Bachelorette Season Breakdown, Afroman Trial, and SXSW BASIC Recap

Summary

Podcast Summary: Glamorous Trash – "Bachelorette Season Breakdown, Afroman Trial, and SXSW BASIC Recap"

Host: Chelsea Devantez
Co-host: Christina Lopez
Air Date: March 27, 2026
Podcast Theme: Thoughtful, candid, and humorous discussion of celebrity memoirs, pop culture, and bookish discourse, with a loving community dubbed “the cookies.”

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Episode Overview

This “Cookie Jar” episode is a whirlwind catch-up after Chelsea and Christina’s week at SXSW, covering an array of pop culture topics that don’t fit the standard memoir-focused format. The duo tackles the abrupt cancellation of The Bachelorette, the wild Afroman defamation trial, the latest in book discourse (especially Lindy West’s polyamorous memoir), hot gossip from SXSW and the film premiere of BASIC, plus the return of the beloved “Smut Corner.” The discussion is punctuated with voice memos from listeners and ends with an inspirational quote from Olympian Eileen Gu.

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Detailed Breakdown & Key Insights

1. The Bachelorette Cancellation & Mormon Wives Drama

(Starts ~01:48)

• Chelsea & Christina’s Shock:

  • Christina expresses shock at ABC scrapping an entire Bachelorette season—with so much money and business at stake—due to unfolding scandals and disturbing footage involving cast members.
    • “Not a delay, just an entire scrapping of a season... all the emergency calls that might have gone in to everybody over the weekend beforehand, I was shocked.” (Christina, 02:48)

• Chelsea’s Deep Dive Tease:

  • Chelsea teases a coming solo “TED Talk” episode to dive into reality TV as a microcosm of American culture, drawing lessons from The Bachelorette, Love is Blind, and Mormon Wives.
    • “The Bachelorette is a cultural clock for what's happening in America. And it is so wildly on point.” (Chelsea, 03:28)
  • On Mormon Wives: Chelsea calls it the “darkest reality TV show... ever seen,” critiques production choices, and vents about the deeply troubling Dakota/Taylor storyline involving adultery and potential pregnancy.

• Reflections on Domestic Violence in Reality TV:

  • Chelsea notes the rarity of serious consequences for male abusers on TV, and the bittersweetness of seeing action (albeit against a woman), emphasizing how painful and messy this is for all involved.
    • “It's nice to see domestic violence taken seriously... and all domestic violence should be punished... It's really tough and painful.” (Chelsea, 05:53)

• What’s Next for the Franchise?

  • Insider scoop: If the ongoing investigation clears the main contestant, the scrapped season might surface. Ultimately, Chelsea argues, it’s about ratings—not ethics:
    • “All they care about is money and attention and a story like this very sadly only brings more attention.” (Chelsea, 07:19)
    • “The Bachelor... has been like, black people don't exist or deserve love.” (Chelsea, 07:19)
  • Ends with a note about cultural bellwethers and moving on to the next juicy item.

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2. The Afroman Trial: Free Speech & Barbra Streisand Effect

(08:01)

• Context Recap:

  • Who is Afroman? Rapper famous for “Because I Got High.”
  • Police in Ohio raided his house, found nothing, caused property damage, and traumatized his family. Afroman turned security camera footage into satirical music videos about the officers (notably “Officer Pound Cake”).

• The Officers’ Lawsuit:

  • Officers sued Afroman for defamation and embarrassment—the very act of suing made the videos more viral (“Barbra Streisand effect”).
  • Chelsea describes the trial as “fascinating,” lauding Afroman’s charisma and ability to frame the events as protected free speech.

• Courtroom Absurdities:

  • Incompetent legal teams: Example of a police officer blaming Afroman’s videos for his marriage’s collapse, only to be debunked by his own ex-wife on the stand (Chelsea, 11:10).
    • “Afroman's only witness he called was the wife... she's just like, ‘No, I hated my husband. Afroman had nothing to do with it.’” (Chelsea, 11:30)
  • Christina: “Real kangaroo court.” (11:42)

• Larger Implications:

  • Importance of free speech, satire, and holding police accountable, especially when the lawsuit attempts to silence justified criticism.
    • “At least you could tell people about it that that's not illegal. That he can tell people about it if it happened.” (Chelsea, 12:10)

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3. Wuthering Heights Discourse

(13:02)

• Context:

  • Recent film adaptation of Wuthering Heights has book fans outraged, while newcomers enjoy it as a standalone.

• listener Voice Memo—Amelia via Patreon (~14:59):

  • Offers nuanced, feminist critique; notes that “faithful” adaptation would reflect the original’s abject brutality (abuse, incest, racism)—so why do we want that?
  • Celebrates the original as proto-“trashy pop culture” and points out that fan fiction and adaptation are part of its tradition.
    • “What is the smart version? They want to see Heathcliff torture a dog and fuck his sister's corpse? I don't get it.” (Amelia, 15:26)
    • On innovation: “There is an entire genre of non white, non hetero, non miserable, non boring historical romance novels out there... actually doing what the film thinks it's doing.” (Amelia, 18:30)

• Chelsea’s Reflection:

  • Appreciates listener expertise; highlights how adaptations inevitably remix source material, and how our attachment to books shapes our reactions.

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4. Book Club Discourse: Lindy West’s New Memoir & the Polyamory Debate

(22:46)

• Should Friends Cover Friends’ Memoirs?

  • Chelsea admits she avoids reviewing memoirs by people she’s too close to, due to bias.
    • “There’s probably... 12 to 15 books that are on my no list that we get request for a lot... I know I can’t do it correctly.” (22:46)
  • Asks listeners if guest hosts should handle those books or if she should skip them.

• Polyamory in Lindy West’s Memoir:

  • The book is being argued about in “bad faith”—people accuse Lindy of prescribing polyamory as a path to happiness, when the content is far more fraught and vulnerable.
    • “Was I actually attracted to Roya or was I just relieved to find a loophole that let me stay in my f**ed up marriage because I was too scared to be alone?... Was I strong or pathetic?”* (Chelsea reading Lindy’s book, 24:41)
    • Chelsea: “This book is about having it all together and getting a TV show and then realizing it's a sham.” (24:17)
  • Christina notes that memoir is often written from “the end of the process,” but audiences are new to the information and react differently.
  • Both argue that memoir is not a guidebook; you judge both book and subject.

• Audience and Internet Response:

  • Chelsea and Christina note how public judgment of memoir differs from judgment of fiction—people “forget it’s a book” and judge the human behind it, which is both unavoidable and fraught.
    • “People think they're like, I read a memoir, and I judge the person on this diary they wrote... when you read a book, you judge it on its book elements, right?” (Chelsea, 30:06)
    • “Talking shit about books is good for books.” (Chelsea, quoting Tracy Thomas, 29:36)
  • Drama: Lindy’s partner (Aham) writes a defensive email to a critic, cc’ing Lindy and Roya, which Chelsea finds wild and self-defeating.

• Polyamory Under Duress:

  • Discussion of Dan Savage’s concurrent column about unhappy coerced polyamory, likely a veiled dig at the book. Chelsea says there’s no ambiguity that Lindy entered her open marriage under duress and that the discourse ignores this.

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5. Smut Corner

(35:03) Claire Linick’s Rec:

• Starter Smut Recommendation:
  • Rebel Blue Ranch series by Lila Sage — a fun, approachable intro to romance/smut, with escalating spice (“three out of five Dixons”).
  • If you want weirder/fantastical fare, try the Ursa Dax series (aliens and jail planet romances).
  • “If you're reading and you're thinking, but Claire, where’s the heat?... It kind of comes in at the end always. But then it’s also the biggest and longest sex scenes I’ve ever read in a book.” (Claire, 37:15)
  • Claire is open to DMs for more recs and discussion!

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6. SXSW & "BASIC" Premiere Recap

(38:07+)

• Live Show & Community:

  • The live cabaret before the premiere was a highlight—performances included a surprise Eurovision anthem from Kandy Muse and a closing number from slow-drag icon Kat Sass.
    • “I cried backstage. I cried during rehearsal. I was like, even if no one had come to this cabaret, the fact that I've heard Kandy sing live has, like, saved my life.” (Chelsea, 39:04)
  • Shoutouts to producer Dominique Banas, music supervisor Tara Trudell, and the cast/crew camaraderie.

• BASIC Premiere Aftermath:

  • Chelsea describes the exhilaration and relief after years of struggle to get the film made and received so warmly.
    • “I walked through hell for this movie and it was worth it. And that is an unbelievable thing to be able to say because you never know when you’re in the middle of hell.” (Chelsea, 42:23)

• Alec Baldwin Saga:

  • Alec Baldwin posts about BASIC (confused about genre, thinking it's a thriller) twice on Instagram, baffling everyone.
    • “This is the last person who should be commenting on this movie. Everyone is laughing so hard... why does Alec Baldwin know what the...?” (Chelsea, 45:54)
  • Chelsea speculates Baldwin saw “social stalking” in the headline and drew parallels to his own past with a stalker, as documented by his wife Hilaria’s memoir.
    • “All I can guess is that he was like, this is my life. Like I was dating a bunch of women and I had a stalker.” (Chelsea, 47:34)

• Community Shoutouts:

  • Christina and Chelsea thank the "cookies" (avid listeners/fans) who attended SXSW and contributed—extras in the film, letter-writers, even someone who gifted Chelsea custom "basic" nails.
  • “It was wonderful to just kind of, like, take in that cookie energy and just see how much they supported you, Glamorous Trash.” (Christina, 48:21)

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7. Closing: Inspiration from Eileen Gu

(50:31) Notable Quote

• Chelsea ends with a moving answer from Olympic freestyle skier Eileen Gu on neuroplasticity and personal growth:
  • "You can control what you think. Like, you can control how you think, and therefore, you can control who you are... every day, the kind of person that me at age 8 would revere... The biggest flex... is that little-you would be proud of you today." (Eileen Gu, 51:00)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The Bachelorette is a cultural clock for what's happening in America.” (Chelsea, 03:28)
• “It was gold. The Hail Mary move to save the franchise had worked.” (Chelsea relaying insider info, 06:45)
• “Afroman's only witness he called was the wife... she's just like, ‘No, I hated my husband. Afro man had nothing to do with it.’” (Chelsea, 11:30)
• “What is the smart version? They want to see Heathcliff torture a dog and fuck his sister's corpse? I don't get it.” (Amelia, 15:26)
• “Was I strong or pathetic? Straight or queer? A woman who could discern her own feelings or a baby who needed to be told when to get a divorce?” (Chelsea quoting Lindy West, 24:41)
• “Talking shit about books is good for books.” (Chelsea, 29:36)
• “I walked through hell for this movie and it was worth it. And that is an unbelievable thing to be able to say because you never know when you’re in the middle of hell.” (Chelsea, 42:23)
• Eileen Gu: “You can control how you think, and therefore, you can control who you are... The biggest flex... is that little-you would be proud of you today.” (51:00)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:07 — Episode theme & overview
• 02:48 — The Bachelorette cancellation/debate
• 08:01 — Afroman trial explained
• 14:59 — Wuthering Heights Voice Memo (Amelia)
• 22:46 — Lindy West memoir & ethics of reviewing friends' work
• 35:03 — Smut Corner: Rebel Blue Ranch rec + intro to smut genres
• 38:07 — SXSW recap: Cabaret, film premiere, Alec Baldwin IG saga
• 43:48 — Community shoutouts & Cookie fandom
• 50:31 — Eileen Gu on neuroplasticity and personal growth

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Final Thoughts

In true Glamorous Trash fashion, Chelsea and Christina toggle from biting humor to genuine reflection, dishing insider gossip, dissecting the ethical messes of pop culture, and championing the value of both community and personal reinvention. The episode is fast-paced, wide-ranging, and suffused with the candid, confessional tone that listeners cherish. If you love pop culture served with wit, candor, and a bookish slant, this Cookie Jar episode is a must-listen.

Transcript

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[Chelsea Devantez]

Welcome to glamorous trash. This is a cookie jar episode where we take everything that fits into the glamorous trash universe that isn't a memoir episode and we talk about it all in one. You know, cookie jar that's filled with crumbles of gold. I'm your host, Chelsea Devantez, and you know our co host for every cookie jar it is producer Christina Lopez.

[Christina Lopez]

Hey, Chelsea, what's up?

[Chelsea Devantez]

Oh, man, I didn't. I was like, what voice is Christina?

[Christina Lopez]

I'm playing it straight today.

[Chelsea Devantez]

No, I love. Listen, we're both back from south by Southwest. A week at the festival. We're too tired to put on a voice. Is that right?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, it's a little bit like, I'm like, who am I? What's going on?

[Chelsea Devantez]

I am a little bit like that as well. But I'm really excited to record today's episode just because I feel like there's been so much to talk about and we've been gone while we were gone. Oh, so much. So today we are going to cover, obviously, I'll talk just a little bit about Taylor, Frankie, Paul, Mormon wives, the Bachelorette getting canceled. Even though a longer episode is coming. We're going to talk about the Afroman trial. We've got a new smut corner. I need to discuss Lindy West's book and some updates. And then there's a clip from TikTok that I gotta play, y'. All. That's from the Olympics, but it's. It's just stayed in my heart and mind. And then we have some hot goss from south by not only what happened, somehow Alec Baldwin got involved in my film. And I will tell that story at the end of the podcast. It was. Yeah, I'll try and make sense of it, I guess, when we talk about it. So, Christina, diving into our very first topic. How did you feel when you saw that the Bachelorette was canceled?

[Christina Lopez]

I. I was shocked because there's so much money that funnels into this.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

That I could not believe. Like, abc, as a, you know, network, decided to, like, scrap the entire season. I understand the impact that that video had and the news of this had. Even though, you know, I'm sure you're going to go over this. But a lot of this was known, but seeing it is quite, quite something different. But even so, not a delay, just an entire scrapping of a season. And knowing all the production, all the business decisions, all the emergency calls that might have gone in to everybody over the weekend beforehand, I was shocked. What'd you think?

[Chelsea Devantez]

I do know someone who knows someone who is in the Hulu war room all week. And it was like they were there to like 3am every day, going at it. So first off, I just want to say here, our bonus episode this month is I'm going TED Talk solo episode. I've decided I'm delivering a of the nation because, as I've always said, the Bachelorette is a cultural clock for what's happening in America. And it is so wildly on point. Not only what happened with the show, but what's happening to our larger systems culturally. I'm going to tie everything in with the Bachelorette, Love is Blind and Mormon Wives. And basically the episode I'm gonna do is a good day and goodbye to the Mormon Wives. This show is done for me. I've always said this is the darkest reality TV show I've ever seen in my life. I've always said I am watching. But you should not. You probably shouldn't watch this. And this season, without even knowing what happened with the Bachelorette, this show has eaten itself alive in so many ways. Not just like I'm talking about, like, from the storylines, from the production, from how fast they were filming it, from the fact that they scattered the girls to la and, like, there is no Mormon. There's no mom talk anymore. Like, it's such a joke. And the. The space was filled with dad talk, which are horrible. Two of the women have divorced by the end of the season. Like, it is brutal. And I think the shocking part about Mormon wives. And please skip this if I don't know if you're going against everything I've said. And you are watching and you don't want spoilers. The Dakota and Taylor storyline is so much worse. Knowing what happened. She sleeps with him the night before she leaves for the Bachelorette. He, on a phone call is like, save a rose for me. Please save a rose for me. Like, as she's walking into that gross mansion to film. And then also he's telling cameras, like, I think she's pregnant, like, with my child. And the Bachelorette is starting. And then now knowing what happened after she returned back, like, it's just so messed up and terrible.

[Christina Lopez]

Were you feeling that way just after the season or was it something you were kind of dreading going into watching it or what?

[Chelsea Devantez]

As it was evolving, my job was on the floor. I never expected this season to unfold like this. I'm talking, like, production decisions they made are shocking. And they've also. Anyways, I'll save it for our longer episode for people who care.

[Christina Lopez]

What a tease.

[Chelsea Devantez]

But also, I want to make sure because you have to discuss domestic violence and I'll just put that in that episode for people who want to parse through that. But. But what I will say on the positive end is it's nice to see domestic violence taken seriously. It's. Of course they were able to punish a woman and when they don't punish so many male domestic violence offenders and all domestic violence should be punished and shouldn't be upheld. And so it's just so tricky to parse through there. There are also situations that are mutually abusive. So it's just. It's really tough and painful and it shouldn't be coming from a show called Mormon Wives and the Bachelorette, you know.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. Sincerely. So what do you think this means for the future of the Bachelorette as a franchise?

[Chelsea Devantez]

I have a mole on the inside who I said, was this season just horrible and it was easy to throw away. And they said it was incredible. It was gold. It was. The Hail Mary move to save the franchise had worked. And I said, do you think it could ever come back? This source was like, I don't know how. Like, Disney obviously cannot stand for any of these, like, allegations and proven claims. And they've pulled the advertising. So I have two sources, and these are. These are two legit sources, y'.

[Christina Lopez]

All.

[Chelsea Devantez]

But the other one said if this investigation she goes through, the most recent one, is found not guilty, you'll see that season again. And that makes sense because all they care about is money and attention and a story like this very sadly Only brings more attention. It's not like the Bachelors, like, classically had great values. Like the Bachelor, classically has been like, black people don't exist or deserve love. Right. Like, this is not a good, well run, nice place to be. Like, they've had an assault happen on camera before. This ain't the place where they're, like, acting morally and ethically.

[Christina Lopez]

Right?

[Chelsea Devantez]

So.

[Christina Lopez]

But it's still a bellwether for culture.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And I got so much to say. But let's move on. For all the people who are like, I am done with this and that will be the last season of that I ever take in. Okay, so let's move on to the Afroman trial. Now, this is a week or two old, but I just feel like it might not have made it to the entire cookie audience. And so it's just important that we spread the word.

[Christina Lopez]

I think you might have to remind people who Afroman is.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Okay, so Afroman is a rapper most famous for this song that Christina is going to play. So Afroman lives in Adams County, Ohio, and the police there conducted a raid on his home where they found nothing, had nothing. They shouldn't have raided his home. And it's brutal. They kick the door down. They have assault rifles in front of his kids. They unplug his cameras, they damage his home. It's really up. And Afra man had cameras, security cameras inside his house. He was footage of all of them doing this. So after they leave and they're like, oopsies, guess we found nothing, Raided your house and damaged your property. Yeah, damaged your property, kicked your door down, scarred your children for nothing. Sorry. Bye. You fix it. They don't pay for it. Aphraman then takes the footage from this raid and starts making, you could say satirical raps. You could say serious raps. But it's like, about these officers. So one is called Officer Pound Cake.

[Christina Lopez]

Lemon Pound Cake.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Because on Camry, he has one of the officers, like, looking at the lemon pound cake in his kitchen and it looks like he's like, damn, could I have a slice of that?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And then two way more egregious ones where he's like, officer blah blah is a son of a bitch. Like, and he's just making fun of him. It made the sheriff want to put down his gun and cut him a slide.

[Cookie Contributor]

Of what? Of what? Lemon pound Cake?

[Chelsea Devantez]

The beats. He's rapping to feel like keyboard tracks. And he's wearing this suit made up of American flags. Anyways, the officers have sued Afroman for Defamation saying they have suffered embarrassment for him making fun of them.

[Christina Lopez]

Yes.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And this was the Barbra Streisand effect. Now those videos are everywhere. I never knew about lemon pound cake until they took him to trial. The trial is fascinating for two reasons. One, Afroman is just so smart and charismatic and so in control of his rights that his answers to every question, there's just no way he wouldn't win. And he's talking about freedom of speech and how they are the ones who incurred this damage. He is allowed to talk about it. This can't be defamation. That I said, you kicked my door down because you kicked my door down. And then the other fascinating thing about the trial is that it's like the worst lawyers you've ever seen. So Afroman clearly is saying answers beyond the scope of the question. And the lawyers are like, okay, nice. You're like, whoa. Like, one of the officers is like, so, Officer so? And so you're saying Afroman damaged your marriage? And he's like, yeah, it made my wife leave me. And so Afroman's only witness he called was the wife, the ex wife. And they're like, so afra man ended your marriage? And she's just like, no, I hated my husband. Afro man had nothing to do with it. And then for some reason, the police county's lawyer is like, but you never got a restraining order on your husband, did you? And she goes, yes, I did. They were like, oh, okay. Like, it's just.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, it was a real kangaroo court. It really was.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And it's so crazy to see these high profile cases, like Gwyneth Paltrow ski trial have these like, well, yeah, these. But these incompetent lawyers, like, walking around, it's like, those are real lawyers who represent people in court. And it's like, oh, my God. Like, just. I guess the people in law school, you would be like, laughing, like, there's no way they're gonna become a lawyer. And they did.

[Christina Lopez]

Yes, they did.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah. But it's also a very important case for free speech, for satire, for comedians, for police to not have an amount of power to bust up your house and, like, flip you off and be cruel to your kids and that, like, at least you could tell people about it that that's not illegal, that he can tell people about it if it happened. I. It's obviously an important case, but it's also kind of mirrors a lot of other things you see where, like, someone is cruel to you and then you're cruel back. And they're like, you're bullying me. And you're like, oh, my God. Wait a minute.

[Christina Lopez]

You started it. Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Well, anyways, it's really worth punching it into the old Google and seeing the videos if you guys want to watch it. Okay, let's move on. We got a Wuthering Heights voice memo from one of our cookies. Amelia. Now, Christina, had you read Wuthering Heights? Had you seen the movie? Did you take part in the discourse or not take part in the discourse?

[Christina Lopez]

I did not take part in the discourse. I didn't see the movie, and I hadn't read the book, so I missed out on most of the discourse. But I was watching people's Internet reactions to it. And just like a lot of the things we had talked about where people who had read the book and been familiar with the book hated this adaptation, and people who had no familiarity with the book kind of enjoyed the movie for what it was. I'm curious to hear what you think or what your part of the discourse was.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, I haven't weighed in. I mean, I. Here's what I'll say. Let's say they're like, oh, my God, they made a. A movie about Demi Moore's memoir, and they made the mom really nice, and it's like a mother daughter trip. I would be like, the like, yeah, what? Like, so I have not read Wuthering Heights. If someone took my favorite book and changed the elements that make it what it is, I'd be furious too. But I didn't read the book, and I didn't know any of that. And so I think the movie just plays totally different for you.

[Claire Linick]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Depending on what camp you come in. But we had this really interesting conversation in the Patreon, and I told Amelia I was like, send a voice memo to the podcast because whether you hate the movie, love the movie, whatever a take. I hadn't seen enough until Amelia was talking about it. Is there was these jokes like, Emily Bronte is gonna rise from her grave in pain over this adaptation, or like, the worst thing that ever happened to Emily Bronte was this book and she died young. Like stories like that. But then Emelia was talking about how they actually loved fan fiction and they would have loved the many million takes on their movies because there's been so many Wuthering Heights movies. So we just want to play a piece of this voice note because it's an interesting thought regardless of what you think of Wuthering Heights.

[Christina Lopez]

Also, cookies. You can always email us your voice notes at hello, glamorous trash.com and we might play them on the cookie jar.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Come and get it. Okay.

[Amelia (Patreon Voice Note)]

After Emily Bronte died, Charlotte published a foreword to Wuthering Heights. Basically running damage control and trying to paint her sister as a naive recluse who couldn't control what she wrote. Rather than a deliberately subversive artist, she points to the character of Nellie as the only bright spot in a horror of great darkness. This foreword and the rumor that Charlotte may have destroyed a second book Emily was working on feel so jarring that I just reactively want to be cool and love Wuthering Heights. Like, suck it, Victorians. Women can be gross. Now that's feminism. But the book is so gross. Just unrelenting child abuse, racism, incest. Heathcliff and Kathy are probably half siblings. The most brutal on page intimate partner violence in literature for another 40 years. I genuinely don't understand what anyone's talking about when they want a faithful adaptation of this book. They're calling this film the Smooth Brain version. But what is the smart version? They want to see Heathcliff torture a dog and fuck his sister's corpse. I don't get it. I do not get it. I am Smooth Brain and Smooth Brain is me. Because I also think Nelly is the star. Not for the reasons Charlotte makes up, that she's a specimen of true benevolence or whatever. Because no, Nelly's a dick like everyone else. But literature at the time was only starting to move from stories about royalty and rich people to working class people with actual daily problems. In Pride and Prejudice, a housekeeper gets to speak on page and it's a big deal. So Nellie, being both the narrator and playing a deciding role in the action is wild. Like Shakespeare used servants as comic relief. But Nellie is given real humanity. She's described as a scene stealer in every film review. And again, what are we talking about? This is Nellie's story. Every scene is hers to steal. Another thing I don't understand is all of the pearl clutching that the film is just horny fanfic. So was the book. Wuthering Heights follows Byron's sibling love poem the Dream, almost beat for beat. And contemporary readers would have recognized that she's pulling from the biggest, glamorous, trashiest pop culture tabloid fodder of the century. The Bronte sisters were obsessed with Sandoval of the young Romantics. Lord Byron. Tortured narcissists are still invoking his signature style to this day. It is that potent emerald. Fennell imagined a white Heathcliff when she was 14, despite all of the evidence in the text. Because the book covers and the Hays Code planted that image. Now she's continuing the cycle and it's so shitty in this moment when fascists are working to erase minorities from our history. But also, I really don't want to see her take on a rural 19th century white lady's take on racial othering and degradation. She's told us in her words and filmography that she doesn't have the range or the empathy. And I believe her. There is an entire genre of non white, non hetero, non miserable, non boring historical romance novels out there that are actually doing what the film thinks it's doing, just waiting to be adapted. I've seen a million reviews lament that Finnell should have just written her own gothic and called it something else, which first of all she literally did with the quotation marks. But I agree. I also wish the film had gone bigger and brought in more original ideas. There's a real hunger for the swoony clinch cover romance promised by the posterior. I never want to see a fateful Wuthering Heights adaptation, but I'm ready for my favorite historical romances to get the full Charli XCG soundtrack.

[Chelsea Devantez]

So what I just loved about that is that I just hadn't seen that in the discourse that take. And again, having not read the book, I'm looking to the cookie historians for the take. So I just thought that was fascinating. And if it's okay with Amelia, we will put that whole voice note on Patreon so other people can listen to it cause there's more cool stuff in it. Speaking of hot discourse, let's talk about Lindy West's book. Okay, we're going to take a quick break right now and we'll be right back. I have been wearing my three pairs of pants from Quint constantly on the rig. I've got black, navy and brown. I'm tall so I love that I could get a long inseam. They also have short inseams available. Quince's goods are quality first. They make high quality wardrobe staples using premium fabrics like a hundred percent European linen, 100% silk and organic cotton poplin. I have Quint's duvet covers. I have three different Quint's blankets. I have Quint's pillows. I love quints. You can get so many quality pieces all at once and my mom is a huge fan. I have been getting her high quality cashmere but on a budget every year for her birthday. Quint's clothing is consistently rated 4.5 to 5 stars by thousands of customers. Real people wearing these pieces every day and actually loving them, myself included. Stop waiting to build the wardrobe you actually want. Go to quince.com glamorous for free shipping and 365 day returns. That's a full year to wear it and love it.

[Christina Lopez]

And you will.

[Chelsea Devantez]

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[Chelsea Devantez]

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[Chelsea Devantez]

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[Chelsea Devantez]

months with the special limited time offer ends March 24th. After three months, Plan Auto renews at 1299amonth. Terms apply. Okay, welcome back. Let's continue the conversation. I just want to say we planned the episode for months. Everybody else just being like, oh wait a minute, there's a hot Internet topic like let's go talk about it. We knew to talk about this book. So Lindy has been a guest on this podcast. Very funny. Lovely guest on this podcast. We have been Internet friends. I don't, I don't know her the way our guest guy did where he they are true friends. Lindy and I are Internet friends. We got some comments on the Patreon and some other places saying like maybe you shouldn't cover the books of people that you know. And to that I say you are correct. You are correct. I have long held this position on the podcast that I like don't talk about memoirs that I am too close to either. Like I worked with the person or for the person or something. There's probably like I don't know, 12 to 15 books that are on my no list that we get requests For a lot.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

For whatever reason. And I've always been like, no, because I know I can't do it correctly. I'm too biased for. Too biased against whatever. And I've just learned my lesson of like, that is correct. And yeah, I just can't. What I'm curious is like, should we have guest hosts who host for me and we do all the books, you know, that I can't do or do we just skip it or someone else said maybe just make it bonus episodes knowing, like, this is a book that I'm too close to. I don't know what the answer is.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, I am curious about this because there was something about the book that you wanted to talk about genuinely not just because it was someone who was like in proximity to you or someone you knew in social circles and there were people who had good reception for the episode as well and who enjoyed the points of view that you guy had in the episode. So it's kind of tough.

[Chelsea Devantez]

It is really tough. But I want to say overall, I think the book is being discussed and pontificate about in some cases in bad faith in that a lot of people have portrayed this as Lindy's book was prescriptive. Here is how you do polyamory or here is why I am happy and good and my polyamorous marriage is great. And I think that's because in the past Lindy has been prescriptive in wonderful ways about feminism or abortion rights. And she had like the take that is like, hey, this is fucked up. This is how you do it correctly. And so I think people take her as like she is prescriptive. But this book is like, I just want to read a couple of paragraphs that I did. It was such a fog. I think I read these in the episode, but I'm gonna just wanna read them again. Here's a paragraph I underline. Was I actually attracted to Roya or was I just relieved to find a loophole that let me stay in my fucked up marriage because I was too scared to be alone? Was this situation healthy or sick? Real or fake? Progress or regress? Was I strong or pathetic? Straight or queer? A woman who could discern her own feelings or. Or a baby who needed to be told when to get a divorce? She is questioning. She's falling apart. This book is about having it all together and getting a TV show and then realizing it's a sham. And you can't turn to anyone for help because the person who's made the most progress on fat positivity is you, and you're a fucking mess. And a lot of people I've seen, they don't like that because they're like, you were lying about being happy. But we're on our 400th memoir. Sorry, guys. Every memoir is like, guess what? It was all a lie. Moreno's was like, I wasn't happy for 40. Like, every memoir is like, I know you think my life is perfect. Here's what I was going through. So I love a. Like, our 2012 feminist was in hell, you know, because that feels more true.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. Or even like, I thought I was happy at the time, but now looking back, and now that I'm a different person, I have a different point of view on this situation. I think there's also something to, like, her having processed it all and then giving it to an audience who is just now processing it. And you being past the point and you can understand this as a memoir is like being past the point of, like, having untied all those knots and then giving all those knots for your audience to try to figure out how to untie. And. And they don't really see all the processes that you got to go from point A to point B. Yeah. And I.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And I do think this memoir clearly is not. She's not at the end of her process. She's also. She has not written a book where she's like, hey, guys, I processed it. She's a mess in this book. And I think that's, again, why it's a bit being read in bad faith. Because if this book was written, like, did it. Did Polyamory did it. Right. Did it. Well, very happy about it. Like, you'd be like, oh, that's not it. That can't be right. Yeah. This is her very last paragraph of the book. I know as well as anyone that life comes at you fast, that everything beautiful I've built in these pages could collapse in a blink, rendering this book an artifact, a husk, a humiliation. But that's okay. A younger version of me might have held back on some of this love, some of this joy, for fear of losing it later and hearing the gallery say, we told you so. But I'm not afraid of hindsight anymore. A life isn't a book. Change doesn't make the past a lie. But what I am pointing out is, like, this book for me was like, hey, I was really in pain. I was a mess, and this fucked up thing happened, and here's where I'm at, and I'm gonna kind of go with it. And I'll let you know. That's what it read like to me.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Versus, like, Polyamory 101.

[Christina Lopez]

Right. I really do think the polyamory and the non monogamy of it all is the big headline that people are running with. And that itself is a, like, lightning storm of a topic for people.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah. And she said. She leaned into it. She was like, I knew this would get. Lindy has gone viral millions of times in all kinds of ways.

[Christina Lopez]

She knew.

[Chelsea Devantez]

She said, I did it on purpose. And I've seen a lot of things. Like, I of like, I think people didn't want this to be her happy ending. They didn't want the person who taught them how to deal with trolls and be a feminist when it wasn't. Okay. And we were all in ballet flats.

[Christina Lopez]

Stinky ballet flats.

[Eileen Goo (Olympian)]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

They don't want the person who was giving them truth in their stanky ballet flats to defend a husband who cheated on them and broke the rules of their polyamorous marriage when she didn't even want it. I think all of that is fair. They don't want that for her. But I don't think it's correct to be like, she's trying to tell us this is polyamory, because I don't think she is. She seems lost in it in a way that. I don't know. Their interview where they all got in their underwear and announced they were polyamorous years ago, that went viral in the worst way. They had to have known this reaction was coming.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. And I mean, I think that's. The other half of it, is also just knowing that you're putting your personal life out there, let alone, like, being a creative person and putting out, like, a fictionalized version of something out there, but putting your personal life out there for fodder. How do you process that? How do you guard yourself against that? Are you entitled to feel away how people react to it? How do you navigate that? And, like, I. I don't know what's coming out of this reception of it, but it seems really difficult for both the audience and the person or the people involved whose stories have been told through this book to handle the discourse that's happening. And, like, you and I are creatives in a different way, but, like, we also process feedback. We also pro. Not at that scale because we're not talking about our personal lives. But I do wonder, like, how much, especially because of the way Internet discourse is shaped now, is it fair to be reactive to.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Well, and I'll quote Tracy Thomas who says this all the time. But talking shit about books is good for books. Like, the same way we want to talk about TV and film it. Like it. I. I think, yes, it is good. However, this thing happens with memoir, which is like, why I started this podcast, where suddenly memoir is, like, not a book. People think they're like, I read a memoir, and I judge the person on this diary they wrote versus, like, when you read a book, you judge it on its book elements, right?

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

But then when it's a memoir, they're like, they just forget it. Judge the person only. And I think there's two things to be judged at the same time in memory, you judge both. That's the truth. That's why I can say Spencer Pratt is a little fucking bitch who doesn't deserve shit and tried to rewrite his story. And it's a good book. I wish he didn't get a good book because he a bad person, but you can't pretend that that ghostwriter didn't whip him up something nice. And I think same with Lindy's book. The idea that it is a book isn't being included in the discourse. That's what I really liked about Sachi's take. Sachi Kuhl, who wrote a piece, is that no matter what she said and whether they agree or disagree about it, she was like, it is a good book, and you should read it, though. And that's the truth, because I was reading, some of my notes are like, no.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Why? It's not a bad book. Like, it's very interesting, compelling book. I think a lot of people, it's just, like, very clear. They don't. They're taking out the part of her story that deals with her body image and how much pain comes with that, they're kind of erasing that from the story, which is a big part of the story. It is a good book. It's a good read. And then. So Sachi, cool. On her podcast, Read out Loud. This kills me.

[Christina Lopez]

I see ymi.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I see. Why am I. Yeah. Aham, Lindy's partner emailed her a response to her piece that she wrote about Lindy. And. And then when she went to visit

[Christina Lopez]

them, Aham and Roya both wrote to

[Chelsea Devantez]

Sachi and Lindy, all three of them.

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, wow.

[Claire Linick]

Which.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And part of me is like, yeah, soulmates. I read that as like, sorry, you guys. I think they are supposed to be together. Are you kidding me? All three of them wrote an email to a reporter.

[Christina Lopez]

The writing an email to a reporter is my wild to me, that is

[Chelsea Devantez]

wild because they're not. Lindy's not new to this space. Like, you know, to not do that. Now. Lindy wrote an email and Sachi said it was very polite and nice expressing her feelings, which Lindy has the right to do. The pieces about Lindy, I think what also kills me and Cookie name Katie pointed this out. Katie Rosen Aham's email cc'd Lindy and Roya. So this, they're like. I was like, that is a crazy detail. And his email is horrible. It undoes anything you ever could have felt for him. And again, that's why I'm like, why do it? Yeah, I guess it's just. What did you expect to happen by sending that?

[Christina Lopez]

I don't know. That's what really puzzled me because he also is not new to this. Like. No, I think the response they would have gotten from that viral video from a couple years ago would have prepared him for the reception of this.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And that's in the book. Lindy talks about how that video was horrific for them. People especially came at him. It is hard to keep your mouth shut when you're really mad. But that. Let Lindy write it if she wants to write it. But.

[Christina Lopez]

Or do something on your own platform. But don't send an email to a

[Chelsea Devantez]

journalist calling her like a mean girl, bitch or whatever he called her, like juvenile. It was just like, my guy, you already come off really poorly in this book. And the people who are here are here for Lindy. Christina, any last thoughts on the polyamory of it all?

[Christina Lopez]

We've talked about this. Actually had a conversation about this in the Lily Allen episode because the guests and I were both non monogamous people are engaged in non monogamy.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

And we talked about non monogamy under duress and that not being sort of a valid way to try to enter into a non monogamous relationship or coercion is not a great way to enter into any kind of relationship, monogamous or otherwise.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Polyamorous. Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah. So I think maybe that's where we'll leave it there. Maybe it's a good reason to revisit the Lily Allen episode that we did.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yes. And also. Oh, my God.

[Christina Lopez]

And the album. Revisit the album too.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah. Amelia's also been crushing on the Patreon because she dropped something wild. Dan Savage, who was. Oh, yes, Lindy west at the Stranger, who was a character in Shrill, who they famously like, went at it, you know, for his fat phobia and things like that. On the Day of her book release, he published an entire column of puds. Poly under duress of people who are in polyamorous relationships, who wrote into him for advice and he was like, you are poly under duress. And that was his, like, underhanded comment on her book coming out.

[Christina Lopez]

That's crazy.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I read that whole column, though.

[Christina Lopez]

I was like, comment underhanded. I don't know. Maybe.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I don't know.

[Christina Lopez]

Okay, okay.

[Chelsea Devantez]

No, because it's very clearly laid out in the book that she did not enter into this willingly, whether she wants to be there now or not.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, that's different.

[Chelsea Devantez]

What is black and white is that she didn't want to be and it happened behind her back and he broke the rules of it. There's no getting around that.

[Christina Lopez]

Exactly.

[Chelsea Devantez]

It doesn't mean you can't come into whatever ending you come into. So, no, we'll leave it at that. Okay, so now we're going to go to Smut Corner, which, as you know, is where Claire comes in and delivers a smut recommendation for the month. So let's throw it to them.

[Claire Linick]

Hello, everyone, and welcome to another juicy episode of Smut Corner. I'm your smart liaison, Claire Linick. Now, I do want to say before we get started, whoopsie pups. On my last recommendation where I seemed to forget to tell everyone that it was a gargoyle romance. I hope that was a fun surprise. I hope we enjoyed that. I'm going to make kind of a correction on this one and do more of a starter, actual starter, into the smart world in case you're dipping your toes in for the first time and don't want to be waterboarded by the Mothman. Instead, I'm looking at the Rebel Blue Ranch series by Lila Sage. Now, this one is super interesting because this is a self published author who is now a New York Times bestselling author because of this series. And it's just incredible. Go ahead and start with the first book. Done and dusted. Plenty of fun tropes throughout the whole series though. And it's very classic smut romance where everybody finds their partner and gets a cool new job. And that's something I really enjoy with these kind of series. Now, did I go ahead and make a second Sims land, Rebel Blue Ranch? I did, I did. I made a whole Sims world of this. Am I in love with the dad, Amos, who doesn't have a book? Yeah, I am. And I hope you are too. It's a great series. I think you're going to enjoy it. Please reach out to me to talk about it. And if you're reading it and you're thinking, but, Claire, where's the heat? Where's the smut? Where is the sexual moments? It kind of comes in at the end always. But then it's also the biggest and longest sex scenes I've ever read in a book, so it is worth the wait. Don't get mad at me at the start. You know what? In fact, that's just a rule. Don't ever get mad at me because I can't handle that. That's not for me. Now, we talked about last time about the scale of heat and maybe calling it, like, one through five peppers, someone reached out with the idea of calling it Dixon's off of our beloved smut author Ruby Dixon, kind of the queen of smut right now. And I think that's great. So I think this is three out of five on the Dixon scale. Again, if you would like to start to explore the fours and the fives in the series, let me know. We can absolutely do that. I'm just trying not to scare you. But if you want to be scared, I got you. And if you're like, I like the idea of the rebel blue ranchers and that. It's a fun western theme, but I'm not as interested in a human situation. Look no further than Ursa Dax, who has a series out right now about aliens on a jail planet that get human wives. That might be more for you. Otherwise, check out done and dusted. I'm so excited to hear what you guys think. You can reach me at clairlinek on Instagram. I can't wait for next month, y'.

[Chelsea Devantez]

All.

[Claire Linick]

Happy reading.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Okay. Love them smut corners. Christina, I think we've made it to some south by Southwest discussion. So for anyone who doesn't know what south by Southwest is, it's a huge film festival. It's a favorite of mine because they love comedy. And it's a big festival in Austin, Texas, and we went there for the premiere of my film Basic, and Christina produced a live show the night before our premiere. So they also have, like, live comedy and music and, like, a bunch of stuff happening. Somehow Jordan Moncada got us a slot for everyone in our cast and crew to perform this cabaret live. Because when we were on set, we realized, like, everyone making this movie was a live performer of some kind of. And so she was like, christina, you'll produce this live show, right? Christina, was there an anecdote or highlight from the show for you?

[Christina Lopez]

Oh, we got to Hear Candy Muse sing Candy Muse.

[Chelsea Devantez]

It was like, hey, did you know I am a singer? And I was like, what? Like, correct me if I'm wrong, but, like, I don't believe she sang on RuPaul's Drag Race. And she was like, I haven't done this in years. She sang an anthem from Eurovision. I cried backstage. I cried during rehearsal. I was like, even if no one had come to this cabaret, the fact that I've heard Kandy sing live has, like, saved my life. It was unbelievable. Did you have a good time producing? You were very fun.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

You were very fun in the booth.

[Christina Lopez]

It was so much fun working with Tara Trudell, who was your music composer on the film and was our music supervisor for the cabaret. And so we were kind of posted up together in the booth. I felt like, very Kermit the Frog trying to, like, organize all these muppets. And she was very calm, like Janice, the lead guitarist of the Muppet show house band, the Electric Mayhem, and just like, you know, is vibing and she's incredibly talented. I got to see her do these little stings live during the show that she was just riffing off, and that was really incredible. And also shout out to our new associate producer, Dominique Banas, who was there helping, also ushering the talent and helping with the mics and all that stuff. So, yeah, I gotta definitely shout her out.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Oh, my God, she's just amazing. It was also so fun for me because Tara and I came up doing comedy together at the Second City. We were on the same touring company and she was the music director and I was one of the comedians. And so we have done it probably a thousand times of she's in the booth playing piano, running music cues, and I'm on stage and we're looking at each other doing the show. And so it makes sense. She was very calm because it's like, oh, yeah, this is like old hat. I mean, the house was packed. People were going nuts. Leighton Meester, who's in the movie, was like in the air flying, because they were gonna sing the original song they wrote for our end credits. But then Leighton was shooting something and it got pushed. So who closed the show is Kat Sass, my drag mom.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

She does something that I've rarely seen other drag queens be able to pull off. It's the hardest drag, I think, which is slow drag. I've never seen someone be able to pull off slow drag in a seven minute piece. By the end of the piece, she like, slowly goes into the splits and there was a huge standing ovation. And Ashley park was next to me. She was like, should we all go on stage? And I was like, yeah. So we all went out there, like, just at the end, just, like, waving and, like, we went to leave, and I turned around and Kat and Candy, the two drag queens, are just at the lip of the stage still just, like, standing there and taking it in and, like, being the best performers. It was great. Okay, so the film premiered. This is just always going to be one of the best nights of my life.

[Christina Lopez]

Now, not only did it premiere, it screened, so there was two additional screenings as well. And I went to. I've seen this film, like, three times now.

[Chelsea Devantez]

That's amazing.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Thoughts?

[Claire Linick]

Great.

[Chelsea Devantez]

It was everything I, like, could have wanted in more. Like, all of the. Not only the reviews pouring in, which have been, like, unbelievable, and just really seeing what I believe we did. You know what I mean? Like I said on the podcast earlier, where it's like, I think we have done something and now I shall find out because it's up to the audience. But I think even. I mean, definitely more than that was like, the people outside the theater who had just seen it, the things they said to me, the stuff on letterbox, like, I just. Yeah, I walked through hell for this movie and it was worth it. And that is an unbelievable thing to be able to say because you never know when you're in the middle of hell.

[Claire Linick]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I'm just so excited and thrilled. I can't wait for people to see it. Okay, now let me get to the Alec I had. There's so many stories I have if you. If you want some comment on the Patreon, so I know to say them. If not, I'll keep them to myself. But it was after it had premiered, so it was the second night.

[Claire Linick]

Yes.

[Chelsea Devantez]

So we were all. Even though I wasn't physically staying at Ashley Park's Airbnb, she had gotten this giant Airbnb that tons of people were staying at, and we just, like, lived there the whole time. It was so fun and insane. So it's the second or third night. I don't know what time is, but we've gone through our screenings and you may have seen on Instagram, but Ashley and I got on Instagram and asked for a tattoo artist to come over to the house.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And we were all getting tattoos. That is how incredibly special this film was. You know, where you're like, this is always about. It's always a bad idea to get matching tattoos. And in an instant, I was Like, I will absolutely be getting a matching tattoo with 15 people tonight. And we did. And as that's happening, someone's like, why is Alec Baldwin posting about Basic, which is the title of the film now, if it's not clear from this story? I've been drinking margarita since 2pm I basically held my shit together for years and years and years pushed this film up a hill. And once it was finally out there in the world, I had my first 2pm Margarita, and boy, did it soak in fast. It was like, it is time to relax. So I've had margaritas, I have been tattooed, and I go to Alec Baldwin's Instagram. He has not once, but twice. Yes. Posted a screenshot he's taken of the press for this movie. Yep. To his own personal Instagram. Twice was giving, Grandpa. It was giving. Like, you meant to do this once

[Christina Lopez]

and you forgot to delete it, and

[Chelsea Devantez]

you've accidentally posted it twice.

[Christina Lopez]

I want to read the captions for one.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, please. Actually, go see if it's still up, because I'm like, he's posted since then and he hasn't taken them down.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, no, they're both up still. And so the first one is. Is this a thriller? He thinks it's a thriller film. Maybe.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Even though it says comedy, the comedy Basic.

[Christina Lopez]

But okay. The second one does not have a caption.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Okay. And read. Okay, so to just describe what he has screen capped, it is a thumbnail of Leighton Meester in the movie. And she's, like, leaned over. It's this very hot picture of her,

[Christina Lopez]

and she's got, like, a little tongue out, like. Like the little emoji. And then it's a screen grab of the article, and the headline is how Leighton Meester, Adam Brody's date nights led her to star in the social stalking comedy Basic.

[Chelsea Devantez]

So I've known Leighton for a long time. She's been a guest on this podcast. I feel like people don't realize that the only podcast Leighton Meester had ever. I was her first podcast ever. It was this one. It was the Carly Simon episode. And so anyway, so in the press, she ends up saying, like, I knew Chelsea from these double dates. And so when I got the script, it was, like, from my friend, and I. Yeah, I'm so. I'm so lucky to know her because I think her performance and as the reviews say, like, it's gonna blow people away. And I feel like that's something that happens, like, when you can work with your friends. Also, all my. All my friends are in this movie. My maids of honor are in this movie. Everybody loves this movie. People I worked with when I was 22, everybody who's ever helped me.

[Christina Lopez]

Joe Feldman's in the movie.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Feldman's in the movie. Like, yeah. So anyways, she told the story about double dates. Somehow that made a headline and Alec Baldwin screencaps it and posted to his Instagram twice. I am of course, like, well, we got a comment because I've just gotten tattooed. I've told you. I've told you where I'm at mentally.

[Christina Lopez]

My first thought was, oh, thank God. The Hilaria Baldwin episode is behind the pit.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Okay, well, yeah, well, I'm sort of like, huh, this is so. It was just so strange. This is the last person who should be commenting on this movie. We are now everyone in the room is getting text messages being like, who on the movie fucked Alec Baldwin? Like, why does Alec Baldwin know what the. And I was like, I don't know. Like I have no idea. Everyone is laughing so hard. I go to the basic. The film Instagram account. We commented, like, I actually can't remember. It was something.

[Christina Lopez]

It was like kissy face emojis.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, yeah, it was like that. And then on the second one we were like, see you in the DMs or something like that.

[Christina Lopez]

Yes.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Anyways, he's never deleted it. He's never taken it down. Do you have a guess on why he did this?

[Christina Lopez]

No, I have no clue. This is a complete mystery to me. This happened while I was flying back to la and so when I landed, I came back to all these sex messages about Alec Baldwin and I was like, what happened? What's.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Okay, so this isn't. This is the best guess I have in hilarious book Hilaria. In the book she talks about how when they first got engaged, he had a stalker.

[Christina Lopez]

Right.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And made their life hell. And the day they got engaged and the stalker went after him. I think this stalker was the first person ever tweet about Hilaria, like way back in the day. And I think they restraining order went to court about it. By the way, this stalker, a full on film producer, not a rando lady. A lady who someone else in court attested was actually dating Alec Baldwin at the time. They had a lot of email exchanges back and forth. Then he was like, no, no, it's a stalker. All I can guess is that he was like, this is my life. Like I was dating a bunch of women and I had a stalker.

[Christina Lopez]

Yes.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And just like misread the headline with a glass of Whiskey in hand. And he was like, is this a thriller? I just. I'm also just like, yeah. Anyways, very funny, very weird.

[Christina Lopez]

That's probably one of my funniest takeaways from that weekend.

[Chelsea Devantez]

No, I have so many more. This is just the only one relevant to the podcast.

[Christina Lopez]

I actually wanted to shout out a couple of cookies that I got to meet while we were there, and they were attending both the cabaret and the premiere of the film. So a quick shout out to Monica de la Torre, Cat Steinberg, Carol Claflin, A.J. baldwin, Lindsey McHugh, and Marissa. So it was so lovely to meet most of them. I think I met most of them, and it was wonderful to just kind of, like, take in that cookie energy and just see how much they supported you. Glamorous trash. How wonderful. And they said really kind things to me, so it was really wonderful. So thank you for everyone who, you know, we were away from the keyboards for a little bit while we were at south by, but coming back and seeing all the Patreon messages scrolling through the Oscars feed that I usually do that you guys kept up on, that was wonderful. And seeing all the messages of support, it's just really awesome to be a part of this community and to make things for you guys and to be received by you and perceived in a good way for the most part. And so, yes, I just wanted to shout out those cookies, thank everybody for their support. Every single cookie.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I agree. I also got to. To say hi to a bunch of people. Carol actually was one of the cookies who came to be an extra. She's in the movie, so that was really cool. Kat wrote about the movie. And Kat also took the behind the Bangs program, where I taught a lot about screenwriting and storytelling, which we are looking at, like, if we're gonna get the next program up soon. But it was cool to see her talk about, like, writing tips, but also seeing the film I just made. That was cool. And Monica had her nail girl make me a custom set of nails that said basic and then had all the emojis and my nails, if you follow me on Instagra, they're trash. They fall apart. I don't know what's wrong with my nails. Something's wrong with them. These nails were amazing. It's the reason why I had nails on at the premiere. So anyways, thank you to everyone. That was really, really wonderful.

[Christina Lopez]

Yeah, that was great.

[Chelsea Devantez]

So I just want to end this podcast with there is an Olympian, Eileen Goo, freestyle skier. She was making so many headlines, and there was this question asked of her about how fast she talks and how articulate and wonderful she is, and she had this amazing answer that really coincides with something I've said in this podcast before, which is let, like, like, trauma can really affect your brain, but so can healing. And what she says about neuroplasticity, I just thought was really cool. And I just want to leave everyone on a lovely note as we go out into a world where we're just fighting for our lives every second. Every second. And I know that. And I'm thinking of everyone. I'm watching everyone organize. I am with you. And so just take this as a moment of niceness before you go into your day.

[Eileen Goo (Olympian)]

This isn't supposed to be a rude question, but do you think before you speak? Because you answer questions so quickly and so comprehensively, whether it's about geopolitics or

[Chelsea Devantez]

your sport or aerodynamics, like, can you take us into your brain?

[Eileen Goo (Olympian)]

Thank you, Charlotte. That's very kind. Oh, man, do I think. I think, overall, I'm just a pensive person.

[Amelia (Patreon Voice Note)]

Like, I.

[Eileen Goo (Olympian)]

A very introspective. I'm an introspective young woman. Like, I spend a lot of time in my head, and it's not a bad place to be. I journal a lot. I break down all of my thought processes. I think I apply a very analytical lens to my own thinking, and I kind of modify it because it's so interesting. You can control what you think. Like, you can control how you think, and therefore, you can control who you are. And especially as a young person, like, I'm 22. So with neuroplasticity, my side, I can literally become exactly who I want to be. How cool is that? Like, how empowering is that? Right? And so the fact is, I get to become every day the kind of person that me at age 8 would revere. Like, I would be obsessed with me today. Are you kidding? I would love me. And I think that's the biggest flex of all time that you can have. Like, little younger, you be proud of you today. And so I guess for me, it's like, yes, I spend a lot of time in my own head. Yes, I think a lot, but it's not really, like, in an ego type kind of way. It's in, like, a tinkering, like a scientist kind of way. I'm always, like, trying to modify. I'm trying to think, how can I be better? How can I approach my own brain the way that I approach my craft of free skiing so that I can be better tomorrow? Than I was today.

[Chelsea Devantez]

A big thank you to our senior managing producer, Christina Lopez, our executive producer, Jordan Moncada, our sound engineer, Marcus Hamm, and our amazing associate producer, Dominique Vas. I also want to give a huge thank you to our incredible partners over at Thrive Cosmetics and Quince. We will link those incredible brands in the show notes, so go check them out. Everything is always linked in the show notes on Apple. There's also transcripts, and if you ever have questions, go to the Patreon Chat Lounge and I will see you there.

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