Disgraceful with Grace O'Malley

Episode: Caroline Baniewicz: Gossip is Good!

Air Date: August 28, 2025
Host: Grace O’Malley
Guest: Caroline Baniewicz

Episode Overview

This episode of Disgraceful finds comedian Grace O’Malley joined by multi-hyphenate comedic talent Caroline Baniewicz for a freewheeling, high-speed conversation packed with nostalgia, confessions, concert reviews, creative ambitions, and a defense of the ethical power of gossip. The two reflect on their careers and friendships, the dangers and merits of online authenticity, and the strange, exhilarating world of modern entertainment, all peppered with introspective and hilarious observations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Comedy, Comparison, and Early Fame (01:33 – 06:40)

• On Feeling Behind
  Both discuss the surreal pressure of comparing your own journey to notorious or famous young people like Amanda Knox or Olivia Rodrigo.

  • "Sometimes I stay up at night and I'm like, damn, it's so hard. Tate McRae, pop star at 19. Amanda Knox, already accused of killing people. And super famous at 19."
    — Caroline Baniewicz (01:33)

• The Balloon Boy Bit
  They riff about infamous child celebrities and the Balloon Boy hoax, poking fun at the need for early notoriety.

  • "That little balloon boy, he is no improv business."
    — Grace O'Malley (02:36)

• The Problem with Job Titles
  They dissect the meaninglessness of self-applied labels like “entrepreneur” and “content creator,” with Caroline noting the pressure to explain ambiguous careers.

  • "It's not a job ... it's just a state of being."
    — Grace (06:05)

  • "Sometimes people are like, what do you do? Like, content creators. 'I'm a content creator.' And I also do Sienna."'
    — Caroline (06:29)

Friendship, Mutual Lore, and First NYC Hustles (07:02 – 12:02)

• On Friendship Validation
  The two playfully process childhood trauma around being chosen as a “best friend.”

  • "I kinda like get chills when someone says that I'm their best friend."
    — Caroline (06:59)

• Shared History
  Their shared professional roots are recounted: both worked at Total Frat Move, wrote blogs on the side, and lived hand-to-mouth in NYC during COVID.

  • "It was good, I think, when I moved to New York. ... By the skin of my teeth."
    — Grace (10:24)

• Living in NYC
  Caroline reflects on financially prepping for her move and later wishing she’d allowed more fun over penny-pinching.

  • "Looking back ... I could have had more fun."
    — Caroline (10:30)

The Internet, Captions, and Revisiting the Past (12:02 – 14:56)

• Instagram Fame & Caroline Calloway
  They reminisce about when Instagram captions could make you famous (see: Caroline Calloway), contrasting this with today’s landscape.

  • "Imagine a time on the Internet where you were so famous for your Instagram captions."
    — Caroline (12:45)

• The Temptation to “Go Back”
  The hypothetical conversation about what moment they’d revisit if they could time-travel, mostly landing on schemes for financial gain or proximity to power.

  • "Maybe I would seduce Jeff Bezos when he was poor."
    — Caroline (14:46)

Billionaire Banter & Age-Appropriate Praise (15:02 – 16:15)

• Bezos’s Relationships
  Caroline applauds Jeff Bezos for having an age-appropriate wife.
  • "He does have an age appropriate wife, and for that I commend him."
    — Caroline (15:11)

The Katy Perry Concert Breakdown (17:46 – 30:26)

• Caroline’s Epic Review of Katy Perry’s Concert
  Caroline delivers a detailed, hysterical recap, from the AI-themed dystopian staging to the frenetic pace through Perry’s discography, and the absurdity of the crowd and concert “levels.”

  • "If you're thinking about going to the Katy Perry concert... that's not even the beginning of it."
    — Caroline (18:49)

  • "She sings teenage dream on 5x speed. It was literally tick tock, sped up version."
    — Caroline (25:21)

  • Highlights include:

    • The audience’s suspiciously acquired “radio” tickets (20:35)
    • The concert’s bizarre AI/Butterfly video-game plot (21:00–23:00)
    • The audience’s demographics: “They were children. Yeah, the children are there.” (23:30)
    • The “Bushwick gays” stinking up the venue (25:04)
    • Katy’s physical feats: “At one point...she just pulls out a gun and shoots. Was awesome. It was the kicker.” (29:05)

The Digital Footprint & Authenticity Conundrum (30:39 – 39:05)

• Close Friends & Cancel Culture
  Caroline explains her new “close friends” Instagram filter and the pressure of digital self-censorship.

  • "Grace has told me, don't worry about your digital footprint."
    — Caroline (30:46)

• Navigating Humor & Wokeness
  Caroline worries about musical parodies and accidental bigotry, sharing the creative process behind her Hunger Games one-woman show, and the associated anxiety about crossing lines.

  • "I'm woke. I have a musical theater degree."
    — Caroline (32:52)

• On Being Homeschooled & Embracing Weirdness
  Caroline finds strength in recounting her unique background, despite its outsiderness, embracing the creative gold in one’s oddities.

  • "Things that happen to you when you're young really stick with you."
    — Caroline (36:05)

• Authenticity Online: Uncancelable Creators
  They reflect on the difficulty of being genuine online and the status of creators who can no longer be cancelled (Trisha Paytas, The Paul Brothers).

  • "We have some creators who, like, are so authentic, but they're almost, like, uncancellable.”
    — Caroline (37:45)

Friendship, Jealousy, Women in Comedy – and Why Gossip Matters (42:08 – 47:39)

• Cheering Each Other On
  Grace is praised for selflessly rooting for other people’s success, comparing this to comic icons like Nikki Glaser and Hannah Burner.

  • "The coolest thing you can do is, like, to support someone that you know, even if you, like, barely know them."
    — Grace (42:54)

• Jealousy & Female Friendship
  Caroline admits it’s hard not to compare herself to younger or more successful women, but ultimately believes there’s room for all at the top.

  • "I do think there's enough room for all of us at the top."
    — Caroline (45:11)

• The Ethics of Gossip
  They make a case for pro-gossip, especially as a tool for women to protect other women, with Caroline providing an etymology lesson.

  • "If you look up the word gossip, it's sacred words between a mother and a godmother to keep them safe."
    — Caroline (47:01)
  • "Misogyny has made women feel bad about gossiping when all gossiping is, is keeping each other safe."
    — Caroline (47:24)

Story Time: The Roommate from Hell (49:14 – 56:25)

• Roommate Horror Story Caroline recounts a notorious, near-cancelation incident: her former roommate lying about and then making a TikTok about a public masturbation incident on a shared couch, the lies, grudges, and blocked Instagrams that followed.

  • "There’s no world where you’re in the right for masturbating on a couch that you didn’t buy."
    — Caroline (54:03)

• Grace expresses her dismay and skepticism about the standards of cancel culture in these kinds of personal disputes.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Comparison and Jealousy:
  "Amanda Knox was so famous by 21, and it's like, damn, like, she's so far ahead of me. She has a TV show."
  — Caroline (01:55)

• Entrepreneurship Cynicism:
  "If I can't understand what you do, I don't think you..."
  — Caroline (06:29)

• On Cancel Culture:
  "If you're someone who likes to cancel people ... be more selective with the people you cancel. Because we're canceling so many people that, like, now it's becoming too normal.”
  — Caroline (31:05)

• Gossip for Good:
  "If you look up the word gossip, it's sacred words between a mother and a godmother to keep them safe."
  — Caroline (47:01)

• On Authenticity:
  "People are so scared about not being ... being canceled, so they're, like, afraid to be authentic."
  — Caroline (37:45)

Timestamps for Significant Segments

• Career Comparison & Early Fame: 01:33 – 06:40
• Job Titles & Entrepeneurial Anxiety: 04:11 – 06:40
• Friendship Lore/NYC Hustles: 07:02 – 12:02
• Caroline’s Katy Perry Review (Don’t Miss!): 17:47 – 30:26
• Close Friends, Cancel Culture & Digital Anxieties: 30:39 – 39:05
• Discussion on Authenticity Online: 37:45 – 39:14
• Jealousy vs. Celebrating Success/Women in Comedy: 42:08 – 47:39
• Pro-Gossip Manifesto: 47:01 – 49:14
• Roommate Drama Story: 49:14 – 56:25

Episode Tone & Feel

Grace and Caroline’s rapport is unfiltered, affectionate, and self-deprecating. They navigate sharp comic bits, quick detours into pop culture, and genuine reflections on female friendship, ambition, social media, and the creative life. The humor is both pointed and forgiving. The conversation oscillates between almost therapy-session honesty and raucous, performative comedy, full of inside jokes and running bits.

Final Takeaways

This episode is a testament to the power of honest friendship, ethical gossip, and not taking oneself too seriously in a world obsessed with comparison, jealousy, and online perfection. Through storytelling, concert reviews, and mutual pump-ups, Grace and Caroline model a kind of “un-cancelable” authenticity, cheering each other on and always looking for the humor in their (and others’) disgraceful moments.