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In 2019, I was 17 years old and sitting in the passenger seat of my best friend’s Jeep. As we walk home from school, her latest episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast plays in the background. When my best friend takes a sip of his smoothie, Alex Cooper says, “Fool or be fooled.” When I complain about air conditioning, Sophia Franklin says, “Men love crazy things.” In the same episode, they laugh about how ridiculous it is to have been nominated for Best Advice & Inspirational Podcast of the Year, and my best friend says he’s glad they’re not trying to be something they’re not. I did.
In 2019, “Call Her Daddy” reigned as a popular podcast. Because there was no shame in its messy, “cool girl” aesthetic. Despite its vaguely misogynistic undertones and co-hosts’ frequent “I’m not like other girls” stances, “Call Her Daddy” remained popular because it felt authentic. The hosts were Alex Cooper and Sophia Franklin, two 20-somethings who lived in New York City and were close friends who shared their personal lives. At the time, they were only making $60,000 a year from their podcast and were virtually unknown outside of “Call Her Daddy,” which was part of their appeal.
Podcasts have grown exponentially in recent years, and many influencers are starting to ride the wave. The problem with new podcasters is their lack of credibility. Most influencers who started podcasting did so after already establishing themselves on social media platforms. They were already making millions of dollars through brand deals and sponsorships, so the sudden announcement to start a podcast felt like a money grab. For this reason, influencers often speak in a way that makes it clear that they are disconnected from their audience, and the backlash they receive from them highlights their disconnection.
Alix Earle, a popular TikTok influencer, started her podcast “Hot Mess” in September 2023. In recent months, she has faced backlash for centering stories about her poor hygiene, including leaving her dress covered in vomit. She had left her closet unattended for a year, and there were piles of dead cockroaches in her old apartment.
At a time when the “pretty girl aesthetic” was very popular, the public expressed disgust at her admission and labeled her dirty. Earle was probably trying to be funny or gain sympathy, but it took away from her audience and it had a negative effect.
Earle isn’t the only influencer to come under fire for her podcast. The popular podcast “BFFs” has received a lot of backlash, with the most recent incident being the host reacting to a viral TikTok of a college graduate talking about how difficult it is for many people to balance work and life schedules. That’s what I did. They struggle to make ends meet. The “BFF” hosts responded, “That’s life,” and “Then find a new job, which we did.”
Hosts Josh Richards, Brianna “Chicken Fry” LaPaglia, and Dave Portnoy have an estimated combined net worth of $157 million, but their disturbingly out-of-touch responses to situations they should never have to face have made them instantly It was met with unpopularity.
A common theme among these influencers and their controversies is that they are not authentic. Rather than accepting their lifestyle, or even ignoring it completely, they try to relate it to hardships they have never experienced. It’s hard not to roll your eyes when an influencer worth $5 million for copying other people’s dances on TikTok in 2019 tells you to stop complaining about the impending recession.
However, that doesn’t mean all celebrity podcasts are outdated. Jason and Travis Kelsey’s “New Heights” is highly acclaimed as they are soccer players talking about soccer. The brothers occasionally touch on pop culture and their personal lives, but they stick to topics they know well and admit when they don’t know enough to talk about a subject.
“The Joe Rogan Experience” is another popular podcast, but it’s not without its backlash. It’s worth noting that Joe Rogan has faced major controversy for some of his outlandish opinions and conspiracies. I’m not a fan of him or his podcast, but I’m not his target audience, so it doesn’t matter what I think about him. The reason Logan is able to maintain such high ratings no matter what he says is because he has cultivated a loyal audience that has proven time and time again that they will continue to support him no matter what.
This unwavering support is something you won’t find among influencers who were established on other social media platforms before turning to podcasting. They usually have a lot of fans, but the audience for short-form media like TikTok doesn’t always translate to hour-long podcasts. Podcasts force influencers to become more socially conscious, and when faced with a more diverse audience than ever before, they often miss the mark.
The original version of “Call Her Daddy” disappeared in 2020 after Franklin and Cooper’s friendship dissolved. This was a big deal at the time, but I think it saved their careers in the long run. Franklin and Cooper now host their own successful podcasts, but both are interview-based and lack the drama and charm of 2019’s “Call Her Daddy.” That said, I’m glad their podcasts are more gentle. If they try to recreate the 2019 podcast, it will probably fail. That’s partly because of the fame and fortune they’ve amassed since then, but also because the misogynistic advice and locker room talk just doesn’t make sense anymore.
Reputable podcasts are aligned with the culture and trends that their audiences relate to, while influencer podcasts tend to fall short. Some influencers just want to talk. So, rather than starting another podcast with unrelated stories or “hot gossip” that just repeats articles from the Daily Mail, it’s better to do a diary and reality check.
Caitlin Mitchell is an opinion writer. To contact her, [email protected].
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