The Daily Zeitgeist - Trenders Are Winners 7/12: 'Funny Girl', Twitter, Zach Wilson, JWST

Episode Date: July 11, 2022

In this edition of Winners Are Trenders, Jack, super producer Becca and DJ Danl discuss the 'Funny Girl' controversy, Twitter suing Elon Musk, Zach Wilson's relationship problems, and the White House revealing the first images from the JWST!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me for I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me for I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese.

Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have

changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, I'm Gianna Pardenti

and I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation,

then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke.

Hello, the internet, and welcome to this episode of Trenders are Winners and Winners are Trenders. by Diet Coke. Alas, he's not the host of this show. I am Jack, and I am thrilled to be joined for today's trending episode by two esteemed co-hosts. Super producer, DJ Danil. Hello, DJ McGruff. Oh boy. And super producer, Becca Ramos! Hello! As I revealed, Danil, I only have energy for one big introduction it's okay you gave me one on that you gave me on the old tdz i'm okay with getting the half on the uh on the trends that's

fine all right so becca you are here uh to to help us make sense of a story that has taken over my twitter timeline taking over our group chat. I don't know it. I don't know any of the players. I know who Lea Michele is. I know she is supposed to be the author of some wild backstage

behavior. But yeah, so Funny Girl is trending. A Broadway play that is having some casting controversy? A lot of casting controversy. Let me tell you. I'm on Broadway Talk. I'm also on Gleek Talk.

Wow. I'm a former Gleek. I am a Broadway girl. There's a Glee geek. Yes, a Glee geek. For those who are not millennials. I feel like there's been a resurgence of glee amongst like gen zers like you know how we rewatch the office i feel like they're like

oh my god i'm discovering glee and it makes me feel old but i've accepted that i've moved past it um those who are at the intersection there has been a lot of talk about Beanie Feldstein's performance as Funny Girl on Broadway. It was supposed to be, it was very hyped, very heavily marketed. It was always a stunt casting. Like if you're not big about Broadway, stunt casting is when they, you know, to sell seats, they hire somebody who's fairly famous to, you know, reprise a pretty big role in a musical. Hugh Jackman is always on Broadway. I feel like,

uh, Jesse Williams is in a show right now. That's like very big. Um, so yeah, like Beanie Feltz. Hugh Jackman, Hugh Jackman's like a song and dance man,

right? He is a Broadway man. Let's like not get away from him. You just keep Hugh Jackson, Hugh Jackman's name out of this conversation. You understand? Absolutely. But, uh, you know, like you're like, people are going to go see that cause I love Hugh Jackman's name out of this conversation. You understand? Absolutely. But, you know, like, you're like,

people are going to go see that because they love Hugh Jackman, right? So Beanie Feldstein, it was a big deal when she got hired. She was never supposed to do, like, a full run. Her last show was always supposed to be September 25th. But there has been rumblings since she's taken on the role that, you know, the performances weren't like living up to the expectations. Ticket sales were bad.

You know, she's missed a few shows because of COVID and also some like other unexpected circumstances. Her understudy has gone in, who's been, I've heard, incredible often. um often but all that to say when broadway casted beanie feldstein it was a big deal because she is not what you would typically cast for funny girl especially in general like broadway is super fat phobic it's super white um so hiring someone like beanie it was like a big deal it was like oh my god we're literally like changing the way we're thinking about casting. You know, she is a good fit. She has, you know, idolizes role her whole life.

Great. And she is a funny girl. She is a funny girl. Yes. Have you seen book smart? Have you seen lady bird? She's a funny girl. Yeah.

And she is Jewish. So, you know, it was like very exciting to see Broadway cast someone who is like a part of a marginalized community so to speak to take on such a big role um and when she got cast it was like everyone was like haha leo michelle is burning in her grave you know like people were like leo michelle people were yeah her whole career she's campaigned to be funny girl on broadway like that's been her whole like every role she's ever taken has been to campaign to be Funny Girl on Broadway. And to have Beanie Feldstein taken, it was like, whoa.

So just, can you give us a little context of what, like, what starring in Funny Girl means? Is that this is, like, the juicy best role for an actress, like a Broadway? It's not the best role. I mean, Funny Girl is a very iconic musical. It's not the best role. I mean, Funny Girl is a very iconic musical. It's a classic, you know, like Piper Streisand, you know, famously, you know, made the role what it was way back in the day.

So it is just like a big, like, role. It's not like the only theater role. I mean, there's so many shows on Broadway. But, you know, to be cast in it is, you know, a big seal, so to speak. Well, Lea Michele is not new to Broadway. Like, she has been on the Broadway circuit for many, many years. But if you watch any interviews of her, if you watch her on Glee, it's like her whole thing is like, I'm going to be Fanny Bryce.

I am going to be funny girl. Like, that's been her whole thing, her whole career. And they have not wanted to give it to her because she's mean. Like, if you Google anything about Lea Michele, it's like Lea Michele, the worst person to work with in Hollywood, but people can't deny that she's talented. So that's how she's, you know,

gotten as much work as she's gotten is because she is incredibly talented, but she is evil. Like she is known to be evil. She's known to be racist and fat phobic and nasty to her coworkers and have a God complex. Like there's also a rumor that's been going on that she can't read. and fat phobic and nasty to her co-workers and have a God complex. Like,

there's also a rumor that's been going on that she can't read. You know, it's like many, many, many things. I did not hear that one.

Oh, you gotta dig on the TikTok. That's like a whole other side tinder we could have. But that is a been very much a rumor is that like, Lea Michele can't read.

You know, for years on Glee, she's been fed her lines. You know, it's, it's a, that's another one. So it's like,

there's been a point that she has not gotten this role, even though she's built her whole career to get this role. So when Beanie got it, it was a big deal, just because they're like opposites, right? You look at Beanie, you look at Lea Michele, like totally different people. So for Broadway to kind of walk back on the progressiveness of hiring someone like Beanie

to be in that role and put Lea Michele, just goes to show how kind of fucked up broadway is in a lot of ways like how lack of even though they're like a gay industry in the sense that like a lot of the queers love broadway it is so clear that they are like not with the times like they are still very white still very fat phobic still very you know, homophobic in a lot of ways, too. So it's sad to see from, like, a, I think the challenge with Beanie being funny girl or being fanny was they were expecting her to reprise a role like Barbra Streisand. Like, they weren't letting the role be Beanie's. They put her in this role knowing she was not going to be Barbra Streisand. It's like, that's, she can't. She simply cannot be that. She put her in this role knowing she was not going to be Barbra Streisand. It's like, she can't.

She simply cannot be that. She is her own person. She is a very different casting take and you need to let her be that casting take. And instead they're just trying to retrofit her in this box. It's like, we're going for this unique hire, but we want you to still be

what we're expecting. And she's just not going to be that. I gotta say, when I was first hired to launch the Daily Zeitgeist, there was a lot of they wanted me to be more Barbra Streisand. I remember those talks. I can see why they thought I had that in me,

but it was a mistake. So this is like almost like fan, almost like fan fiction or like Twitter shit post come to life because I do- Oh, absolutely. Because for weeks they've been rumoring this.

Like they're like, there's no way they're actually going to hire Leigh Michelle. And it was like, it's because they want ticket sales. They're seeing the drama, the fan fiction on the internet. And they're like, fuck it.

Let's do it. Let's hire Leigh Michelle. When Beanie Feldstein was first hired, people being like, Lea Michele must be spinning in her grave. People loving it. And Broadway was just like, okay,

uh, that seems to be, that's our next choice. Let's do it. I mean, she's going to be great. I want to see it. I want to see Lea Michele do it because she is a performer at the end of the day,

but is she a monster? Absolutely. Yes. So Beanie has come out and said like it was not her choice to leave the show. No. So she did post. So Broadway, like the official funny girl account on Instagram and Twitter and also like Broadway.com posted that they're announcing casting decisions tomorrow, aka today. They posted

that Sunday. And Beanie posted her own post when Broadway made that announcement to say, playing Fanny Bryce on Broadway has been a lifelong dream of mine and doing so for the last few months has been a great joy and true honor. Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated i will never forget this experience and from the bottom of my heart i wanted to thank every single person who came to the august wilson for the love and support you've shown me and our amazing cast and crew the funny girl i have had the great joy of bringing to life with every night both on and off stage are all remarkably talented and exceptional humans and i hope you continue to join them on the Henry Street

after I depart on July 31st. So it's very clear from that post that she was not making the choice to exit early. Right. Very politely being faster than I would have anticipated. Yeah. And then what's Jane Lynch's involvement here? So Jane Lynch is also in Funny Girl as a supporting role. I cannot tell you off the top of my head what her exact role is. But iconically, Jane Lynch and Lea Michele were, you know, in Glee together and she is departing, which she was always supposed to depart when Beanie departed September 25th um and I think she'll be departing now in September when uh Leah and

I think the official person taking over um her role is one moment I wrote toba yeah toba um she will be which is she's an you know incredible Broadway actress uh she'll be taking over with uh Leah Michelle but in the interim between July 31st and September, I think Lea, or I think Beanie Feldstein's understudy is going to be taking over as Fanny Bryce until September. But,

which means like they really were like, get the fuck out, which is very uncool. But, oh, she played, Jane plays Fanny Bryce's mother, Rose Bryce. But I think it's very funny that she's like,

Jane Lynch is like, I'm not going to spend time with Michelle. I got to get out of here before that one comes. There you go. Absolutely not. No, no, no, no, no, no. But I think it hasn't been made clear if Jane Lynch is leaving July 31st too,

but she's definitely leaving by the time leah michelle is going to be reprising the role amazing all right well i now feel caught up on this i feel like i understand my twitter feed better than i did before uh is that a good thing i don't know um no i do i i am glad to. I feel like I now comprehend and can start shit posting about it. Yeah, with abandon. Like I knew from day one. Just look at the memes. I posted the art picture in the doc.

I think it's wild that Broadway.com chose that art piece. I feel like they are in on the joke and they know that this was a wild casting choice because that is a god-awful art painting of Lea Michele to post the announcement for casting her. It's going to be a fun ride. It's going to be... I can't wait to hear all the takes from when she does it. But I am sad for Beanie. I think she deserved more respect from Broadway

than she got, even despite her shortcomings in the role. That's my talk. Thanks for letting me come in and talk about two of my favorite things. Thank you for your fresh talk on this. Gossip and Broadway. Amazing.

All right, let's take a quick break and we'll be right back to cover off on a few more things. Yay. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and L.A.-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high-control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling first- firsthand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration.

It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions. Like, how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or, can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job?

Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do. Like resume specialist Morgan Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like you miss 100% of the shots you never take?

Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports, where we live at the intersection

of sports and culture. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really near them boys. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game.

Every great player needs a foil. I ain't really hear them. Why is that? Just come here and play basketball every single day, and that's what I focus on. From college to the pros, Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Angel Reese is a joy to watch. She is unapologetically black. I love her.

What exactly ignited this fire? Why has it been so good for the game? And can the fanfare surrounding these two supernovas be sustained? This game is only going to get better because the talent is getting better. This new season will cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke.

When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this. Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha Libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance. It's tradition. It's culture. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre.

And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, the emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Santos! Santos! Santos! Join me as we learn more about the history behind this spectacular sport from its inception in the United States to how it became a global symbol of Mexican culture. We'll learn more about some of the most iconic heroes in the ring. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the mask as part of my cultura podcast network

on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you stream podcasts and we're back and uh so the twitter acquisition by elon musk has blown up like we thought it would uh same number like you thought it would. Same number. Blown up like you thought it would. There it is. And it's still all good. It's still all good. Yeah, there's all sorts of countersuits happening.

People who are following it are like, this is really bad for Twitter. They made a big mistake by accepting his offer and not putting in the initial defensive poison pill protections and things like that. I don't know what any of that shit means. Bad for Elon Musk

because it seems I don't know, it seems like maybe he wasn't playing five-dimensional chess like all of his fanboys thought he was. Weird nerds, if you will. Weird nerds.

And bad for people who work at Twitter because now Twitter is effectively suing... So Elon Musk has been like, I don't want to buy Twitter. And Twitter is suing him to still buy Twitter. Exactly. Which is not a great...

That's just not a great outcome if they succeed. And Twitter's stock is just plummeting as this all... Elon Musk backing out has tanked Twitter because now people are like, wait, what did he see? And not wait. Elon Musk is addicted to seeing his name in the trending of his own Twitter. He loves seeing it there. Could have been permanent, but no, decided to back out.

Also, to be fair, lots of things are tanking right now. Stocks are just bad. And if the Twitter stock is tanking, it may be because of this. But the economy's bad, and this isn't helping. Good overall for, I'd say, the American people

since it probably would have been really bad to have Elon Musk as the CEO of Twitter and it would have been the first major social media network that was taken over

by a megalomaniac billionaire rather than being founded and grown to fruition by a megalomaniac billionaire. So it would have opened a new play in the megalomaniac billionaire playbook. And also he was going to bring Trump back. Oh yeah, that would have been fun.

But look, we've left social media before. We'll leave it again. We were on Vine for a long time. We thought Vine was going to be it. Vine's gone. Now we've got TikTok.. Now we got TikTok. Now we got TikTok. I wouldn't be surprised if Twitter has some sort of mass exodus in its future,

not too far from now, whether it's because we're tired of actually sharing our opinions online on the internet and having people be like, well, okay, you said you like waffles. Does that mean you hate pancakes or something to that nature? That's one of my favorite tweets of all time is is you'll tweet something like i i love waffles and someone will say oh you hate pancakes and the answer is that's an entirely different thought get out of here yeah but um yeah i don't know it's i think these things are certainly not like helping twitter's image um but also i'd rather them get the money and sue him into oblivion. That sounds great. I'm glad he pulled.

Yeah, I am too. I will be on Twitter when there are exactly one active users, and it will be me because it's the only social media I use that I like. It's the only one where I am fairly certain that I know when I'm looking at an ad versus otherwise and i don't know it's i i fear tiktok because it's just too too seamless too frictionless it's too easy yeah too easy zach wilson trending yes uh i did not know why this is one uh did a little dive. So, Zach Wilson is the

Jets quarterback who was taking second overall. Had a trying first season. And he and his girlfriend broke up. His girlfriend recently went public for a brief moment and then deleted the

post on social media that she's now dating his ex-best friend and college teammate so they were high school sweethearts she is now dating his college teammate and best friend so people were on social media and they called her a homie hopper and uh she in a since deleted comment said that Wilson, the quarterback of the Jets, was sleeping with his mom's best friend. That's the real homie Hopper. And then two laughing emojis.

And then deleted it. That is why you will... So Zach Wilson is a Jets quarterback who may or may not have been sleeping with his mom's best friend. So that was a lot of posts in my Twitter thread. So I thought I would do people the service of explaining to them what that means. Speaking of doing people a service, will you please read the last line that you have written here for this article?

Chad Johnson, former NFL wide receiver, said Zach Wilson is the GOAT. Yes. DK Metcalf, current, one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, confirmed. And then Ryan Matthews, this is VR, tweeted, if the Zach Wilson rumors are true, it'll mark the first time the Jets have scored over 40 since 2018. Boom. Because the Jets are bad. Bad.

Yeah, they're not good. Yeah, I don't need to explain that. That's a great one. I love that. You nailed that one. And finally, this is big news in the world of DJ Daniel. Yes. It's happening.

I talked about it for months beforehand. The James Webb Telescope is going to reveal its first pictures, and our legend Joe Byron is going to actually show the very first pictures at 3 p.m. Pacific time today, 5 p.m. Eastern today. So when you're listening to this, when this episode comes out, which I'm guessing will happen in probably an hour or so, the pictures will be revealed. So right after this episode, right after you listen to it, be like, oh shit, go to Twitter, go to NASA, go to wherever.

I think they've already been revealed because the briefing is happening at 2 Pacific, right? 5 Eastern? So they... They are 10 minutes hence, I think. Did I say 3? I think

I meant 2. My math is not good. Anyway, so 2 p.m. Pacific, 5 p.m. Eastern. These pictures will be revealed. Well, and yes, they've already happened. If you're listening to this episode, stop. Or actually, no, continue. Keep listening because you don't have to turn off your podcast app

to go search something on the internet. But go look at these full-color pictures from the James Webb Telescope. It's the first pictures. More pictures will be revealed tomorrow morning at 10.30 a.m. Eastern. Very excited about that as well. This is just us unfolding the universe, finding new pictures, looking deeper into space than we ever have before. You thought

the Hubble was good? Girl, Hubble in shambles. No longer necessary. James Webb is out there reflecting images off those delicious, hexagonal, perfectly, perfectly smooth mirrors straight into that receiver just delivering us delicious new desktop backgrounds and we're seeing the first ones in literally 15 minutes i cannot wait it's going to be gorgeous i guarantee

it's going to be some innocuous picture of something that doesn't matter we're going to be like but look what it's gonna be or maybe it's a picture of aliens and that's why Joe Biden is announcing it. We're going to find out. I feel like it's pretty good. Yeah, I feel like it's pretty good if Biden's trying to jump on this and be like, hey, what's up, guys? Remember me? Or maybe he's just impressed by technology because his

timeline is officially in the late 60s, early 70s. So he might just be like, hot damn. Anyways, this is big. This Most certainly. You might just be like, hot damn. Yeah. Anyways, this is big. This is huge. You know something we don't, but we'll see. It's very exciting.

It's so exciting. And we'll probably talk more about it tomorrow. Yes. That is going to do it for us. Thank you, DJ Danil. My pleasure. Thank you for joining us. Where can people find you, follow you, all that good stuff? All the things.

Twitch, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, DJ underscore Danil, D-A-N-L. Catch me live streaming my ridiculous antics, drinking of Yerba Mate and desperately trying

to get a sponsorship from Gayaki. All right. Back tomorrow with the last episode of the show. Until then, be kind to each other,

be kind to yourselves, get the vaccine, get soothed, don't do nothing about white supremacy and we will talk to each other. Be kind to yourselves. Get the vaccine. Get boosted. Don't do nothing about white supremacy. And we will talk to you all tomorrow. Bye. Bye. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry.

Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry, Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice.

And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry, Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. People are talking about women's

basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's basketball. And on this new season, we'll cover all things sports and culture. Listen to Naked Sports on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio apps, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Black Effect Podcast Network is sponsored by Diet Coke.