oh, big time. Oh, okay. Thank God. Because I was like, imagine you weren't and you would have to deal with the Swifties if you said anything negative. Well, we still do. because we like to call ourselves nuanced swifties.

Fair. Where, you know, we have some thoughts on her fashion. We have. Yeah. How much time do you have? I'm like, she is so quirky. Like, her fashion's quirky. That's putting it very nicely.

The bangs are quirky, like, everything. But I, like, find that so endearing about her. Tell me your thoughts. Well, I think I was actually thinking about this recently. I really think that when it comes to Taylor and her aesthetic. Yeah. I think one, she likes to wear things that are approachable because I think in her life, she feels so different from everyone else, that she doesn't need the big bling to tell people

that she's- The high-end fashion. She doesn't need it because everyone already knows her success. And so I think she kind of, she doesn't gravitate towards a lot of that stuff for that reason. But the other thing is I think she just has too many people around her telling her what she wants to hear because these outfits can be god-awful. I know. So what you think people are telling her that outfit looks great? I think they were doing the opposite.

No, I mean, online they're saying it looks bad, but in person, her friends and stylist. Well, and I think it's well known to that she's had the same stylist, like basically since she was a lot younger. And I think the reason why is because obviously she's a very trusted circle of people that she, you know, like can trust and that she believes, you know, have her best interest at heart. And, you know, because she's as big as she is, she needs to, like, protect that. But, you know, maybe it's time for, you know, some friends. fresher eyes, if you will.

But, yeah, her fashion, we love her so much. Yeah. Her fashion does baffle us, but, you know, she's having fun. I like that thought, though. I like the thought that she is like, you know, in so many ways Taylor Swift is relatable. I feel like her lyrics, like she'll, there's no way she's sleeping at her boyfriend's roommate's house drinking screw top rosé. Like that, I'm like she just knows how to be relatable with her.

her fans and her fans just feel so connected to her that I like the thought of like she dresses down for them. And it's like, I don't need to show that I'm a billionaire and like walk around with like diamonds and like a Rolex and like, you know, she's like, I'll just thrift. I mean, she, she wasn't, I will say to check myself, she wasn't head to toe Chanel at the Chiefs game this past weekend. So sometimes she goes for it. But a lot of times she's in Reformation. She's in Doan. And I, I just think she wants to, she doesn't want to be too big to hang out. Yeah. You know? It's so, it is. It's so cute of her that she stays somehow relatable. But then again, I could never. If I may say, like, I think then you look at like the way her houses are styled. Like, is it eclectic? Very. It's like, Lauren, I think you've referred to it as

like, Mrs. Weasley, like from Harry Potter, like, and I'm like, so she's trying to be relatable too with her home decor? Right. That's where Chandler calls me on my bullshit. She's like, no, she has bad taste. And that's okay. See, I'm like, she might just be super artsy. And eclectic, and I'm like, that's different for a lot of people. Totally. Yeah. I might just be vain. I might just be like, you know, you should be in head-toe diamonds if you can rock it.

You're like, I just like a slick back pony with a white tee and a red nail. Okay. Sorry. Sorry for being me. Let's talk about how you went viral earlier this year with Kate Middleton conspiracies. Then you had to take everything down after getting backlash. So what happened there? There was so many conspiracy theories.

It was a crazy fever dream. Yeah. But basically what happened was is I noticed that this was picking up. Yeah. And I had this moment where I was just like, well, I need to start making rules about this because, you know, this is what they say to do, start making reals when about hot topics that I'm really taking up. Anyway, long story short, I make nine in a whole. And like I start at 2 p.m. and then I go to like 11 p.m. and I just make nine one day the first day. And I actually just started having the best time making them.

And then it just they start to like really pick up. Yeah. And we just end up going, Chandler was in Cabo. Yeah, it's funny. I was out on a Bachelorette trip. Yeah. And Lauren said, like, I'm going to make some reels about this Cape Middleton stuff. It's actually pretty crazy.

And I'm like, yeah, it's crazy. Go for it. You know, I'm off the grit. I'm on PTO. Yeah. And then, like, some of the gals of this Bachelorette trip, like the next day are like, hey, I'm getting these reels from your account. And I'm like, that's crazy.

I'm like so embarrassed. I'm like, oh, my gosh, of course. And then within, like, by the end of the trip, we were like going viral fully. And like, and I was crazy. Yeah, I wasn't even doing anything. It was crazy. So was this like in the beginning when you were just having thoughts of like, where could she be? Because everyone's talking about it before you knew.

Yeah. So like basically we, I was just kind of sharing what all the thoughts were. Yeah. Where she was, what all the theories were. And then we had, I had a friend. I have a friend, a very good friend. And her friend is someone who knows someone in Buckingham Palace and in Kensington Palace. she had two people in both palace or she had a person in each palace who were feeding her

information and she said i'm going to tell you what they're telling me and they don't even know that each other are telling me this and she was like this is what's going on did they not start an nda well those you know they're all gossiping yeah obviously and so anyway when i got to part 27 or whatever it was that's when i said okay this is what our source says is going on so then was the source correct i mean ostensibly no because then it was revealed that she had this cancer diagnosis. And of course, we were, like, sick to our stomachs. This is the last thing. To put it in perspective, we pursued, like, getting insurance in case the palace was going to sue us. And I really thought that they could kill me. Like, I was

like, damn. Like, I really thought I had the truth about K. Milton. And it was like a free Britney situation. So it really was almost like a psychosis. And I went into. God, your head's like got a swivel when you go to coffee? Like, I was afraid by the subway. I mean, I think we thought that we were like getting the truth out about like the what she was undergoing what she was dealing with you know behind closed doors did the royals kill did they have hit that i mean i think people think like they killed diana true i mean if you look what henry the eight was capable of but yeah i mean i think that yeah we just thought we were kind of like i don't know like truth tellers yeah um and then obviously yeah it was the last thing we wanted was for her to be like you know sick right but like

i think that what was also scary was the the level of hatred coming from royal stands towards us was honestly different from anything else we'd ever experienced. Like, there were just, there were people, like, messaging me on my personal account. Like, it was just, it was a tidal wave of just, like, really intense heat. Someone definitely hired a bot farm or, like, some sort of company to send a torrent of negativity toward us. We got, like, an email about how, like, apparently my fiancé was, like, cheating on me with my other sister. And then Lauren's husband was gay, but also had a love child. Yeah.

No, what? People were just saying this. This was all in an email that was like, you know, hey, idiots. We're going to expose the secrets about your husbands. It was funny. Yeah. That's, I got an email like that once they're like, I'm going to expose what you look at at porn.

And I was like, cool. Go for it. I'm welcome. That's crazy. Yeah. It was a wild ride. We went from 33,000 followers on Instagram to 311. And we had been working on our podcast for four years at that time.

What was the story? that they told you that you were spreading that wasn't true well it was a the story that we were told that yeah we believed to be the case was that oh my gosh so basically that she was I mean can you share yeah I mean I think that we thought that she was fully done being a royal that there was infidelity divorce yeah that she was just like that had finally come to a head and she was like I'm done I'm out figure this out yeah and that we thought the royal press was kind of scrambled to make it all look like everything was normal, but she was not seen, she was not seen or heard from. And so that's what we were kind of, we were following that rabbit hole. Got it. Yeah. So we thought

she was like, she was finally no longer cooperating with the palace. And so they were keeping her sequestered and not seen until she fell back in line. Right. Because William was apparently having this affair with this woman named Rose Hanbury. Yeah. So. Okay. And it is worth noting, like the photoshopping, like, there were things that made it feel weird. Like, it, what could have been just like a careless mistake in Photoshop then went weird when she said like, oh, that was my fault. I'm just, you know, an amateur. Yeah.

Like that made things feel weird. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. It did feel. I was so good. Because I'm like, what would have that mistake been? I mean, I will say my source has never back down. She's like, yeah, she's back.

They've got her back in line now. Really? Yeah. So, allegedly. So allegedly they've got her. back in line like that was true but also she got this diagnosis i mean there are i mean i don't i think that there are definitely people who think that you know i can't imagine okay so like i can't imagine if that really was just her sick not doing well got a cancer diagnosis and then there's all these

conspiracy theories and then people are like nope that wasn't even her talking it's ai right but the truth is that she's just going through a hard time and like protecting her family like that is so terrifying to that that could be you know and then so on the smaller scale matt and rachel from bachelor world there's like this whole thing going around and these poor people i'm like who knows what is actually happening not everybody posts him real time so he was posting stuff about her maybe that had to go out by a certain time maybe they got in a big fight the same night it ended he had a manic response and did a prayer and it was like middle of the night i don't know what hour time zone he was on so i can't say but then it's just like when people in the public eye go through something everyone wants

to try and like figure out what it is and be right how do you as that being your job like to dig into pop culture to dig into theories knowing like okay oh this topic is relevant it's going to go viral but also it could be affecting their relationship and like hurting them how do you balance yeah is it just like your approach of like how Yeah. It's been honestly really tough to navigate that because I feel like when we started the pod, we had very few listeners. Right. So it kind of, it just felt so inconsequential anything we said. Because it was literally just two girls chatting with, you know, a few people listening. So it just didn't even feel like it mattered. But now that we have a much larger audience, it's been very interesting to be to experience, no, like if we say something about a celebrity and especially if a real gets posted with us saying that, a lot of things. times they will see it. Yeah. And like they will, they will, they will comment or there'll be a DM. Like give me an example. One example recently, somewhat recently, we had a reel about Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falkchuk, who we adore from afar that we don't know them, but we're

obsessed with them. And they, like, she had posted some things that were a little bit cryptic. She said something about like a seven year or nine year renewal. And people were kind of like, wait, was that like when they first started like dating? Is this a divorce? Like, are they separated? Nine year completion. Nine year completion. I just entered a nine year complete. And they had started dating about nine and a half years before. Exactly. So we talked about, you know, is there, you know, is there something happening beneath the surface here?

Is their relationship complete? Right. Yes. And then there was a real from our account about it. And she recently commented and was like, we're never breaking up. She's like, don't worry, girl. This is a happy story. Yeah, I'm like, cool.

I know. This is a happy story. But that was a moment where I was like, oh, shit. Like, people might see this stuff. And, you know. Isn't that crazy? It is crazy. Because the For You page on so many things, like, will reach.

the amount of things I see about me and I'm like, I don't want to see this. Yes. And I'm like, it probably does reach. That's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. But you're like, well,

Gwyneth Paltrow knows me. We were just like, I mean, I was, it was all I needed. It was like, you know, it's like, God talk to me. Yeah, yeah. Has anyone negatively written? Well, do you watch my housewives? No. Okay.

Well, one time I was making a joke about Kathy Hilton, like, eating on TV trays. Yeah. And she commented and was like, that's just me being me inside my house or something. And, like, you know, I was being snarky. And anyway, I, like, that was a moment where I was like, I was like, oh, I hope I didn't, like, hurt her feelings. And I was like, I was like, I live in 450 square feet. I don't even have a dining table. Ryan Reynolds, Blake lively.

Yes. Let's get into it. Oh, yeah. I need, like, the, I need to be taken to school on this because I was watching your highlight reels on it. And I'm like, this is a lot of information. It's a lot. Yeah. break it down of what's going on and where they're at. It's a lot to digest. Um, so there's two schools

of thought, basically her school of thought is that, or what she alleges is that he sexually harassed her, put her in really compromising situations, was awful to her, very inappropriate. And he tried to get retribution on her. Um, and he sent basically a bot farm, or he hired a PR agency to ruin her reputation. What are they called a crisis management? Crisis management. Yeah, yeah, um, which we almost needed. But at one point, what he says is that she signed on to do the film and then became a total nightmare and completely took over the entire film. And everything that she alleges, he has an explanation for. Right. So, for example, like, she says that he was really creepy and at one point said that she smelled good during a scene together where he didn't even need to say anything.

That was like ad-libbing and it was coming onto her. He says that she had complained that she had bad, that her smell tanner made her smell bad before that scene started. And so he was just trying to like make her feel comfortable because they were like right next to each other. So like for everything that she says, there's a he says. But it's just so hard for me because as soon as I hear that he made someone uncomfortable, I immediately hate him. Yeah, for sure. And so I'm like, why are, I feel like everyone, every time I see something, it's like team Justin. And I'm like, are we forgetting that he crossed lines and was very inappropriate and now has an excuse for everything. And I'm like, thing. So where do we stand? Everyone is team Justin, by the way. So our episode was leaned more

heavily towards Blake. It was an episode called Blake lively versus Justin Baldoni. We are, we're releasing another episode on Wednesday. So by the time this comes out, it will be available. And it's really going over his side of the story. I don't people, it's just hard. I, I really don't know where I land right now. Yeah. Yeah. I think that a couple things. I think that you can be a total nightmare to work with. Totally. And you can also be sexually harassed. And that both things can be true. Right. I do think, you know, there might have been scenarios where she was sexually harassed,

but then also certain things happened that were not as black and white as she says they are. Right. And he does have an explanation that makes sense for that. It's very murky. And this is why, like, Lauren and I have been saying, like, we need somebody else from this film to speak out on this because it's such a, he said, she said, you know, how are we interpreting these text messages between them and their respective people?

It's just, it's really murky. I just refuse to be on a guy's side if he has made a woman deal that way. Like, I don't care what your excuses are or if she, like, you know, I just don't. I'm like, that's terrible. Is she difficult to work with or is she an assertive woman, woman, like, who knows what she's doing? But, like, that you can't justify. I think there are also things that he doesn't have an explanation for it. If that's worth noting, also, I think that the internet and people in general were ready to take down Blake Lively.

I think she was already kind of like annoying people in general. And then I think when this like wave happened, it was just like everyone got out their pitchforks. Yes. Oh, they were right. They were like, take her down. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I felt so bad because, again, things come out so quickly.

Everyone jumps to conclusions. Everyone jumps to conspiracy theories. And then it's like, no, we have to wait until the actual truth comes out. And then you can, you know, pick aside. But at the end of the day, if he made her on. uncomfortable yeah i mean there are crazy things like during a scene where she was during the birth scene yeah he had his friend be play the role of her OBGYN so who was right in between her legs apparently there was just a small piece of cloth covering her genitalia yeah yeah and she didn't

know this until they were about to film it that he basically just this would this role typically would be filled by a professional actor a professional local actor but no it was his friend was going to do it. Why? Because it's like, she's saying it's like a favor to the friend from him. Like, you know, like I'm going to let you be in this. Oh, God. Yeah. And the one of the, um, the billionaire, uh, co-founder of Wayfarer studios, he barely ever visited set, but it just happened to be on set the day that she was doing the birth scene. And there's this whole talk about how they were like really pressuring her to do it naked. The set at the time was not a closed set, which is what it should have been. where, you know, like, only the essential people are there.

There's no extra monitors. It's just, like, really private to, you know, protect everyone involved in the scene. And it was, it was absolutely not that. So just, you know, and I think another thing worth noting is that Justin was the director. He had, you know, was her boss in this. And so it's like, you know, it's important to note that if he was in a position of power over her, even though she's Blake lively and he made her feel uncomfortable, like, you know, there's wrongdoing there. Yes.

Yeah. And he hasn't apologized or anything. No, he's suing her. Yeah, he's suing her. Like, the fact that he hasn't said, like, if I had made her feel, like, any kind of apology. And this also, I mean, the whole thing around what the movie's about and, like, certain things. And then the crisis, PR, whatever it was, trying to make it seem like they tried to push her in a direction of, like, this is a strong woman who is able to get over and pass through things. and she's strong.

But then in interviews, it came across as her not acknowledging domestic violence. It's just so messy. That's the easiest one that they could just have someone say, no, we had to follow the marketing plan. Or, no, we could talk about it however we wanted to. Right. But no one is coming forward. We don't have a third source. This is just, it's all just so murky.

I know you're saying that. But like, she also does come across as so snarky and rude in these interviews. And it's really hard to feel bad. her to some degree or to understand her perspective because she just she's I don't know some of that is indefensible to me it doesn't mean that she deserved anything that happened to her but you know she does also seem kind of like a bitch yeah yeah see I have a different opinion okay okay I'm like I think she's just like I think she is a powerful assertive woman who comes across as a bitch yeah I see I and that for sure happens I just think that the way that

I also snarky to people it's I also have not seen all these interviews and I'm not in on this whole thing. So that's more like a bystander on this. And I think that that totally happens. And some of that might be at play here. But there are just a few things that she says to people that are just like, like read the room. Just be a little bit like. Yeah, there's a interview where there's a gossip girl panel interview. And she makes a joke about Leighton Meester being born, having been born in a cage because Leighton Meester's mom was in prison when she gave birth to Neatemaster. Yeah. And they were not. And they were not friends on gossip girl and that's that is a red flag if you have yeah a two girls same age hit hit show

stars they really should get along and if they don't well i think one has a problem yeah i agree i agree with that anyway we're our thoughts are all over the place about yeah we hope the truth comes out we want we need you know how do you see it all plain out like what do you think is going to happen and when when is this going to happen he's suing her for like her and ryan right for 400 million dollars their net worth of going to google is 350 so Oh, he's really going after their entire fortune. I like to call people's wealth fortune. It feels like an old-timey way to talk about it.

Oh, my God. He's suing for $400 million. And he has a, his backer is a billionaire. So he, and they want to go to trial. So this is like, this is not going to get settled. Oh, yeah, this ain't happening anytime soon. But can't she sue him for sexual harassment? She is suing him.

Okay. So she's suing him and he's counter suing her. Is there proof? like of the there's there's text messages that are kind of used as evidence but some of the complaints that he lot uh some of the complaints that he has are that like the text messages are cherry picked and that yeah it's just it's a mess a lot of the proof oddly seems to side with justin yeah and in terms of a lot of his communications with his team so it's very strange gosh okay last thing i read that obama is having an affair with with jennifer and

Aniston. Confirmed. No, I'm just kidding. You and I are holding hands because Lauren said this the other day in a group chat, and I almost texted her on the side, like, WTF, like, what are you talking about? Like, Brock and Michelle also in our, you know, Mount Rushmore Monotony. Mount Rushmore. And they just did a happy birthday post three days ago, but she has not been beside him for anything. It makes sense that she's missing the inauguration, but it doesn't make sense to me that she missed Jimmy Carter's funeral. Right. And did they say anything? Anything? Was she like, I'm sick? No, there was no excuse given. I don't know. I mean, I am not going to be well. His happy birthday post came out to her like after a lot of these rumors got more heated or more. But didn't Jennifer Aniston go on Fallon or one of the late night TV shows and say like, ha ha, that's preposterous. Like she, oh, she on late night TV was just like, that's hilarious.

Yeah, she makes the Jennifer Aniston rumor has been around for a while. Yeah. It has. Yeah. But maybe it's a fair? Yeah. I think I'm breaking news to you, the pop culture queen. I didn't know about it either until until maybe the last week or two. Oh, my God. It's just, it's picking up steam right now. I don't believe it for the record. I can't. I don't. Unless I see it, that would be freaking wild, though. I would be crazy. I need some proof. I need some, like, proof of like, did they, is there a picture of them somewhere together? But like, I want receipts. I want receipts. I didn't like the birthday post because they were across the table from each other. It was a big table.

It seemed like there was a distance between them. I didn't like the birthday photos. They were reaching really far to hold each other's hand for the photo. And her smile was not genuine. She did not actually seem that thrilled in the photo. And if you really Zoom, it's actually Photoshopped that they're touching hands. Okay, you saw that too? To end the podcast, I always have somebody tell me an embarrassing story or confession.

So now is your time. You have a brief one. I have a brief one. Give me the brief. Lauren has a great one. But the one that sticks out to me as truly one of the more horrendous things that's happened to me or just really truly cringe. I, when I lived in L.A., at one point, I offered my leftover food to someone who was just sitting on the ground, who's not a homeless person or a person experiencing homelessness. It was just a person seated on the ground against a wall. And they declined.

Would you like a cassidia? And they're like, no, thanks. I'm fine. I'm just sitting down actually. They just got back for marijuana. So that, yep, that's me. Oh, my God. That's funny.

I, the TLDR of it is I got diarrhea at a wedding. I actually got food poisoning at a wedding, but it started with diarrhea. I should have, I don't know. Anyway, I got Lady Die at a wedding. Lady die! And I was very ill in the bathroom, but I like, I kind of was like, okay, I think I'm feeling better. I can go out. I didn't know it was going to turn into full-blown food poisoning.

Oh, no. So I leave the bathroom and then I looked down and I didn't notice that the ties from my dress, my light blue dress had gone into the toilet. So I was, the back of my dress was coated and shit. Like coded. What part of the wedding? What stage of the wedding were you? This was the right after the ceremony. Oh.

So cocktail hour was going on. Oh, God, what did you do? I, so I went to, I was, it was at their family home in Sun Valley, Idaho. Okay. So there was nowhere to go. Like the restrooms were these nice air-conditioned porta-potties, but they were like busy. Like I couldn't just post up there. So I went into where like the bridal suite was, like not the like the where the girls got ready.

Yeah. No one was there. No one needed to be there. No one even knocked on the door. So it was fine. I did not just like post up there and make a scene. I proceeded to like wash down my dress in the shower and then get and then naked in the bathroom with a blow dryer like how did you carry the shitty oh I know it was so so so I'm like I'm like skirting the wall

with my fiancee because he has seen what's gone gone on and I'm like you have to help me like get to a bathroom that I can use my nightmare yeah it was crazy is like one of my biggest fears I mean I yeah it's awful oh god I'm so sorry that happened to you oh thank you but did the night continue you went on no so then I got so like I really after I got my dress clean I went to the dinner and I'm at the dinner and I'm just like I can't sit up. So then I go and I'm like, I'm like, I'm like crouching in the field and then I finally, I call an Uber and you're guests or 40 minutes later. And then I the-40 minutes later. Yeah. The Uber pulls over on the side of the road because it was in like, it was rural. It was like not, our Uber's constantly there. Anyway, I threw up like five times on

the side of the road outside the Uber, like on the way home. Not in the Uber. That ain't right. That ain't right. Sorry, guys. That's so gross. No, it's, I mean, that's why I ask these questions. because this happens to people and we're here to tell you that you're not alone. Thank you. You're not alone. Where can everybody find your podcast and you guys on social media? We are pop apologists on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, all the places. You guys have got a great following on your podcast page.

Thank you so much. Yeah, you've built a really cool community there. Thank you. Yeah, that's awesome. We love our audience. Yeah, we feel so lucky. What, do you have a name for them? Like I call mine the Binos.

We have a name for the people who sign up for our premium of us because we have a name for We put out a premium every week as well on Patreon and Apple Podcasts, and we call them our global elites because it's kind of expensive. And so we just feel like whoever is part of it is probably late. I love that. Oh my gosh. Well, thank you so much for coming on the pod. Thank you for having us.

So fun. I'm Caitlin Bristow. Your session is now ending. And if I'm being honest, I wouldn't mind a rating in a movie. Thank you.