Well with Arielle Lorre - 125: Unpacking Bennifer, Emrata, The Kardashians & More with Pop Apologists

Episode Date: August 18, 2021

In this episode I’m talking to Lauren and Chanler Bledsoe, hosts of the podcast Pop Apologists, about all things pop culture. We unpack today’s top stories including Bennifer and Britney Spears, and also go in-depth on topics like whether Emrata is actually helping or hurting women and of course we take on the Kardashian machine. You’ll hear my non-expert analysis of JLo and other celebrities’ cosmetic enhancements; why the Kardashians (allegedly) get surgery and still use body altering filters; Britney’s catch-22 and more.   www.Dipseastories.com/BLONDE for your free extended 30 day trial www.FXChocolate.com with code BLONDEFILES for 20% off your first order www.Get-Base.com/blondefiles to save 20% on your first month of membership www.Helloned.com/BLONDE for 15% off your first one-time order or 20% off your first subscription plus free shipping   Produced by Dear MediaSee 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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The following podcast is a dear media production. Hey, welcome to the Blond Files podcast. I'm your host, Ariel Lorry, and I'm here to talk all things wellness. From how to achieve optimal health and well-being to the best beauty tips and everything in between, no topic is off limits. I know there is so much information out there, so I'm here to help you navigate it all and live your best life. Thanks for listening. Let's get into it. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the show today. I have a really fun. episode. I'm talking to Lauren and Chandler Bledsoe. They are the hosts of the podcast Pop Apologists,

which I love. So definitely go check that out. And we are talking about all things pop culture. So we are unpacking today's top stories, including, of course, Ben Affleck and J. Lowe, whether it's PR, whether it's real. We are talking about Emerada. Is she advancing or is she hurting feminism? We are talking about Britney Spears and that whole situation with the conservatorship and the complexities of it. And of course, we take on the Kardashian machine. So we discuss alleged surgeries and why there might be the use of body altering filters, skinny filters, when there are surgeries and things like posting what I eat in a day videos and posting about two a day workouts when maybe there are allegedly surgeries and the harm of not disclosing that. You'll also hear my non-expert

expert analysis of J-Lo and other celebrities' cosmetic enhancements and so much more. And this may seem like a superficial episode, but I think you'll find that Lauren and Chandler have very interesting perspectives on these stories and on these personalities. And what I love about them is that they are critical thinkers when it comes to this stuff. And they appreciate the seriousness of some of it, but simultaneously they're able to bring levity to their discussions. And I also just want to preface the episode by saying we're not trying to criticize or judge anyone. We're just speculating and having a candid conversation about our thoughts around the topics we cover. So with that, enjoy the episode. Welcome, Lauren and Chandler. I'm so excited to have you guys here.

I messaged you when I found out, when you posted the teaser, like said, they're coming on with questions you have? And I was like, literally, you know, the day that we, like, we're born, this day we're going on your podcast, like, this is better. Like, basically, other than the day when we became alive, this is the best day of our lives is coming on your podcast. Awkwardly worded, but true. I told you guys, like, let's manage expectations. I wish that, I wish we were doing in person, honestly. I'm sorry that, you know, 8 a.m. I'm sitting here in the dark. Sorry that that's the experience. But now I'm so excited. to talk to you guys. I went on your podcast. When was that? A few months ago. Yeah, a few months

spring, I think. I can't really remember. Time is just, yeah, time is like moving a little differently this year. But I really am such a big fan of your show and I'm not just saying that. I love that you guys hit on all the pop culture topics, but you also, there's just so much variety and you guys take like really, you take an interesting approach and you come at it from really interesting angles. Like I thought the episode that you did recently on The Wealth Gap, that was fascinating to me to listen to. And a lot of other pop culture, entertainment podcasts, they'll cover everything, but really at like a surface level. And I appreciate that you guys go a little bit deeper. So to start, I would just like to kind of have you guys introduce yourselves to the listeners and talk about how you started your show and what

it's about and all of that. Incredible. Well, thank you so much. You know, Chandler and I first started our podcast in 2020. We, well, actually, that's not true. Well, 2016. Yeah, we first started in 2016 when we were both at college. We went to BYU, which is a pretty conservative religious college. And we decided that it would be a good idea to start a podcast talking about things like Orlando Bloom's nudes.

So that began and ended abruptly when Word got to our parents that we had started this essentially just, I don't know. PG-G-15 podcast, you could say? Exactly. We got a strict warning, but if the podcast was not deleted, our T-Mobile cell phone bills would promptly be canceled and no longer paid for. And we were broke enough at the time that it was worth foregoing our nascent podcasting career. So we quit the podcast for four years or so, and then restarted it in 2020 during the pandemic, kind of a mixture of, you know, wanting to bring it back and also having the, you know, financial freedom and ability to no longer have our,

our plans canceled. So we brought it back and it's been super fun. And like you said, we, we just go after like the things that we're dying to think about. Like, of course, we love the big news, but we also like talking about like, you know, when celebrities are mega wealthy, what does that mean for their siblings? Like, can you be Taylor Swift and having a brother who's grinding away nine to five at all state insurance? Like, is that possible? Like, how does well trickle down through families. We just like asking the questions that we are asking inside and constantly thinking about. What are your favorite things to talk about or who your favorite, like what are your favorite stories? Who are your favorite celebrities? I love talking about

old school celebrities. I like talking about Angelina Jolie. I like talking about Brad Pitt. I like talking about Jennifer Aniston. I love following old school celebrities and of course like a Kim Kardashian. I love talking about the Kardashians. So kind of a mix of both where I think that we don't necessarily have a PhD in slub gossip is when it comes to like, you know, like a Duolipa or I don't even know if I'm pronouncing her name correctly. I don't know. There's a certain segment that we're not necessarily don't have an expertise in. But yeah, I'm very into old school. Chen, what are you into? I mean, I'm into anything salacious. So whether that's old school, new school, whatever. I mean, I love talking about, like, also, like, old old school, like, Princess Dye.

I was, we were just talking about, like, J.F.K. Jr. on our last episode. Like, any of, like, any folklore, I guess, with celebrities is, like, my favorite thing. And I also love, like, conspiracy theories with celebrities. Ooh, like what? Just talking about, like, what, for example, Benefort. Is this real? Is this just, like, all orchestrated because she has some new album launching or because, like, you know, she's going to recreate her music video.

scene by scene with him, like that type of thing I like wig out on. Okay, so let's get into that one because that was on my list. A lot of people are very into this story right now. I have my thoughts about it and I would love to hear what you guys think. Is this PR? Are they recreating? What was it Jenny from the block? I can't remember which video it was. I mean, I'm just going to jump in here and say it's 100% PR. Like I do think that they're hooking up. I do think that they're having fun. I do think that, you know, like they are being romantic, but I think that it's primarily motivated by PR, and I think this is going to end really quickly. I think that she, you know, was looking to recover her reputation and some, you know, her ego being bruised by Arod having his little fling with Madison

or his Instagram DM situation. So she was looking to kind of recover from the humiliation of that. And I think that he was looking to recover from the humiliation of being exposed as like sliding into TikTokers' DMs from Rob. I think that they both had little things that they wanted help on. And so I think that it was the perfect kind of the, you know, they are helping each other out. And it's so obvious that it's a pure relationship because they're putting out all the images, you know, like the photos of them from the paparazzi are like super crisp and high quality and they're right next to them, whether they're on the street or in a car. Like it's just so obvious that to me that they are like part of this whole, that they're feeding the

paparazzi all of these images essentially or helping them create them. Yeah, I completely agree. I mean, I think that JLo is extremely extra, which sounds really redundant, but I think she is extremely extra and I think she will milk everything all, like, whatever this fling is, she'll just, she's going to milk it for whatever it's worth. What's really sad to me about this whole situation are like her kids in this scenario because like they were really close to Aeroad's kids. I mean, they were essentially their step siblings. And it's just like it's a lot. lot, I feel like, for young kids to go through. So it kind of like makes me feel sad on like a, on that note. Yeah. I agree with both of you. I think JLo is, I mean, for decades, everything that

she does is so calculated. Her image is so like contrived, I think in the media. I'm sure she has like the top PR people, you know, curating this image. And I agree. I think she had to like do something quickly to rebound and like she still wants to be seen as sexy and desirable, even at, not even at her age. I mean, that sounds bad. But this was her way to make it seem that way, like by jumping into it. I also think that like, I'm sure they're hooking up and that it is working for both of them.

I feel like I'm curious how you guys feel about Ben Affleck. I used to think he was so hot, like Armageddon days beyond. Right. And now, even with her, like, I saw some pictures from when they were on the trip, and I was like, he's not, he doesn't look so good. I don't want to speculate, you know, I know he's had issues in the past, but like something seems a little bit off. Another theory that I heard, though, was that maybe they're doing this and like going so heavy on like the PDA and putting the pictures out there so that they can have a private aspect to their relationship. Like they're kind of, you know, giving the media what they want and the paparazzi what they want and feeding it to everybody so that they can also like have a relationship in private. I don't think that either of them are that like a deep feeling of individuals that they like need to have this like passion and like private. Like I think they are literally people who just love the media circus. And I think JLo especially

just like wants to have like you said like this calculated curated, curated perfect image. I mean all of her Instagrams her, you know, 52, what. it do. I mean, I don't know if you guys saw that one photo of them on the boat. Maybe it's just a J-Lo, but on the mantle, there's like a mirror photo or something. And on the mantle is literally an 8 by 10 photo of them on the motorcycle, like framed. Yeah. And I think they intentionally teased a corner of it so that the internet would go crazy. Yeah, exactly. And it's like that to me makes it feel like none of it is real. Like you don't do, you wouldn't do that. Like you would be too busy being ensconced and just like so happy that you're like, that you found your way back to

each other. So I don't, yeah, that would be my opinion on it. I also think that if you, like, if you look at like a Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Joe, Alwyn, is that you pronounce it, Alman? We're the palpologist, so we know how to pronounce any celebrity's names. Anyway, if you look at their relationship, you know, we don't have basically anything of them. Like, we have very few paparazzi photos. We barely know anything. And people don't really talk about them that much because there's not much to talk about because we don't have any material. But the internet has a very appetite. So the more material you give it, the more it wants and the more they want to talk about, the more buzz is created. So I think that that theory is probably incorrect or definitely incorrect.

And to your earlier point, Ben Affleck is so washed up. And I just find him to be so incredibly unattractive and unappealing, especially Charlie and I talk about this all the time on the pod, but like we just are really big fans of like good men. And I just don't think he's like a good man. I think like he basically is like, you know, cheated on Jennifer Garner and it's just not a good family man. And so in my eyes, you know, he's done forever. Hidious back tattoo or not, it's, you know, nothing can save him. Back tattoo is absolutely atrocious. And, you know, to your point about the internet having a voracious appetite, I think that celebrities, certain celebrities have a voracious appetite for attention to.

J-Lo probably has, she's been getting so much attention her whole life. like it would be really hard to not get that attention. I think the Kardashians are kind of the same. So you kind of have to like feverishly conjure all this attention and stories so that you stay relevant. Right. Exactly. Exactly. And when when Arod pulled that thing with Madison, when that came to light, that was probably one of the worst moments for J-Lo because it totally humiliated her and was so embarrassing. And it was not what she wanted her image to be up. So you're exactly right. Like she wants people to think that she's desirable. not only can she get a guy, but she can get an A-lister who a lot of girls still think is super hot and would be totally down for. So it's good PR, but it's totally PR. Yeah. I don't know. Those sunglasses that he wore, that was like the final email in the coffin for me. I don't. And also, I just prefer Ben Affleck with a little bit more meat on his bones. Is that crazy to say? I don't want to

body shame anybody, but like he is looking gaunt. That's why I'm like, I don't know if he's, Yeah, I don't know. That's why I feel like something is just off. I don't want to like speculate on someone's sobriety necessarily or like it just I don't know. Yeah. Hopefully he's okay. If you are experiencing health issues like erratic or non-existent energy, low sex drive, insomnia, stress and you can't seem to figure out what the root is, I highly recommend testing with base. So base is an at home testing service and app to. help users investigate, monitor, and improve their well-being. So basically, you submit a blood and or saliva test to determine what hormone, vitamin, or nutrient is off in different lifestyle areas like sleep, stress, and energy. And then BASE provides tailored lifestyle recommendations from their medical team, and they track the user's evolution as they improve. And this is just incredible. I think it's really the future of medicine and just optimal living as a whole. I did an episode with the founder of base, Lola Priago.

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on divorce not dead. And lucky me, you'll be joining me for the journey. So buckle up. Ariel, can I ask you a question about J-Lo? Do you think it's true that she has never had anything done? Did we not talk about this on your show? I don't think we did. I don't think we talked about J-Lo. Okay. Well, I'm going to preface all of this with a big allegedly. For sure, she's had so much done. So if you look at old pictures of her, you can see very clearly. I would have to pull one up, actually. Let me see. For sure, her nose, that was a long time ago. I pretty much factually know that she gets Botoxin fillers. Hold on. I'm pulling up a picture here so that I can do my analysis. I love it. I'm here for it. You're like a forensic plastic surgeon, plastic surgery analyst and I love it. You should be called as like an expert witness in trials. Oh my God. That would be my dream.

Okay. I'm looking at a picture here. Yeah. So nose looks a little like maybe she got a browlift at some point. Definitely some Botoxin filler. You know, she does have like, she does have amazing skin. So I'm not sure if she's had a facelift yet, although I wouldn't be. surprised. I mean, a lot of celebrities like we'll do it before they start to even show signs,

you know? Right. Like a preemptive situation. Yeah. But it's also really hard to tell. Like her pictures that she posts are so like airbrushed beyond recognition. So it would be a lot easier to make an official analysis if I saw like an unedited picture of her. But I did see her, when was it? Golden Globes, I think 2020 or 2019 when she wore the? that big ball gown. Do you remember the dress with the bow, the strapless? It was like a, like with the maid in Manhattan hair, the bun, like the giant. It was pretty bad. And I saw her pretty close because she was doing the red carpet around the same time. I mean, she came in at the end, but we were still kind of lingering. And she had like the crazy contour, caked on makeup. She did have some, you know,

wrinkles and flaws. And so she didn't look anything like she looks in her pictures, obviously. Right. So that makes me think that like maybe she hasn't been pulled yet because she did have like some jowling and some. Oh, interesting. Some wrinkles and stuff like that. Huh. Yeah. So, but I mean, the whole olive oil thing, it's like ridiculous. Yeah, follow the money. I just want to say really quick, we don't have to pick on Jaila, but like people who say they've had no work. work done. I just think they're like maybe the worst type of people in society next to murderers. Like maybe that's too strong of a statement. But I think that they just perpetuate society's problem so much more by not being open about it and normalizing it. Yeah. I mean, I've had this

discussion with a lot of people on my podcast because I see how it's kind of like a catch 22. Like if you say Bella Hadid, for example, if she came out and said, yeah, I had like a facelift, allegedly. I had a facelift. I had a brow lift. I had a couple nose jobs, blah, blah, blah. Then are her young fans going to want to go out and do that? Right. Now, conversely, if she lies about it and says, oh, I've never put anything in my face, then she's like, you know, perpetuating these kind of unrealistic beauty standards. Obviously, there are beautiful, natural women out there, but like she completely changed and just, you know, claims that it was puberty or whatever. That's so unrealistic. So I think that, like, If you don't want to lie about it, just don't say anything, you know, like, just don't address it.

Because, yeah, I think lying about it is like the worst. I mean, especially because when it's so obvious, it's just kind of insulting to anybody who's like a fan of that person. Yeah, I mean, the Bella Hadid example is like the most egregious and most extreme. But my question for you is, do you think that the Kardashians, like Kim, Chloe, Courtney, do you think that they've already had facelifts? I think Kim has for sure. Yeah. I thought Courtney did.

And then I saw some like unretouched photos of her, like just, I don't know. I don't know if they were paparazzi or just that somebody took. And she looked a little, I don't know how to say this without being sounding mean, but she looked a little sagier than she looks in her Instagram pictures. But maybe. I mean, I think like, for example, the endoscopic facelift. is so popular now. So an endoscopic facelift is where they can go in kind of like behind the hairline

with an endoscope. So there's no, they're not cutting incisions where they're going to have to stitch it back up necessarily. Like it's scarless. So it's not where you have like the big cut, you know, through your hairline temple behind your ear, down your neck. Like they can just go in behind the ear, behind the hairline and just kind of like detach everything and then lift it back up.

Dr. Keo, who's in Santa Monica, is famous for this. He pretty much like allegedly claims that he did Bella Hadid's. Wow. It's called a ponytail lift. And I know a lot of other doctors that are doing that now. So, you know, you can get away with it because it's not as necessarily extreme of a lift as like a traditional facelift. And it's scarless. So nobody would ever really know. So I think that's really popular. So I think Kim for sure. Chloe, I have no idea. She's done, looks like she's done so much that. Right. And then plus the contouring and the filtering. Yeah, exactly. Kylie, I think she's too young. Oh, Kendall. Kendall, I think has the best work. Kendall and Kim. I think she may have done a ponytail facelift. For sure, brow lift. For sure. I don't remember if it's canthopexy or canthoplasty, but where they kind of tilt up the outer corner. of the eyes. So wild.

Definitely a nose job. You know, cheek augmentation, chin implant. I mean, it's literally like you're using the FaceTune app in real life. Every single piece of your face. Yeah, but then they use the filters over that. So this was another one that I wanted to talk about was Kim Kardashian posted a video of like her skims or whatever.

She's in an elevator. I thought it was hilarious because her assistants are like standing back. behind the wall, like against the wall, not anything. Sucking in trying to like be invisible. And her finger holding her phone is like glitching back and forth. I mean so clearly some kind of like body altering filter. And of course, her defenders were like, oh, everybody uses filters. It's just a smoothing filter. Like the Instagram filters, smoothing filters, whatever, they don't make your body glitch. Change shape. Yeah. It's like supposed to be sucking something in. So, you know, I think with them, beauty standards change and they evolve. I think the beauty standards of today are heavily

influenced by the Kardashians who have allegedly done so much on their faces and their bodies round after round. Like we're not just talking one surgery here. And then on top of that, then they use skinny filters. I mean, there, I remember Kendall did a post where she was like in front of her mirror in a bikini and her waist kept glitching in and out. So she's making, She's a model and she's making yourself skinnier. You know, obviously Chloe, I think when I was on your show, it was right after that unretouched photo of Chloe came out. So what are your thoughts on all of this?

I used to be of the philosophy that the Kardashians kind of ushered in an acceptance for like being curvier and embracing your curves. And I used to be just think, okay, it's so great that, you know, they've kind of introduced that body as being this. enviable body, you know, and helped a lot of women feel more comfortable in their own skin. And I think to a certain degree that is true, because if you look at where we were at before the Kardashians really, like, came to their current state of dominion over all, like, the seas and waters and land. Before that time, when it was like, you know, basically just pictures

of Nicole Ritchie and Lindsay Lohan, stumbling out of bars looking totally, like, emaciated, I think that we are in a much healthier place now, and the Kardashians are a part of that transition in pop culture. But I think that where it gets tricky is where they're now also kind of the bodies that they have morphed into having throughout the years now are very much surgically enhanced. And so if the new shape that we are really praising a society is one that's only possible through a lot of means and access and is not one that can be naturally attained, I'm not sure that it's an entirely positive situation, especially without any disclosures.

Like, that's what I think is good about filters is at least it tells you exactly what the person's using. So you can tap on that filter and you can know immediately whether, like, they're altering their appearance or not, like changing the shape of their nose and their lips and stuff like that. Like, that's a good thing we should have access to, that information. But when it's all behind the surface and we just have these young girls who, you know, like we have young girls of a similar descent as the Kardashians who are looking up to them, but their bodies don't look the same. I think it's a double-edged sword, if you will. Yeah, I agree. I saw a great TikTok the other day where Kylie Jenner had posted a what I eat in a day. And I had a surgeon on my podcast a few weeks ago who does like 360. lipo and BBL. And he said, so this is not me, he said her body is multiple rounds of lipo, multiple rounds of BBL, obviously a breast enhancement or two or three, who knows, you know.

And so she did what I eat in a day and it's like, you know, avocado toast and like grapes and water and then whatever the dinner was. And this girl did a duet with it. And she was like, mm-hmm, great, uh-huh, yeah. Okay, she had a BBL. So, um, like whoever's watching this, you know, like if you eat like this, you're not going to have her body. And the surgeon was great because he said, like, you cannot get a surgical result from working out. No. Period full stop. And so many younger women and women like more, you know, closer to our age, still don't know that.

Like I'm shocked at how many people respond when I do any kind of surgical podcast, whether it's facial plastic surgery or body and they're like, wow, I had no idea that these people were doing that. Right. And that's what's, I mean, I think that, like, that's what's actually so fascinating about it and why it's a complex conversation because I think that you really cannot change, like, your overall, like, you can gain musculature with working out and I'm not a nutritionist or like a diet coach or a, you know, I don't have any sort of credentials. But my belief is that you really kind of can create the best version of whatever shape God gave you. And, unless you get it surgically altered. And you know what? A surgical alteration might actually be

something that really helps you. So I'm not anti-getting surgery. I'm not anti-getting work done. But I think it's important to know like, hey, doing a million jump squats, like doing BBG for 100 years, is not going to produce necessarily the results you're looking for. Those aren't in the genetic cards for you in the first place. I mean, even hearing Courtney Kardashian say that she works out three times a day or twice her two a day workouts. That is just such an unrealistic, I'm going to say toxic piece of information to put out there because even if you work out twice a day,

which is like an insane thing to do as a person, and I would even argue that's unhealthy to work out twice a day. It's really toxic, I think, to put out there when it's really surgery. Yeah, and Kylie did that too. And so I'm like, well, how many- Kylie, I might be wrong. No, they both did. But it's like how many millions of young girls do you think now

are working out twice a day? because of that and waiting for like their hips and ass to grow. Yeah, I mean, I again, I don't really know what the solution is. I would be curious to hear what you think. But I think even if they just said like, yeah, it takes so much work to look like this and we've had some help. Like even that kind of admission, even, you know, you don't have to get into detail about it, but at least just to disclose that this isn't natural. I think that's it. It's not acting like this was just a luck that happened to you. I have to tell you guys about my favorite wellness hack as of late. You may have seen my dessert on Instagram when I have dates with almond butter and chocolate.

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blonde at checkout for 15% off your first one-time order or 20% off your first subscription order plus free shipping. That's H-E-L-L-L-O-N-E-D dot com slash blonde, B-L-O-N-D-E, to get 15% off your first one-time order or 20% off your first subscription order plus free shipping. It's all about being honest. And I think that there's also a flip side which is like equally irritating. I don't know if you remember when Misha Barton was like at the height of her, like, fame as a starlet in the O-C. Those were the days. Those were the days, iconic days. And, you know, I remember reading like a teen vogue article with her in it where she was just like, yeah, I just eat constantly or I just eat all the time. I love mac and cheese. I, you know,

I just eat junk food. I just, you know, can eat whatever I want. And kind of same, same thing with Emrata. M. Rada is big on like, oh, I just, you know, eat pasta all day. And I feel like there's also like a flip side of like celebrities who really must work pretty hard at having a lean body type, but who pretend like they're just eating, you know, they're just eating tortellini seven, you know, three meals a day, seven days a week. And so I think it's just all comes down to transparency. That way people know, you know, what, what's actually happening or they don't have false expectations and think that, you know, they can do the same. Well, and of course, like we're going to see photos of Haley Bieber eating pizza. Like all of those people who,

probably eat a very disciplined diet are going to have moments where they eat like, you know, indulge. But I think that's just not an accurate depiction of what their day-to-day life is like. Yeah, Emerada fascinates me. I would love to hear what you guys think. And I saw, let me see my notes here. I saw on, I think it was TMZ yesterday. So like Christine Quinn, I don't really watch reality TV. I don't watch selling sunset, but I know who she is. And they had a picture of her on a beach, I think, in Italy with her newborn baby, you know, completely thin and toned. And, you know, they were like, she's looking amazing. Emerita did the same thing. I mean, she was like a week after childbirth, like posting, you know, selfies or whatever in her mirror, super thin. And I would love to hear your

thoughts on this kind of like bounce back culture. I would love to hear your thoughts on Emerada. I think she, I don't know if you follow not skinny but not fat, but she always... Oh, we love her. Yeah, she's amazing. And she's always like, don't reduce her to a body because she was like, don't reduce me to a body. And then she reduces herself to a body all the time. So what are your thoughts on that? I mean, I'm going to tell you up front and in full that I think Emerada is a terrorist

and possibly like one of the worst things to happen to women in 2021 or in this generation. The thing about Emerada that I find to be so, so irritating and just annoying is not her vanity. You know, like, Instagram is full of stunning women who are posting pictures of themselves in bikinis, you know, ass out every day. That's not what I'm against. I have a few photos like that. I want everyone to live their best lives and to embrace themselves. So it's not about her constant content of, like, her body and posting herself in, like, you know,

from every angle in her. her perfection. So happy for her that that's her reality. What I don't like, yeah, dude, I wish. But what I object to is that it's forced down our throats in this veneer. It's wrapped in a veneer of a feminism. And like I'm a, I'm, this is all in the name of like social justice. And my vanity is actually like empowering. And I'm taking back, you know, it's all, it's all like, it's all like this high concept. Yeah, and it's like if you don't like it, it's your problem. Right.

Right. Like that's a projection. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, no, actually, that's not the case. And you posting like hot photos to yourself constantly, that's not actually like the height of feminism and like the best thing we can do for ourselves as women. It's just like the weirdest like form of gaslighting.

I think her entire Instagram. Her photo where she's breastfeeding and it is just alt-it. Yeah. And she's looking at the camera with like come hither eyes. Like, I don't know what that's doing to like evolve women or to like push like women forward. I really, I'm at a loss and I would love another like op-ed from her on that because like that is all her Instagram is. Yeah, it's all sex all the time. And and then wrapped in like a veneer, a political veneer, which I just think that we're all smarter than that and we know what she's doing.

She's just super vain. And like, you know what? Being super vain on Instagram, that's a place to do it. It's not a problem. Just don't tell us that, you know, you're all. also the next glorious dinem because of your bikini selfies. It's not the case. So funny. Okay, let's see what else we. So another one that I really want to touch on before we close is Britney. This is obviously a huge topic we could probably do an entire podcast on right now. But I am really

curious to hear your take on the whole case and where she stands right now. I personally think when it comes to Brittany that there's either two, there's two options. There's two viable options for moving forward. Brittany is either the woman on her Instagram or that Instagram is made up to make her look crazy. Because the voice coming through on that Instagram and those captions and in those photos and those videos is not one of, you know, someone who is fully all there, unfortunately. And so whether they're doing a really, you know, blatant job of trying to convince us of that or not, it's unclear to me. But I think it all hinges on, on, yeah, if that's her in the captions, because her recent posts have been so erratic and kind of crazy. And so it's very concerning.

To your point, I recently was doing a deep dive on some conspiracy theories with her. As I said, I love conspiracy theories. And one of them is that the mirror that she constantly dances, maybe you guys have heard this, that the mirror, that she's always dancing in front of is actually like, it has a camera. And so they record her while she's dancing and then on, and the part of this was that this is a conspiracy theory, but that perhaps she's drugged a little bit. Then she's like dancing, partying whatever, partying's wrong word, dancing, hanging out, being herself. And then they record her and then they post that to Instagram with like these erratic captions that feel like they were, you know,

done in a word generator. That is very creepy. I just got chills actually. I know. That's really creepy. If that were the case, I mean, what role do you think the boyfriend plays in all of this? I've heard, like, I've heard on several different podcasts and on blogs that he actually is like, he is like a good guy and that he really does love her and like the relationship is genuine. But so I don't, I don't know. What do you think? I've heard the same thing. But then you have to wonder, like, if this is, I mean, if that conspiracy theory were true, then he would have to be kind of conspiring with them, right? Or wouldn't he do something to stop it? I mean, it's just how can you just be an onlooker if that's going on?

I don't know. Well, I think the idea is that if he did anything to stop it, that he would probably be like, that they have so much power, he would be immediately cut out of her life, and then he wouldn't have like any more access. and wouldn't, you know, be able to be with her, I guess. Britney needs to just be, like, deposited into, like, a retreat by a third party.

Like, the Swiss need to take Brittany and, like, renew her, regenerate her, just help her, you know. Yeah, like, she needs to be given to a third party, essentially, I feel like, so she can either come off of whatever she's on and fully tell her own story. Because her current handlers are not to be trusted. get on whatever she should be on. I mean, I agree that like whether it's her or somebody else, I mean, even when she spoke to the court, I don't remember when that was, maybe a month ago. I mean, she didn't sound very stable. Like she was saying.

Thank you. The right things, but it was not the words of somebody, to me at least, who sounded like they were completely all there. Like there was just something very off about it. Okay. My Chandler and I had a very heated exchange on our podcast about this because I told Chandler, I was like, I know this is, you know, kind of like some, you know, it's fighting words essentially in the current Free Brittany climate. But listening to that talk she gave or the testimony she gave to the judge, that was not the voice of a woman who was completely there,

especially when she knew that her entire job, the main thing that she needed to do was. convinced the judge that she was articulate and composed and had, you know, sufficient mental acuity to be taken out of the conservatorship. That was what she needed to accomplish. The frantic, high-paced, just kind of erratic tone to how she was talking was not convincing at all. And yeah, and I felt like not, I, I'm so happy that you're saying this because I feel like so many people are not saying that right now about it. Yeah, I mean, I thought it was not reassuring at all. I think that content of what she was saying, especially because it was the first time that people were really hearing her side, that part could have been more powerful, I think, had she sounded a little bit more grounded and composed maybe. I think, you know, but I think that at the same time, the content is, you know, it was powerful for a lot of people because we had never heard her side of it. So people. just kind of overlooked the fact that she was kind of, she sounded agitated and frantic.

And I wouldn't say that, like, I guess I'm more in that camp where I don't think she's a person. I think she's a person who struggles mentally. And I think that was the best that she could do in that scenario. She was probably nervous. And, you know, that's, you can't chalk it all up to that. I do really think that she struggles mentally. But I think truly it was just so powerful to hear from her mouth, like what has been going on. and her perspective on it because we just haven't heard that before.

And to have the wherewithal to even speak on that shows that she's, you know, to some degree, self-aware, understands what's going on, understands the world around her and, you know, doesn't deserve to be in a conservatorship. Yeah, I think that maybe I would have been more convinced had she been a little bit more like, I don't know, I don't think reasonable is the word. But the fact that she wanted to end the conservatorship without having any more evaluation, I just feel like maybe she could have been a little bit. I'm sure it's frustrating she wants it to be over, but I think maybe the court would have wanted to hear her say, like, this is what's been going on. I really want this conservatorship to end.

I will submit to an evaluation to prove that I am mentally capable of running my own life, whatever. And I feel like that would have been a little bit more persuasive, although I know that also. So the people who conduct those evaluations are kind of like paid for by the conservatorship, right? So she's kind of screwed either way. That's what I was going to say. I feel like it would just be so hard to trust those systems that failed you in the first place. Yeah, I think she should.

I agree. She should have just said that that she would have, she would submit to being evaluated, but that she wanted it to be by a neutral third party, like completely disconnected from the conservatorship. Yeah, because I found that to be a little bit. jarring. Like, wait a second, you just want to end it and why won't you submit to an evaluation? I mean, I know that she had been screwed in the past, it sounded like, but it's really tricky because, yeah, I agree. I think she does have something going on mentally. And, you know, I think it sounds like Jamie Spears and everyone involved in the conservatorship is kind of evil, but at the same time,

like, would she blow up her life if she had full control? Okay. Conspiracy theory. have you heard that Kanye West, that the theory is that when he was having his breakdown in Wyoming kind of went like was Twitter raging was because the Kardashians were essentially trying to like get him under conservatorship. Have you heard that theory? I have heard it. I haven't heard really the details though. Well, I think I mean that's basically all I know. That's the theory is that that's why he was, you know, so incredibly irate. And well, the connector. Chris Jong-un. Yes. Is that precise time?

There's a connector. There's a common person in between them, which is why the Kardashians haven't spoken out about Brittany is because they have like a manager in common. I'm forgetting Lou. Philip. Lou Taylor. Yeah, Lou Taylor. Yeah. And so that was like that connection prompted a lot of people to think that first of all, that Lou Taylor was conspiring to get Kanye in a conservatorship and is also the reason why the Kardashians aren't staunch free Britney advocates. Right. Interesting. I think that there's just

so much more to the story that like, you know, the free Brittany movement, I think the people in those camp have one initiative. And that's for her to get out of the conservatorship no matter what. And that's it. But I think that there's so much more to it. I think that they're, you know, it's really like multifaceted and I think that she does probably need some kind of help whether she needs to get on meds or get off whatever she's on like you were saying and you know have somebody kind of oversee what's going on right I don't know I don't know I don't know it's very the whole thing is just so sad another thing I kind of I heard was that you know like even if she is going to blow up her life if she's given the full reign to control it's her life to

blow up. Like, it's her, like, that's kind of the power you have as an, as an adult is you get to go spend all your money in a weekend in Reno, you know, if that's what you want to do. And like, it really takes an extreme case of being mentally unfit to warrant having a conservatorship over you, over yourself. It's not just that you make irresponsible decisions, unfortunately. Or I don't know, maybe fortunately, like that is just, it's, that's part of freedom. Yeah. You get to do what you want. Yeah, that's true. I didn't think about it that way. The aspect of Free Brittany that really, like, makes me sad and, like,

reflect a lot as a pop culture person or, you know, steadier of pop culture is, like, our effect on child stars, celebrities in general, you know, the craze and the voracious appetite that we have as, like, as, like, as Lauren and I do as, like, normal people, like, to what degree do we contribute to, like, drive these people to these, you know, unhealthy places mentally? Yeah. I mean, that documentary about Brittany was very, it was heartbreaking, it was eye-opening. It was crazy to see it all kind of compiled in that way

because you can see so clearly how that would make any normal person go a little bit crazy. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's, but I can understand how it would for sure. I also think, though, that the rewards are so extreme for those people. And a lot of times, you know, like celebrities, they want the attention. They are like a J-Lo, you know, That's kind of how they are, that's them living their best life, is having as much attention as possible. And so I think that I would be a defender of celebrity culture in this instance, because I feel like, aside from child stars, like celebrities themselves, they benefit the most from the entire celebrity ecosystem and all of the, if you want to call it like, vultuous, all of that attention. And I would say that once you get to a certain level of wealth, you can pay for privacy. Totally.

Right. You can pay for privacy. You can pay for meditation teachers and therapists. Right. All of the things that you need to maintain a level head, I think. Well, and there's a reason why we don't see photos of Taylor Swift, you know, now 320 days out of the year. Right. It's because she doesn't want to be seen. And that's possible. It's possible to not be seen. Most of the time when you're seeing pictures of celebrities and paparazzi photos, it's because they're literally working with paparazzi to be seen. And that's what I think people don't understand. Or they're going to Craigs or Nobu or Alfred, like the places where they know they're going to be. Yeah. I mean, that goes back to like this kind of addiction to attention and what will happen if I'm not seen all the time. Like, am I going to

become irrelevant? And I think for certain celebrities, you know, especially the Kardashians, like their whole livelihood is, you know, being relevant, being like, it's not like they can just do a movie here in there every couple years or do an album. You know, their talent is working the media. Right. They have to be in a zeitgeist. Yeah. Well, I love speculating on it. I love listening to you guys speculate on it, whether it's contributing or not, you know, I think that your take on everything is so interesting. And I'm curious, is your mom proud of you now? Does she like the podcast? Absolutely not. No? No. She's, no, she still thinks.

She's proud of us in other ways. I would say she's proud of us for holding down steady jobs and, you know, keeping her hair blonde and long. But she, like the other day she said to me, I was listening to the podcast. Like that's, she's still, you know, quite the contrarian. It does not support the podcast to this day. That's the update. Well, hopefully she'll come around.

One day, we'll see. Well, thank you guys so much for coming on. Where can everybody find you? Thank you so much for having us. Truly, such a great day. You guys can find us at Pop Apologists. Pop Apologists, wherever podcasts are found, and Pop Apologists on Instagram. Amazing. Thank you. Thank you. You're the best. So fun chatting. I hope you enjoyed that episode. If you liked it, and if you like the show in general, please take a second to rate, review, and subscribe. It goes a long way, and it's actually the best way to support the show. Also, if you want to see more about each episode, you can head over to The Blond Files podcast on Instagram. I'm always posting about each episode there or over on my personal page at Ariel Laurie.