Fraud Friday: Social Schemin’ Platform w/ Sydnee Washington

Summary

Scam Goddess Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast Information:

• Title: Scam Goddess
• Host/Author: Earwolf & Laci Mosley
• Episode: Fraud Friday: Social Schemin’ Platform w/ Sydnee Washington
• Release Date: August 15, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Fraud Fridays, a segment of the award-winning Scam Goddess podcast, host Laci Mosley welcomes her friend and guest, Emmy-nominated comedian and actress Sydnee Washington. The episode delves into various scams and fraudulent activities, both historical and contemporary, with a focus on misunderstandings and deceptive practices in the social media landscape.

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Welcome and Guest Introduction [00:00 - 02:49]

Laci Mosley kicks off the episode by reintroducing the Fraud Fridays segment, which features older episodes culled from the Scam Goddess vault. She warmly welcomes Sydnee Washington, highlighting her achievements and recent move to Los Angeles, which Sydnee humorously attributes to Laci's "scamming" prowess.

Notable Quote:

• Laci Mosley [02:49]: "You could check it out right now on YouTube.com. She's a comedian, an actress, a writer, a model...you know, I have a very dear, very good friend on the show."

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Sydney’s Experiences with Scams in LA [02:49 - 12:07]

Sydney shares her experiences with scams since moving to Los Angeles. She recounts being duped by a hairstylist posing as a luxury wig provider, charging exorbitant prices for subpar products. This segment sheds light on the prevalence of predatory practices in the beauty industry, especially targeting individuals seeking to maintain their appearance.

Notable Quotes:

• Sydney Washington [06:00]: "I went there to get a lace front and the prices… they charge me $1,800 for a wig that looks like it’s made from scraps."
• Laci Mosley [08:18]: "And being hot is hard... you gotta go to the gym, you gotta take care of your face."

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Listener Story: Jackie’s Mother and the Busta Rhymes Scam [12:07 - 27:20]

The core of the episode revolves around a listener letter from "Jackie." Jackie’s 58-year-old mother was scammed by an individual impersonating the famous music artist Busta Rhymes. The scammer engaged her over Facebook and WhatsApp, flattering her and requesting iTunes gift cards and money transfers under the guise of funding a tour.

Sydney explains how they intervened, advising Jackie to block and report the scammer. Additionally, Sydney took proactive steps by impersonating the real Busta Rhymes to confront the scammer, leading to him blocking her—effectively thwarting his efforts.

Notable Quotes:

• Laci Mosley [17:19]: "Jackie Mama DMs claiming to be a famous music artist... was like Busta wasn't even asking for a lot."
• Sydney Washington [24:42]: "You gotta beat a scam at their own scam."

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Deep Dive into Triller Platform Scams [27:20 - 71:02]

Laci and Sydney transition into a detailed analysis of the social media platform Triller, highlighting systemic issues and fraudulent practices affecting predominantly black creators. They discuss Triller's initial aggressive recruitment of black influencers through "hype houses" and lucrative contracts, which eventually turned sour due to unpaid wages, restrictive and exploitative contracts, and deceitful corporate practices.

Key points include:

• False Promises: Triller marketed itself as a platform supporting black creators but failed to deliver promised financial support and opportunities.
• Contractual Restrictions: Creators were bound by contracts limiting their ability to post on competing platforms, thereby restricting their income potential.
• Non-payment and Delays: Numerous creators reported significant delays and non-payment for their work, leading to financial hardships.
• Corporate Mismanagement: Triller's internal communications and management practices were criticized for prioritizing profits over ethical treatment of creators.

Notable Quotes:

• Sydney Washington [33:14]: "If you don't pay us, why are you even talking to us?"
• Laci Mosley [49:13]: "They found a way to be like, you could have gave us some bereavement content. How about this?"
• Sydney Washington [56:43]: "It's so insane. And to be a slave to this kind of machine when it used to be like, oh, you post whatever content you want."

The discussion escalates with animated exchanges mocking Triller's executive chairman, Bobby Valenti, for his unprofessional demeanor and ineffective strategies. Laci and Sydney express skepticism about Triller's ability to resolve these issues, underscoring the platform's ongoing neglect of its creator community.

Notable Quotes:

• Laci Mosley [54:40]: "You gotta do it for the story... live by that."
• Sydney Washington [64:57]: "Imagine one of the lawyer that's supposed to be in court is also now making dances on the flip."

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Scammer of the Week: Etienne Klein’s Sausage as a Star [71:02 - 79:50]

In the final segment, Laci and Sydney highlight a bizarre case involving French physicist Etienne Klein, who mistakenly tweeted a photo of a sliced chorizo sausage, claiming it was an image of the star Proxima Centauri captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The tweet went viral, garnering over 20,000 likes before Klein had to retract his statement.

Notable Quotes:

• Laci Mosley [72:18]: "Look at the lines and the ridges and look at the fatty parts. They're supposed to look like explosions."
• Sydney Washington [74:07]: "You have nothing else but churning out this content to get these views and followers."

The hosts critique Klein’s lapse in judgment, emphasizing the dangers of misinformation and the trivialization of scientific authenticity in the age of social media.

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Conclusion

Laci and Sydney wrap up the episode by reiterating the importance of vigilance against scams and encouraging listeners to report fraudulent activities. They maintain their signature humorous and candid tone, making complex fraud topics engaging and relatable.

Final Notable Quotes:

• Laci Mosley [79:50]: "Stay scheming. Scam Goddess."
• Sydney Washington [78:53]: "Support small black businesses. Y' all scams."

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Key Takeaways

• Awareness of Predatory Practices: The beauty industry, particularly in LA, harbors scams that exploit individuals seeking quality services.
• Social Media Scams: Platforms like Triller may present themselves as supportive but can engage in exploitative practices that financially harm creators.
• Misinformation Risks: Even reputable professionals can inadvertently spread misinformation, emphasizing the need for fact-checking and accountability.

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This episode of Scam Goddess effectively combines humor with critical insights into modern scams, making listeners both entertained and informed. By featuring personal stories and dissecting larger systemic issues, Laci Mosley and Sydnee Washington provide a comprehensive look into the multifaceted world of fraud and deception.

Transcript

[Lacey Mosley]

This summer, try the new Strato Frappuccino.

[Sydney Washington]

Blended beverage at Starbucks.

[Lacey Mosley]

It's the classic blended iced coffee you.

[Sydney Washington]

Know and love, now topped with a creamy layer of handcrafted brown sugar cold foam.

[Lacey Mosley]

Available for a limited time. Your Strato Frappuccino is ready at Starbucks. Y' all know I got too many jobs and sometimes I get tired and I have a lot of hair, so we might not have time to get it washed before we have to go show up somewhere cute. Introducing Batiste Light, the lightest dry shampoo from Batiste. I love it because. Because you can remove crease from your hair, get that bounce back, get that movement back without having to spend so much time cleaning it. New Batiste Lite dry shampoo is lightweight, non gritty, leaves no white residue. It's great on your hair, easy on your wallet, and giving you that blowout look without the blowout price. Buy Batiste Dry Shampoo online or in store at your nearest retailer. What's poppin, Congregation? It's YA girl, Lacey Mosley, AKA Scam Goddess. Welcome to. Welcome to an episode of Fraud Fridays where we release older episodes from the Scam Goddess vault. That's right, Fraud Fridays is where we bring back your favorite episodes from behind the Paywall. Enjoy this episode from behind the Paywall. And as always, stay scheming. Scams. Cause robbery and fraud. Scams robber. What's poppin, Congregation? It's your girl, Lacey Mosley, AKA Scam Goddess. And we're back with another installment of the podcast, all about robbery and fraud and those who practice it, Scam Goddess. And guys, what am I? Come on, Parasocial friends. Come on, bluescon Clues. Yes. Excited. Very excited. Because I have a very dear, very good friend on the show. But beyond that, she is Emmy and nominated. And yes, I'm starting with that. Okay, she is nominated for a 2022 Emmy right now, y', all, for her role on Bridesman. And it's the first scripted series from Grindr, y'. All. Can y' all believe Grindr got scripted series? And they get nominated for Emmys? You know, that shit is spicy. You could check it out right now on YouTube.com. she's a comedian, an actress, a writer, a model. Cause she's very fine. You'll hear it. You'll hear it in a moment. And a podcast host, she hosts the Spotify Originals podcast Peak 2000s with Marie Fost, is also hilarious. You've seen her in many TV appearances, including Paws with Sam J Z Way Search party. I mean, I could go on forever. And also she is my very, very dear friend. Guys, please welcome back to the podcast Sydney Emmy nominated Washington.

[Sydney Washington]

Oh, my God. Lacey. Lacey. I just don't deserve. What an intro. Bitch, you do. What an intro. Thank you so much. First of all, let's. Let's talk about it. I haven't been on the pod for like, what, three years now?

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, it's crazy. I don't know how we let it go this far.

[Sydney Washington]

Well, I got on it before the pandemic, and thanks to you, you know, now I'm in LA because I found love.

[Lacey Mosley]

You were still living in New York and I was platinum.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah, Dusty ass New York. I bless, I bless. I'm blessed, and I thank you every day.

[Lacey Mosley]

Wait, can we talk about that? Y' all go back and listen to that episode from three years ago. Because I feel like I was saying that I was gonna scam her into moving to la and look where she's at.

[Sydney Washington]

You did. You manifested it.

[Lacey Mosley]

I did and I scammed it. I scam fested it. We don't scam over our manifest no more. We stealing.

[Sydney Washington]

Scam. A fest. We should. We should.

[Lacey Mosley]

We scam a festing.

[Sydney Washington]

No, Nobody should be paying for anything. We should be stealing.

[Lacey Mosley]

Truly. It's very ghetto, this whole thing called currency. And I'm very tired of it. We're all too into it.

[Sydney Washington]

But there is something on Twitter that I was wondering that if you saw someone tweeted that. It's like, it's embarrassing when hot people think that they should get money because they're hot. And when they ask for money on the Internet because they're hot, it's sad. And I said working in this country is embarrassing. Okay? 40 hours a week to not own any property and barely have any health care, that's the scam.

[Lacey Mosley]

Like, the scam. Yeah, right? Like, somewhere near 35% of the property right now is being bought by venture capitalists who are not planning to live in it. And then they like, why y' all not buying homes? It's like, bitch, we gonna get the avocado toast. Cause what the fuck is. We put.

[Sydney Washington]

What else are we gonna do?

[Lacey Mosley]

Right? And being hot is hard. People wanna be like, oh, it's so easy. I'm like, no, being hot. You gotta go to the gym, you gotta take care of your face. You gotta drink water. It's very difficult. Give them money.

[Sydney Washington]

The problem with having pride is that also is embarrassing. Ask for the money. Cause there's some foolish people out there that will give it to you. So if you don't ask, you won't receive. Exactly.

[Lacey Mosley]

Put your cash apps out there, guys. Cause what's the worst that could happen? They don't give you the money. They don't have to. Yeah, okay, then you back where you already was.

[Sydney Washington]

Exactly.

[Lacey Mosley]

I'm not mad at that.

[Sydney Washington]

Nobody has to know if you didn't receive it or not. If anything, I would lie and be like, wow, they're really reeling it in. Thank you guys so much for your donations. And then gas it up. And then people. People will send more because they're, what, sheep?

[Lacey Mosley]

I mean, look, if you want to get on the hot movement and pay people for being hot, I'm not mad at it. Y' all scam however you can. And speaking of scams, Sid, it's been three years, so I know your relationship with scams has either changed or something's happened in your life or it could be anything. It could be nothing. But what's your relationship with scams right now?

[Sydney Washington]

Oh, it's all of it. It's all. I literally have the front, the middle, and the back of the scams. You know, I came to la, and LA is the capital of it. I got here as a good Christian gay, just believing in people, and I got scammed with getting my hair done. I got scammed into believing that a guy was a scam stylist, and he charged me money, and then he came to my house with what, Goodwill scraps?

[Lacey Mosley]

What? Wait, I'm Confusion. What was he supposed to be doing to your hair?

[Sydney Washington]

Okay, well, first I went to. I won't say the place, but blank. I went to Blank Queen la, and I went there and.

[Lacey Mosley]

Okay, you're not gonna say the place. People piece it together.

[Sydney Washington]

Blank Queen la. And I went there to get a, you know, lace front and the prices. I said, first of all, nobody in LA is going to a place that is worth $2,000 worth of hair. No, I know that I'm not. Yeah, I know that I'm not.

[Lacey Mosley]

I'm not. I get nice hair, and it's not $2,000. Yes, that's a box of hair. That is not. That's not one wig.

[Sydney Washington]

And let me tell you, unless they're.

[Lacey Mosley]

Doing all the stuff to it and making it look like Kerry Washington from Scandal, and it looked like it came out of my scalp.

[Sydney Washington]

Okay, but wait, that's the scam that. It looked like that on the mannequin head, right?

[Lacey Mosley]

So I picked.

[Sydney Washington]

I pick a wig that I was like, oh, this is cute. It's in a style. It's half up, half down. Then they wash the hair, babe. It was giving anorexia. It was so thin, so skinny. There was no. It was no. It was a half a bundle on the whole lace front. And so I could barely wear it down. It had to be in that particular style. And, you know, they charged me $1,800 for that wig.

[Lacey Mosley]

When you bought it. So they washed it in front of you and you saw it turn into well and equal, like the ring, and it got real skinny. And you bought it after that, or you bought it and then you washed it.

[Sydney Washington]

Oh, yeah. You can only buy it and then you buy it and then they do all that stuff. So I didn't know it was bad until afterwards. And then so I said, so, you know, this wig looks a mess, right? Like, what am I going to do with this? And they're like, okay, we can fix it. We could put more bundles in it. But it's going to cost you $500 for the bundles. And then it's going to cost an extra $250 if you want to get the bundles dyed.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, they know what they doing. So for those of you who don't know, a bundle is like hair extensions on a track. And, like, you can sew it into your hair, vibrating your hair, or you can tape it into your hair, or you can have it installed into a wig onto, like, a wig cap, and they'll sew it onto there. My issue is, like, why they give you the Pandora bracelet of wigs, where they were like, oh, you want to add some more charms so you don't look crazy?

[Sydney Washington]

Absolutely. And, you know, we're in the store and we're. I'm a black woman. I'm spiraling. I'm like, I have somewhere to go. Like, can you just give me, like, a wig that makes sense. And so I get another wig, I pay it. I don't pay the same amount for that, but after I leave there, I'm like, why didn't I just buy a car?

[Lacey Mosley]

Right? They got you in a wig. Mlm. What the hell? That's what it was. Lazy. Lazy. And so I.

[Sydney Washington]

And then the girl put on my. My lace front. And, honey, you could see all of it. You could see all of the. Got to be. It was not melting. Oh, no, it was not melting. It was more like it was on fire. And so.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, no, it was giving Gorilla Glue.

[Sydney Washington]

Gorilla Glue. And I. I was like, how are you doing this to the small people? If you want to do this to the girls that can afford it, that's fine. So be it. But the little people who are working hard for their money, My hard earned money should not be spent. I shouldn't spend all this money just to look halfway decent. Like, I didn't even look that good. I've looked better in beauty supply second rack wigs.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, no, that's not okay. You're very hot. That wig should be definitely beating Party City's ass. Like, this is disrespectful. I mean, but that's the thing about LA is like, I have to ask so many questions about every place that I go, and I have to get, like, real life Yelp. Like, Yelp ain't gonna do it. Cause they'll pay for reviews and they'll get on there and throw on a wig and act like they're a different person while they reviewing their own company. Nope. I need real life Yelp. I need to be man on the street Yelp. Hello, can you speak into my voice notes? Like, I need to see photos, I need to see videos, and I need you to come to my house and show me as well. Because it's. People out here will pretend like that they are good at things and they will trick a lot of people. Headshot photographers. I've had hairstylists. I had a hairstylist burn my face and. And I paid her like a dummy. Like a dummy. I should have been like, no, this burn means that this is for free. Now get out of my house.

[Sydney Washington]

Like, the girl burned my hairline. She burned my hairline with a hot comb. She burned my hair with a hot.

[Lacey Mosley]

Shout out to the black girls. Because we've all, we've all had some.

[Sydney Washington]

Kind of all burn.

[Lacey Mosley]

It's.

[Sydney Washington]

It's different if you're. If your shaky ass auntie's hand burns you, then like somebody you played real money for, they're not supposed to be burning you. And you. Right, you're right. I should went to the reviews. My friend Amina made me go to the reviews and then I went on, on Yelp. And babe, babe, they're bad. They're bad. So I should have went to Yelp first before I went there. But the Instagram promos that they do are so good that I. I got bamboozled.

[Lacey Mosley]

I got to keep you coming back.

[Sydney Washington]

They keep you coming back. Yeah, it was dumb. It was my fault. It was a lot. It was my fault, but it was mainly their fault.

[Lacey Mosley]

But yeah, we don't, we don't victim blame over here. Like, it's not your fault. That you expected a business to be reputable. That's. That's typically what we expect from businesses and business. And also shout out to all of you out there who do reviews. I don't personally do reviews, but I really love all of you who do because wowzers, the time and energy. I love it. The photos, I love when I get a height, a weight and a shape. They'd be like, I'm an endomorph and I'm five four. And like, they give you everything, especially on Amazon. Like, I need the photos.

[Sydney Washington]

I need the photos. The words is not enough. I need to see exactly what you. I need to visualize how bad it is. So I need to see how bad it is for me to make a decision if it's worth for me to buy it. Because sometimes I see a bad review and it's like, it's just you, babe. It's not really the product. You're not good. So, yeah, it really messed me up. And this happened in the beginning of me being in la and I said.

[Lacey Mosley]

This is a turn off. I'm sorry that that happened. Yeah.

[Sydney Washington]

But I'm still here, babe. I'm still here.

[Lacey Mosley]

And look at this.

[Sydney Washington]

And then I had my hair stylist. Yeah, my hairstylist from New York, you know, she just sent me a wig. So I'm good, I'm fine. I have to just stick with that.

[Lacey Mosley]

Now, I will say that I have. I don't betray my hair guy in New York. I've been with them for like eight years and I still get my hair in the mail. Like, I'm not playing around with the girls out here because you just never know, you know? So you don't.

[Sydney Washington]

You don't victim blame. But you said you did dip out on your original stylist, so this is what you get.

[Lacey Mosley]

I'm just saying maybe you thought you could get something better. I'm saying I know that my original guys got that good, good. And that weft. Weft.

[Sydney Washington]

So is that what you're saying? But you know, baby, me and you is in two different tax brackets, so.

[Lacey Mosley]

I ain't bought no $2,000 wig, so. So that's giving rich. It's giving wealthy. Because I have not. I have not. Okay? But for that money, you should have got something really, really nice. And so that's upsetting that it wasn't even giving the basics so well, because.

[Sydney Washington]

Of that wig, I'm out here with my cash app and Venmo, like, can.

[Lacey Mosley]

You spare a crumble, a crumb of lace, front Please, please. Can you do. Can we do a partnership? A collab. A collab. Hot people love a collab. They love a paid partnership, which is also what?

[Sydney Washington]

A scam.

[Lacey Mosley]

Truly. Truly. Now, if you see me with a paid partnership, it's real. Y'. All. Y' all get on that. And use the code. And use the code, okay? Don't play with me, okay? I need this for the community. Think about the community center, okay? That's what we raising money for.

[Sydney Washington]

I'm always doing it for the family, so I'm not mad.

[Lacey Mosley]

The community center is located at my address, but it is a community. It's a center.

[Sydney Washington]

It's a small black business, and you have to support. It's a small black business, and you.

[Lacey Mosley]

Have to support small black businesses. Y' all scams. What's poppin, congregation? Okay, I'm coming at y' all hot because we need to debunk some things about plan B. Emergency contraception, right? Now, listen, Plan B is not an abortion pill. It's safe, effective backup birth control you take after unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy before it starts. And are y' all ready for the inside tea? It works by temporarily delaying ovulation. And it will not impact your future fertility. Because some days. Who knows? Someday you might want a little unemployed person in your house. Follow Plan B on insta at Plan B. One step. Use as directed. As summer winds down, it's time to refresh your wardrobe with staple pieces for the season ahead. Quince nails it with luxe essentials that feel effortless and look polished. Okay, I'm giving quiet luxury now, honey. It's a whisper. They're perfect for layering and mixing. And their styles are so versatile. You'll find yourself reaching for them again and again and again and again and again. And one more again. Okay, think like chic cashmere and cotton sweaters starting at just 40. A timeless style you'll keep coming back to again and again and again and again and one more again. And the best part is that everything with quince is half the cost of similar brands. Y' all know I love my washable silk tops, but I've also been getting into their cashmere sweaters. Cause they're so soft. I really feel like a grown lady, you know what I mean? I'm, like, walking into the office, and I, like, just lift my hand up and someone just puts a coffee in it. Like, I'm Miranda Priestley. Elevate your fall wardrobe essentials with quince. Go to quince.com goddess for free. Shipping on your 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com goddess to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com goddess cons and we are back. And it's time for what's hot and fried? This is. All right, do y' all want me to keep saying this? Because we haven't. I haven't warned y' all about a scam popping on the streets. In a minute. It's just been listener letters. If you listen to the show, you know it has been. I'll do some research and see if there's anything y'. All. But usually it comes through the letters. So as always, sitch on your friends and your family@scamgoddesspod Gmail.com. just make sure your scam is retired because we don't want to. What? Yes. Up your bag. All right, Sid, I need a name for this person. We don't care about gender. It could be anything.

[Sydney Washington]

Jackie.

[Lacey Mosley]

Jackie. You know, I have never met a Jackie that I didn't like.

[Sydney Washington]

You know, that's true. Me as well.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, okay.

[Sydney Washington]

But there's a difference between a Jackie with a Y and a Jackie with an ie. A Jackie with an. No, there's Jackie's with just an eye.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, okay. I'm a Lacey with just an eye. So.

[Sydney Washington]

Okay. Yeah, that's a new wave. A new wave. The Jackie with a. Yeah, you're looking at her sideways. You know what I mean?

[Lacey Mosley]

I've never met a Jackie with a Y. I have.

[Sydney Washington]

I will say that. Okay, I haven't. She will snitch on you.

[Lacey Mosley]

Okay. And that sounds accurate. But I will say I've never met a Jackie I didn't like. I've met a lot of Ashleys that I didn't like, but sometimes Ashleys are okay. But they're a toss up. They're a mixed bag. The Gemini of the name game. You don't know what you're gonna get.

[Sydney Washington]

You never know.

[Lacey Mosley]

Love those Jackies. Okay. Usually smell good. You know, usually got peppermints in their purse. But. But Jackie says good evening. Well, it may be evening when you're listening to this. So good evening, y'. All. I'll get straight to it. Okay, Jackie, you be listening to the pot. So my 58 year old mother. Not just snitching on your mother. Jackie.

[Sydney Washington]

Mothers can get it too. Mothers can get it too.

[Lacey Mosley]

Just know that mothers can get it too. OK, so Jackie with a I' ma assume a Y. Says my 58 year old mother has been getting scammed by some guy who claimed to be a famous music artist. Okay, so right off the bat, we've heard this scam before. Yeah, please. But at the same time, we just talked about how hot people be begging for money on the Internet and you buy $2,000 wigs. So who's to say that a celebrity wouldn't.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah, but I think I rather you have some dignity about how you ask for money. If you just say, I want money, I. That's more honest than pretending to be like, hey, I'm. I have a product or I have music or I can help you. That's messed up. Just give me the money. Just give me the money.

[Lacey Mosley]

That's.

[Sydney Washington]

That's real. That's a real business person.

[Lacey Mosley]

I respect that more. I do agree with you there. So somebody has slid into Mama's DMs. Jackie Mama DMs claiming to be a famous music artist. He. Oh, what artist? He messaged her on her Facebook, called her beautiful and swept her up off of her feet. I immediately thought it was Sus. Now why did you think, okay, maybe you thought it was us because of the music artist? Cause I'm like, I hope you didn't think it was sus. Cause somebody called your 58 year old mama beautiful. Cause 58 year olds be baddies too.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah, I don't like how that was said. But you know, we don't do the.

[Lacey Mosley]

Ageism on the pod.

[Sydney Washington]

But we do not.

[Lacey Mosley]

If you get lucky, you get old. Okay? And there's a very good Kimmy Schmidt joke. Tina Fey be writing some hilarious stuff that was like, Kimmy is like worried about getting old and having wrinkles. And then she's talking to somebody on the show and she's like, they asked her like, oh, are you still worried about getting old? And she was like, no, I'm not worried about getting old anymore. You can die at any time. And I was like, oh, oh, it's true, it's true.

[Sydney Washington]

Also, and also, everybody is going to get a certain age. So just be. If you're lucky. Yeah. 50. You watching turnaround? You're going to be 50 and you're going to be picking gray hairs out of your chinny chin chins. So don't be rude and treat people how you want to be treated.

[Lacey Mosley]

Exactly. My grandpa used to always say, just keep laying down and getting up. And I was like, you petty, but you right, you keep getting up. One day that back gonna get up different knees, gonna get up a Little different. Okay. Them elbows gonna be a little wobbly. Like, it's okay if you're lucky.

[Sydney Washington]

If you're lucky.

[Lacey Mosley]

If you're lucky to get older. Okay? So she was like, it's sus. Immediately, Jackie says. Anyway, they were chatting for about six months through Facebook and WhatsApp until I let her know that she was being scammed. So you thought immediately it was sus, but Jackie, you just let it go on for six months. Well, you're like.

[Sydney Washington]

You never know. You gotta give it enough time to figure out what the situation really is. Cause things appear one way in one month. And then you look down the road, you're like, oh, I was wrong about that person. I was wrong.

[Lacey Mosley]

Okay? Then I would just change my opinion when I had new information. I think in the beginning, I'm gonna be like, mom, I don't believe this. You know? And then if I'm wrong, I'll be like, wow, I was wrong. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[Sydney Washington]

Sorry. Yeah, safe.

[Lacey Mosley]

I'd rather be safe than scammed. But, you know, to each his own. So basically, the guy would ask her for iTunes gift cards and ask to send money through Ria Transfer. I've never even heard of Ria Transfer. And she said it was because he was going on tour and needed to fund it. So unless she sent money, the manager wouldn't let him talk to her. Who is this manager?

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah. Yeah. That's odd. That's odd something, right?

[Lacey Mosley]

Okay. He even said that he would get her free tickets to his show in Washington and meet up with her and take her out and all this stuff. Tell me why this man was pretending to be Busta Rhymes.

[Sydney Washington]

No, no. Electric chair. Electric Chair.

[Lacey Mosley]

That is so not Busta Crimes.

[Sydney Washington]

No, no, that's wrong. Busta is a legend, but not enough for me to be like.

[Lacey Mosley]

But think about it. Busta's kind of the perfect person because, like, we don't know what Busta's up to. He was being problematic during the pandemic, talking about how we need to reopen clubs just because he wanted to go on his little mini tours because he needed coins. He told me how I'm supposed to holla at a bit a bad bitch if she can't see my face. And all this nonsense about how Covid was fake. And so I don't know. Busta kind of given, like, he might. He might need some money for the tour.

[Sydney Washington]

No, I mean, he's always out. He's always out. The way you're like, oh, you know, he's the perfect person. It's like. Actually, no, because if you go on his Instagram and his stories, you can see what club he's at any night of day, any. Any night of the week.

[Lacey Mosley]

That's true. That's true. But I don't think that, at least at this point, he hasn't said that he isn't out. Yeah, he was just talking about the tour and the manager not letting them talk on Facebook and WhatsApp, which. That don't add up. But. Okay, I don't.

[Sydney Washington]

But in this day and age, you can just write a comment on somebody's wall or, like, you can go in their DMs. Like, I'm doing the work. I'm gonna find out on my own. Because, you know, people are gonna give you lies. Cause that's what they do. They're professional liars.

[Lacey Mosley]

And if you follow him on Insta. But you know What? If you're 58, you might not be on the gram that hard, depending on your lifestyle. Some people are, some people aren't. And if they talking on Facebook and WhatsApp, I'm. It's giving. I don't have an Insta.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah, no, you're right. You're. If you're doing any. If you're conducting any kind of business through Facebook, I would just assume that that is also not real.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah. So tell me why this is Jackie talking. Tell me why this man was pretending to be Busta Rhymes and my mom straight up believed it and sent him money. She sent a total of like $550 worth of gift cards and money transfers. Damn. So he was. Busta wasn't even asking you for a lot for this tour. Was it a walking tour? Was he going door to door doing raps? Because $550 total.

[Sydney Washington]

You know what it's giving high school student? It's giving high school because that's a. Cause when you're younger, you're like, ask for smaller increments of a small amount, because you're most likely able to get that money. If you ask for something big, people might be like, hell, no. But if you're like, if you give me $50 here and then $60 there.

[Lacey Mosley]

But what is he saying? The. I need $50. We gotta buy water bottles for the crew? Like, what? What?

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah. What tour? If the tour is on the Greyhound bus, then sure, $500 is gonna work, but $500 is doing nothing, and it's not gonna put a dent in anything.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah. No. So $550. This poor woman has given Bust the crimes. And Jackie says, I'm pretty sure the scammer wasn't even American, given that they asked for a ria ria ria transfer, which is used for international transactions. I had never heard of that, so that makes sense. When she told me, I was like, mom, he's scamming you. Please block him and report his accounts. After she did that, I texted him on my own phone and pretended to be the real Busta Rhymes. Lawyer, manager, and threatened to take him to a court and even made fake legal documents. He blocked me, though, but I'm sure he was scared.

[Sydney Washington]

I love the full circle of that. You gotta beat a scam at a. At their. At their own scam. That's what you have to do.

[Lacey Mosley]

Jackie says, I doubt it would stop him from doing it again. I did teach my mom to be more responsible on the Internet. It was hard in parentheses. You know how black parents can get. But I did get to her. Love the podcast. See you on Tuesday, Jackie. Okay, Jackie, this is what I have to say after reading the end of this. So I appreciate you stepping in the gap for your mama, however it's giving. You wanted to see how it played out because you knew it was sus from the beginning, and you even went as far to make fake legal documents to. With the scammer. So you was. You over here getting your thrills while your mama was getting hers.

[Sydney Washington]

You gotta do it for the story, man. You have to, like, life be boring, and the only way you can live is vicariously through other people's mistakes. So, I mean, I guess I live by that. Yeah, I live by that. So ain't nothing wrong with that. She needed a little spice in her life.

[Lacey Mosley]

I feel like she was getting updates too. I feel like she was like, oh, what's bust up today? Like, what's going on with him today, Mama?

[Sydney Washington]

You know how you hear a friend, like, you know, something is going on with a friend you call. So. Yeah. So what's going on? Have you. Even though you already know the answer.

[Lacey Mosley]

To it, you know what I'm thinking now? Wasn't Busta Rhyme song that Touch it play. Stop it. Wasn't that used for Apple? Like, it was used for the ipod back in the day? They would be like, touch it maybe.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah, there's.

[Lacey Mosley]

There's.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah, there's probably a commercial with using.

[Lacey Mosley]

He was asking for itunes gift cards. It's. You know, he was like, I don't got no DJs, so I need an ITUNES gift card so I could play the music for the pre show.

[Sydney Washington]

I just think that's so odd that her mom was just, like, so out of touch. Because if anybody knew, like, Busta Rhymes.

[Lacey Mosley]

That was just giving confidence.

[Sydney Washington]

I kind of loved it.

[Lacey Mosley]

She was like, I am a bad bitch. And I loved Busta Rhymes. They're probably around the same age. Buster gotta be in his 50s.

[Sydney Washington]

He's gotta be in his 50s. Somebody's gotta fact check that.

[Lacey Mosley]

But so she was like, yeah, he probably remembered me from the concert back in the day.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah. I just wish. I just wish that, like, at the House of Blues, sometimes people are naive because it just helps them sleep at night. They're like, I need this drama because this is giving me something, one, to talk about and two, to stress about. Sometimes stress is the biggest story that of other people's lives.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, that's a word right there. I'm trying to take that out of the equation. And I'm trying. I'm trying know how I be. So.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah. But, you know, we all. We are problematic at times, so it happens.

[Lacey Mosley]

Problematic.

[Sydney Washington]

It does, because it's just like, you should know better. You're an older woman. Like, you've been through it all. You've been. You've been through, like, a crack epidemic in New York. Like, come on now. You know people. You know, when people are down bad.

[Lacey Mosley]

Listen, you know, shout out to Jackie, Mama, I hope you and your. Your girlfriends in your group chat had a fun thrill up your leg thinking that Busta Crimes was blowing your spot up and you was helping him on tour. So no harm, no foul, you know, Mama's doing all right. Mama got 550 to trick off on a nigga, so it'll be all right.

[Sydney Washington]

But I'm also surprised that this mom didn't go on Facebook and make a post about it, because that's the thing that moms do. They use those infographics, the Facebook infographics, to make their little, like, whatever's going on in their lives. And it's like, child, can you believe Busta Rhymes?

[Lacey Mosley]

Like, I know. And then they have the little gif of themselves. Not the gift, but, like, the little cartoon of themselves. Yes.

[Sydney Washington]

I feel like that's something that a mom would do if that was going on in for real life.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah. My mom loves a cartoon of herself.

[Sydney Washington]

Everybody's mom. Everybody's mom.

[Lacey Mosley]

And that's okay. Moms. Y' all keep using them cartoons. They cute. I laugh.

[Sydney Washington]

I mean, we screenshot it and put it in our group chats and laugh.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah. But with you, I put it in the group chat that my mom's in and be like, what is this? And then we all laugh. Right? Robbery. We spend a lot of time trying to understand why people do what they do, especially when it comes to money. If you're fascinated by the psychology and sociology behind spending, you should check out the new podcast called what We Spend. In each episode, one guest walks us through exactly how they spend their money over the course of seven days. Every dollar, every decision. From groceries and gas to splurges and subscriptions. What We Spend is not a financial advice show. Instead, it offers a candid, intimate look at how money shapes our lives. Quietly confident, constantly. And sometimes unexpectedly, you'll laugh, you'll wince, and you'll probably think a little differently about your own relationship with money. What We Spend an Odyssey original podcast is available now. Wherever you get your podcasts, you know what doesn't belong in your epic summer plans? Getting burned by your old wireless bill. While you're planning beach trips, barbecues, and three day weekends, your wireless bill should be the last thing holding you back. That's why you need to make the switch to Mint Mobile. With Mint, you can get coverage the speed that you're used to, but for way less money. And for a limited time, Mint mobile is offering three months of unlimited premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month. So while your friends are sweating over data overages and surprise charges, you'll be chilling. I have so many producers and friends who have Mint Mobile and their data coverage is strong as bleep. They can reach me at any time, any place. They be in Joshua Tree hitting me up and I'm like, Mint Mobile got the reach out there like this. This is crazy. This year, skip breaking a sweat and breaking the bank, get this new customer offer and your 3 month unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a [e-mail] goddess that's mintmobile.com goddess upfront payment of $45 required, equivalent to $15 a month limited time. New customer offer for first 3 months only. Speeds may slow above 35gb on unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details and fraud. Yes. And we're back and it's time for historic hoodwinks. We're gonna stay on the music theme that's happening now. You know, we had Busta and now we're gonna talk about Triller. Do you know what Triller is?

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah. So I believe it was kind of like vine but for like music. So you can, you can do like little clips using these songs and make little music Videos.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yes.

[Sydney Washington]

And, like, am I right?

[Lacey Mosley]

Am I right? Yeah, it's like TikTok light. We'll see here. But before we get into it, I'm gonna note that the investigation was published in Taylor Lorenz's Washington post article. A TikTok rival promised millions to black creators. Now some are deep in debt. So, Taylor Lorenz, shout out to you for exposing this, because I'm sure not a lot of people would have talked about it, because you know how they are when it comes to. Comes to us, which is why Capitol Records was out here making AI rappers. Look it up, y'. All. Throughout 2020 and 2021, rising social media platform Triller launched a series of partnerships and hype houses and programs intended to support black creators. They seemingly spared no expense when it came to paying creators and flashing around lavish gifts and restaurant outings. Things. However, it seems that they're letting down the very community that they claim to empower, which. Shocker. We're. We're getting used. Oh, shocker. But if you don't know what a hype house is. A hype house. I think they really started with TikTok, but when a lot of creators started getting big followings, they would move to LA typically, and they would pull their money and rent out a mansion and all live there and use that mansion to create content and to engage with their followers. And so they were called hype houses because basically everybody in the house is a hype beast. Like, everybody in the house is a social media influencer, and they're all pulling their money so that they can flex and make content.

[Sydney Washington]

And they learned that. They learned that from the originals of like, like, model apartments in new. Like in New York and la, they would get a whole bunch of models to be in either an apartment or a house and live together. And so it'll be like, like, 10 girls paying, you know, this rent that's, I don't know, like, $6,000 for them to, you know, take photos, go on, go sees together, go to the nightclubs with the promoters. So, you know, they find a way to pimp out. Pimp out the people.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah. Young talent especially. I knew people. There was a hostess who worked in this restaurant that I worked at, and sometimes we would pop by the nightclubs or whatever afterwards, and she would always be there, like, looking bored as hell on her phone, and she was like, I just have to be here for two more hours. And I was like, what do you mean you have to be at the club? And she was like, this is how I pay Rent. I live in this house rent free and my job is to come out at night and be at the club and be hot.

[Sydney Washington]

Yep. To make the promoters look good. To make the, the, the club look good.

[Lacey Mosley]

Club look good. To keep the people who are spending money coming back. Because if the typically cisgendered men come into the club and they're like, oh, it's always baddies in there, it's always like beautiful women, then we'll keep coming back and spending exorbitant money on poison.

[Sydney Washington]

Popping bottles. That's what it is.

[Lacey Mosley]

So Triller gained popularity and prominence in 2020 when a number of right wing influencers, including President Donald Trump, renounced Chinese owned TikTok in favor of the American app Triller. Trump was even slated to host one of Triller's fight clubs, a livestream pay per view boxing event made by the platform, which they are still doing though they still have like influencers fighting each other. This one was Holyfield versus Belfort and Holyfield is a bit of an older man now, but he still looked like he could really be beating people up. Wow.

[Sydney Washington]

Legend, legend, legend status. Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

Much, much respect. I know one of his children, he has a lot of children, but I know one of his children, she's like very, very sweet. So we. No shade, no shade over here to Mr. Holyfield, but, but just seeing this flyer and we'll post this flyer on the Instagram because this flyer is wild. Holyfield looks very like oiled up and Belfort looks very oiled up. And it's two boxers and then in the middle is a picture of Donald Trump looking like he always do.

[Sydney Washington]

I'm tired. I gotta go to bed. Who made this flyer?

[Lacey Mosley]

It says full live in person commentary by President Donald Trump. President Donald. We knew you were doing club appearances at Mar a Lago, but sheesh.

[Sydney Washington]

This, I mean this is, this is comedy. Like I would look at this and I would laugh. I would not take this seriously.

[Lacey Mosley]

What if you go to Club Live in Miami and they like special appearances by Donald Trump?

[Sydney Washington]

I won't be anywhere near that. Anywhere near.

[Lacey Mosley]

We popping bottles tonight with Donald Trump. What? What?

[Sydney Washington]

I know that the bottles are being replaced with, well, everything. There's no way that it's going to be a solid, a solid club.

[Lacey Mosley]

Secret Service in the building. This is West Wing. Stand up. What? What?

[Sydney Washington]

Imagine getting like somebody having a tattoo on their stomach. Like instead of Thug Life, it's just like Trump Life.

[Lacey Mosley]

Trump Life. If you're a real hardcore scammer and evil as hell. Yes, but I'M also trying to imagine, okay, you know how boxing people, you know, it's like, let's get ready to rumble. And it's like, oh, he hit him. He's got him up against the ropes. What is that? He's got him. He's got him up against the ropes. What is. What is this commentary?

[Sydney Washington]

That's good. That voice you good.

[Lacey Mosley]

I think you should do something. A demon just jumped out of me.

[Sydney Washington]

Cause, yeah, that was terrible. That's good.

[Lacey Mosley]

But this is hilarious. But. So Triller is out here doing nonsense like this and being endorsed by Donald Trump and even paying the man to be at fights. Whatever. I'm moving on from this. In 2019, Chiller announced that it had grown up to 13 million active monthly users versus TikTok's 508 million active monthly users at the time, Employees immediately disputed the claim, saying internal metrics showed that there were fewer than 2.5 million active monthly users. So Chiller was trying to guess the numbers. Give us a Facebook moment where they're like, oh, it's popping over here. Everybody over here doing Trillers.

[Sydney Washington]

When it's like, it's not really adding up because I'm. I'm on the feed and I'm not. I'm seeing. Not seeing trailers once in a while.

[Lacey Mosley]

Okay. Not never seeing them. Don't know the girl. Just like how Facebook right now, I see you. Mark Zuckerberger is trying to inflate reels. Because if you get a. If you, like, comment on someone's real or if someone comments on your reel and you're outside of the app and you get a notification. If you click on that notification, it takes you to a completely different reel of a stranger you've never met to inflate views. And if you watch one reel on Instagram, it's like you're in real hell now. It's like that. Meet that gift of the weekend when he performed at the super bowl, and he's, like, running through the maze. It's like that. You click on one reel, it's over.

[Sydney Washington]

For you, and then you're stuck there. You're stuck there an hour and a half. You. You didn't do any of your auditions. You haven't written back to anybody in your emails. Like, this is your. This is your day now.

[Lacey Mosley]

Lion witch in the wardrobe like you and Narnia bitch like you not getting out. They not gonna let you out. In February of 2021, the app fell under further scrutiny when Universal Music Group pulled all of its music after it. Shamefully withheld payments that were owed to Universal artists. So Universal Music pulled all of their music because they were like, you're not giving us any type of residual for using our music. I love that Universal Music use words like shameful and acted like it was about the artists. Like, Universal Music. Y' all weren't getting paid. Talking about, how dare you do this to us?

[Sydney Washington]

Exactly. It's like, y' all know that. Y' all know the deal. Don't try to act like you got a theme park.

[Lacey Mosley]

My guy.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah, y' all don't try to act like y' all don't know how this works.

[Lacey Mosley]

How could y' all do this to the little guy? Universal Music. So Triller denied that they did did so. And the companies eventually reached an agreement, AKA Triller probably paid what they owed. So TikTok to Triller. The bridge between TikTok and triller began in August 2021. TikTok fell under scrutiny for refusing to take action against predominantly white creators taking credit for viral trends created by black tiktokers. So we remember that a number of black tiktokers launched a black TikTok strike, a campaign to spread awareness about the ongoing issue. And I remember they did this around the time that thot came out. Megan Thee Stallion song. So they refused to make any dances or anything to it, which kind of bummed me out because I'm like, don't use a black woman to, like, make a stance. Like, y' all could have waited till Harry Styles had that new watermelon joint or something and. And stood up then. But I get the point, because Meg's music is popping. They were like, we're not gonna make a tick tock song to this.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah, but when's the last time we were making. We're making viral songs to, like, a Miley Cyrus song. It's not happening. Like, it's just gonna happen to be hip hop or black woman that's gonna be affected by it.

[Lacey Mosley]

And I hate that for us, but I understand just the way it goes. I remember when white tiktokers were making their own dances up to that song, and it was hilarious. The song is like, hands on my knees, shaking ass on my thigh. Shit. And then you're seeing all these videos of, like, young, beautiful white women waving their hands in the air. And it's like, like, the song said, knees, y' all put the hands on the knees. Why they in the air? What's going on?

[Sydney Washington]

So it was a bleak time, but it was an honest time because it's like all right, at the end of the day, just do your own shit. This is what you do, this is your moves. Why don't you do your moves and we do what we do and we can both live in this world, but just make stuff that's authentic to who you are instead of like stealing.

[Lacey Mosley]

Exactly. So Triller saw an opportunity and created an assembly for black creators, ABC a program. It signed sponsorship deals with members of the Collab Crib, an all black influencer house in Atlanta. It also teased a new hype house in Los Angeles in the Flave House. Not y' all calling it the Flav House. We got an Instagram video for this. So the Flav House exclusively featured diverse talent. Its Instagram has, has 717 followers and its founder is a self styled paparazzi influencer. The Flav House looks cute.

[Sydney Washington]

It's fine.

[Lacey Mosley]

Are they young and dancing?

[Sydney Washington]

It's fine. It's young. It's clear that they're, you know, they ain't got no day jobs. This is their job. So they got time to make things look cool.

[Lacey Mosley]

Now creativity being a day job, not, not them dancing with the Heineken. They doing brand sponsorships. Are they old enough? I think you have to be 25 to do that. It's interesting because it is a lot of work to influence. It's a lot of work to make content constantly, every single day. And everybody makes it look easy. And I know that that makes people mad because they're like, you just get paid to dance. But I'm like, bro, if you get up every day and every day you gotta put on a lash every day you gotta put on your, your fenty and, and, and your highlights and then you gotta put on an outfit and you gotta dance and you gotta record it. You got to do it multiple times and then you got to edit it and you got to do multiple videos for days that you aren't at the house and able to do the dances. It's a lot of work. Imagine getting out every day and having to dance.

[Sydney Washington]

It's, it's, not only is it a lot of work, but you're low key, losing your mind because this is, this is all you're focused on. You have nothing else but churning out this content to get these views and followers.

[Lacey Mosley]

And you need engagement. You gotta be commenting on other people's posts. You gotta keep up with like, what's the new trend? What's the new dance? I gotta get up today. If I woke up every day and I had to dance, bro, I wake up screaming.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah, it really, I. I mean, you know, as somebody who is working and I mean, you have like a. A real job, but before. But other than that, you still have to make content for your podcast. You also have to, like, promote. So just doing that is exhausting enough. Imagine you're in a hype house and you don't have your own privacy. You got this one. You got this.

[Lacey Mosley]

Girl, come.

[Sydney Washington]

Hey, hey, hey. Can you hold this camera? Can you get this angle from me? Oh, oh, oh. You want to be in this video? Like, I would be annoyed as hell.

[Lacey Mosley]

Like, yeah, no, I mean, I won't lie to y'. All. It's days. I've been doing this for what, three years now, dropping every week that I'm like, I don't know if I want to make anything ever again. Like, and then I wake up some days and I'm like, I'm inspired. But some days when y' all get this content, I really be like, Jesus, before I turn the mic on, like, please, we're through.

[Sydney Washington]

It's true.

[Lacey Mosley]

I don't talk no more. Please, God. But we here anyways. Won't get too meta. So Triller also announced Triller tv, a live streaming paid service featuring a new variety of content. Hosts were promised up to $10,000 per stream to produce live streamed shows. But its biggest move was to offer 300 black creators contracts totaling over 40, 14 million of them. Thangs. These creators were first invited to a virtual conference intended to offer networking with each other brands and industry leaders. Triller also said that they were going to hold a large scale black creator conference in Atlanta in the beginning of 2022. But when the first meeting came around, things began a little rough. More than 100 creators logged on for the first Zoom conference. But instead of it being a collaborative networking opportunity, they were greeted by Triller Executive chairman Bobby Sarnavest. Bobby. You just going by Bobby? I'm not gonna butcher that no more. Telling them that they could be the next Charlie d', Amelio, a white high schooler with the most tick tock followers in the United States. So Bobby done got on here and was like, y', all, you gonna be a d'. Amelio. You gonna be a d'. Amelio. They, they are executive produced by the Kardashians and have like a reality show now, right? And they do movies. Bobby don't look like he can promise nobody nothing. Bobby's face is giving lies.

[Sydney Washington]

It's not even the face. It's the very thin T shirt.

[Lacey Mosley]

It's the T shirt that you get.

[Sydney Washington]

Like, from a free event. It's not giving quality. There is no creativity. Even the font, baby. The font.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah. What's that?

[Sydney Washington]

Georgia, Come on now.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah. And this is a Triller T shirt. We'll post this. It's not even giving gild and cotton. It's giving very, very thin. Yeah. I'm sorry. If you get onto a zoom with me talking about you about to make me a star, and your T shirt is so thin, a gust of wind could put a hole in it. Yeah. No, I'm not trusting you. It is very much the T shirt.

[Sydney Washington]

And it's just like also using her name. It's like, it's funny that you're using her name because you don't have a reference for your black person or a.

[Lacey Mosley]

Person of color or a person on your app.

[Sydney Washington]

App?

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, she's on TikTok. How you gonna be like, we're gonna make you as big as this girl on Tick Tock. But on this app, and we don't got nobody we can reference on this app yet. Because it's you. Because it's gonna be. It's gon you.

[Sydney Washington]

It's a work in progress, y'. All. You gotta. You shooting with us in the gym. Just know that.

[Lacey Mosley]

And they always want black people to shoot in the gym. They want to SAP things. I'm telling you, you get a job out here, it ain't what it seems. I still go to work a lot of times and get treated like absolute dog shit. They don't want to SAP things, so whatever.

[Sydney Washington]

But that's how you. That's how you build character and personality.

[Lacey Mosley]

I don't want to build no more character. These girls ain't out here building no character. I'm tired of building. I don't wanna be Babisha the character builder. No, yeah.

[Sydney Washington]

I'm ready to be real dense and plain. Give me some plain yogurt. Personality.

[Lacey Mosley]

I wanna be boring. Yo Play. Call me Activity will call me even more basic than Yo Play Activia. Call me. Call me. Okay, so more than a hundred creators are on this conference call. They talking to this guy. He said he gonna make him a star tomorrow. Triller has just leased a black Rolls Royce with a Triller vanity plate for Charli D' Amelio and offered her and her family a $2 million contract. Attendees were then given a series of pre written talks by executives. They were also auto muted so they couldn't speak to the hosts or the brand rep. So they're on there but basically, they're watching it like a spectator because they can't even speak.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah. They're not getting. They won't have any input at all.

[Lacey Mosley]

Attitudes changed when it was announced at the event that Triller would be offering creators 2,000amonth plus $2,000 in stop. A major first for a company like this. So they're giving you equity, and they're gonna pay you. It's giving too good to be true.

[Sydney Washington]

It just doesn't feel like this is real. It's all a. It's all a game.

[Lacey Mosley]

Bobby said. This is Bobby in that thin T shirt. Bobby Fentino. He says, I don't give a. About the size of your audience. Let's all start. Let's all be a team. It's time to collaborate. So you were right, Sid. Shooting in the gym.

[Sydney Washington]

Yep.

[Lacey Mosley]

Bone and Bo, Triller's chief. What is these names? Triller's chief growth officer told the Hollywood Reporter at the time that the program would require a light load meant to give creators the freedom to post on other channels without being too big of a load. So they weren't like, exclusivity. They're like, you can keep posting on your other places. That's just gonna drive traffic to us. Yeah.

[Sydney Washington]

It's gonna be like, it sounded like.

[Lacey Mosley]

We doing a little Polly.

[Sydney Washington]

Polly Pocket situation. We open, you know, be out there. Live your life. Have fun. Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

Collab with whoever you want, but come over to Triller.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

Cause we got that money for you.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

This is.

[Sydney Washington]

This is gonna be your home, though.

[Lacey Mosley]

Remember?

[Sydney Washington]

This is home.

[Lacey Mosley]

So when it started to get shaded early on in the program, things started not to add up. Initially, the program was meant to begin in January, but by February 1, the agreements still weren't signed. Triller's partnership team pressured creators to post regardless. Even though no ink on these deals. They're like, keep posting right now because the money gonna come. We're gonna sign the deals. We promise. But go ahead and post on the app. Two optional promotional deals were initially offered. One for Popeyes and one for Hallmark. What a gimmick.

[Sydney Washington]

It's so. It's so the range. Okay. If you want to be positive, the range, but also, like, there's no connection. Like, why those two?

[Lacey Mosley]

I mean, Hallmark has been putting out some black content lately, so maybe they were like. They had that movie that was like, single white female, but it was single black female. Yeah.

[Sydney Washington]

You know, because Popeyes pairs well with, you know, a get well soon card. You're right.

[Lacey Mosley]

You're right. I'm talking about the network.

[Sydney Washington]

Oh, but.

[Lacey Mosley]

But also that Popeyes does pair well with a get well soon card or a happy birthday card or, you know, look, I'm not. Popeyes is delicious. And we know that they do use black people. That black lady who's in those commercials is not the chef of Popeyes.

[Sydney Washington]

Get your money, sis. I'm not mad at you.

[Lacey Mosley]

Not mad at it at all. She's like, LA fans, go get it, girl. But. So these are some of the options they could choose between. Some creators who opted for one deal, were sent materials for the other instead, and then told that they had to promote what they were given or miss out. So they were like, you can choose Popeyes or Hallmark. And people are probably like, oh, Hallmark, that seems different. And they were like, no, Popeyes, negro. Like we just said, damn.

[Sydney Washington]

So why you even put Hallmark in the.

[Lacey Mosley]

In the.

[Sydney Washington]

In the run?

[Lacey Mosley]

Because they didn't want to give racism. We were rooting for you. We were all rooting for you. They said, you can choose a brand deal with Swisher Sweets or TJ Maxx. And people were like, oh, TJ Maxx. They're like, put the Swisher in your mouth.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah. Why would you not want Swisher?

[Lacey Mosley]

And we sent you grape flavor.

[Sydney Washington]

Do you hate yourself? It's self hate. It's self hatred. If you don't want Popeye, right?

[Lacey Mosley]

Don't act like you don't love it. Okay. You love that chicken from Popeyes. Okay.

[Sydney Washington]

Oh, man. I knew you were gonna do. I remember this was coming up.

[Lacey Mosley]

I knew you were gonna say so. Others were given packages too late to complete the campaign, never received them at all, or were told that optional deals weren't optional after all. So they probably ran out of money or, you know, they're trying to trick these people. The most harmful policies were the limits on competing platforms. So never mind. Remember they were saying, like, you could be free. Looks like you can't. Even though Triller executives said they wanted to give creators freedom, creators were not allowed to post more content on TikTok, YouTube shorts, Instagram Reels, and other platforms than what they posted on Triller. So they said, you can post on all the other apps. Yeah. Be free. Polly Pocket. Also, you cannot post more on any other app than you post on ttac Trilla.

[Sydney Washington]

Okay, so say, for instance, you wanna do three videos, right?

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah.

[Sydney Washington]

You have to do. Most of the videos have to happen with Triller and not like Instagram or TikTok or whatever.

[Lacey Mosley]

So if you did three videos on other platforms, you owe Triller. Three videos at least.

[Sydney Washington]

Ah, okay, okay, got it.

[Lacey Mosley]

So Triller denies this. Allegedly. Allegedly. Despite multiple contracts being confirmed to contain such language. So they said. Who said that? But they said that. But I digress. In addition to producing at least eight Triller posts a month on the top of their normal, content, creators were required to keep extremely specific records of their work. They also had to send screen recordings of all posts to Triller to ensure that they received credit. It took only a missed post or a missed document to risk being written up or kicked out. Not Triller being corporate, not us being in cubicles. Written up. Written up.

[Sydney Washington]

Where is the hr? Where's the hr? And where are the direct deposits? Have anybody received any type of money?

[Lacey Mosley]

It's sounding like where are the coins? Can you imagine the HR of influencers?

[Sydney Washington]

No, I can't. Honestly, I can't.

[Lacey Mosley]

Hi. Hi, it's us from Instagram. Yeah, we're just calling because we noticed that you didn't post any stories today. We just wanna make sure you were okay. You're not in the hospital, dead, anything. Yeah.

[Sydney Washington]

Cause that's the only reason why you shouldn't be posting. Are you almost dying?

[Lacey Mosley]

Right. And then even then, if your phone is charged, hospital content gets great engagement. People love a sympathy post. Do you think maybe a nurse could hold the camera up for. We only need 15 seconds. Yeah.

[Sydney Washington]

Should we send over like a little tripod? Do you need a ring light?

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, we can send you a ring light.

[Sydney Washington]

You need a ring light. That's in the package. But we already sent you one, so you should have brought your ring light to the hospital.

[Lacey Mosley]

To the hospital?

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

Dr. Miami does TikToks and surgery all the time, so that's not an excuse. You could definitely be. Okay, well, let us know if it goes south. We'll bring somebody to the funeral and.

[Sydney Washington]

Wondering if we can get some content of the fun as well.

[Lacey Mosley]

And we're hoping, we're hoping that it.

[Sydney Washington]

Can be like open casket because a lot of people don't really take take to like cremation. So we would love an open casket. It doesn't get as many views. Yeah, the top, the top and the bottom have to be open because we want to see the shoes.

[Lacey Mosley]

We want to see the fit. No, you calling it the fume has killed me. I'm dead. I'm in the upper room. Okay. One creator, 20 year old, we're gonna call him Nicolo because his last name is. Is Nicolo. You got a name on you? I love it. So Nicolo was threatened with expulsion after he requested an extension on a Triller Instagram post after his cousin passed away. So while we were just joking about this, it literally happened. And y' all know I. I help with the research, but I don't always read the episode. Cause I like to be on the ride with y'. All. So the fact that we were literally just joking about this and this. Nicolo's in the middle and we'll post his Triller to the Instagram. So he does dances and stuff. He looks like a cute kid. His cousin passed and he was like, I need an extension for my Instagram post. And they threatened to get rid of him.

[Sydney Washington]

Like, this is sick. This is absolutely sick. And the thing is, is that they're like, so it was a cousin. So you're saying it's not a brother.

[Lacey Mosley]

They're close First.

[Sydney Washington]

It's not immediate family. Hmm.

[Lacey Mosley]

First cousin. Were y'. All. Did y' all hang out a lot? Do y' all live in the same state?

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

No. Y' all are gross. The final straw for many creators was when their income was drastically affected it people weren't being paid. There it is. You said it, Sid. And of course, many creators coming from TikTok began posting less frequently on it due to the demands and requirements for triller. But because TikTok's algorithm rewards frequency, they began to make less money from their posts when they did post to TikTok. So TikTok was like, oh, you moving different. Like, you're not coming over here every day. Great. We're gonna push your post down in the feed. If you're not creating content for us, then we're not giving you money.

[Sydney Washington]

It's true.

[Lacey Mosley]

Which.

[Sydney Washington]

That's how it works.

[Lacey Mosley]

It's so insane. And to be a slave to this kind of machine when it used to be like, oh, you post whatever content you want. And like people engage with it how they please. Now if you're not posting Instagram reels, Instagram's like, oh, well, then we'll never see. They'll never see you again.

[Sydney Washington]

Nobody's seeing your stuff. Just getting no engagement. Oh, don't even try to post. Post a picture, honey.

[Lacey Mosley]

A picture? You mean a non moving video? The ghetto? No, make the picture move and put music to it.

[Sydney Washington]

And make sure you're also doing a dance while you're at it.

[Lacey Mosley]

I saw a tweet the other day. It was like, instagram, I don't want to dance. Please, please stop. I don't want to dance.

[Sydney Washington]

They say you don't have to Dance. Just talking head stuff. You can't do a little front facing camera for me? You can't, you can't cut up some stuff and make it like, like, oh, behind the scenes while I go to Zara and try on clothes I'm not gonna buy.

[Lacey Mosley]

Right. And make more work for the retail associates by making them have to put it back.

[Sydney Washington]

It's so stupid. I'm tired now, I'm telling you. I'm so tired. Lacey.

[Lacey Mosley]

Woo. So because TikTok's algorithm rewards the frequency, they start making less money on TikTok. According to a talent manager for some of their rates for one TikTok post alone was 2000 to $5000. At the same time, Triller wasn't issuing regular payments at all. Many payments hadn't arrived by late May to for many people. And Triller issued an email saying, we want to inform you that there may have been a delay in completing our ongoing contractual obligations with your firm. Yeah, bitch. We know when money don't come. Everybody's aware. Nobody's forgetting that they didn't get paid.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah. No one's like looking around be like, oh, you know that payment I needed, I don't need it anymore.

[Lacey Mosley]

Right. You know that work I did for the in exchange for that money?

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

Come whenever you want and to drop.

[Sydney Washington]

It off whenever you want.

[Lacey Mosley]

Meanwhile, Triller is over here trying to kick people out because they asked for an extension to grieve their loved ones. So you want your content on time, but you don't want to give us our money on time, which is how corporations always are, you know?

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah. They're like, we find. They find a way to be like, you could have gave us some bereavement content. How about this?

[Lacey Mosley]

That right? Like, what about an on the way to the funeral video?

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah. It only takes 15 seconds. Like, do the work.

[Lacey Mosley]

Right. Gross. The company was about to go through a reverse merger, and in order to do so, they were holding as much of their revenue hostage in the bank to fulfill obligations to the merger. Over the following year and a half, dozens of emails and invoices from influencers have gone unanswered. So corporate greed strikes again. We need to pretend that we have this money and that we don't owe it to all these people. And, oh, they're like all black. Great. That's even easier not to pay. No one will know.

[Sydney Washington]

And the sad thing is, is that as a, as a creator or as an artist, you feel shame for asking for your money when it's like you fucking work for It. Why isn't it? They should be ashamed. They're the ones that should be, like, feeling some type of way and be like, damn, I'm so sorry. What can I do? Can we get you some Ubers? Let me send you some flowers. Nothing. They make. They put it in a situation and turn around and me like, oh, what are you? You broke bitch? You need money? Ill. Why are you not rich yet?

[Lacey Mosley]

Bills. For what? Why you need money? To live, to eat. Oh, sounds very ghetto. And I, some reps that I'm not with anymore. I remember once I asked, I was like, where's this check for this thing that I did? Because it had been a long time. And they're like, oh, do you need it? And I remember that question. I was like, oh, I'm gonna have to get rid of y'. All.

[Sydney Washington]

Like, do I need it? Yeah, that's, that's.

[Lacey Mosley]

You trying to call me broke for asking for my money that's overdue. Y'. All, Y' all broke. Y' all broke.

[Sydney Washington]

That's so messed up. That's so messed up. And, and they don't, they don't even blink an eye when they say that to you.

[Lacey Mosley]

They love to gaslight poverty. It's just so gross. So some creators say that they're still owed tens of thousands of dollars. Fighters from Chiller's TV livestream Fight club have alleged that they still haven't been paid from their work. Can you imagine getting beat up and then you go home and you don't got no money to show for it?

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah, no, I, I, I can very much see it.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh. Maverick Baker, a 21 year old creator in Dallas, said, I've sent multiple invoices. I don't hear from them for months at a time. It's always another reason why they can't pay me. When Vidcon happened in Anaheim this summer, Chiller was noticeably absent among the YouTube TikTok Instagram events. Many believe it was because they didn't want to be confronted by creators. Y' all right to do that because if y' all showed up at any type of situation, oh, they would have.

[Sydney Washington]

Pulled up on you, on you, heavy on your necks.

[Lacey Mosley]

They were like, and these are black creators. They will beat our asses. We, we cannot show up to this under any circumstances.

[Sydney Washington]

You know, the girls like to tussle.

[Lacey Mosley]

They do like to tussle. No. This will go world star real quick, executives. Y' all stay home because. No.

[Sydney Washington]

You ever been in a McDonald's late night? Yeah, that's how it's about to be at this event, y'.

[Lacey Mosley]

All. They gonna be stomping and kicking Triller executives.

[Sydney Washington]

They gonna be throwing those bows, throwing.

[Lacey Mosley]

Those monos, tossing them hands. Okay. And making content. You gonna end up on Triller getting beat up to girl fight.

[Sydney Washington]

Honestly, I think that would be the best way to put Content up and them being a part of it. That. Don't you want to be a part of the culture?

[Lacey Mosley]

Right? You love the culture so much.

[Sydney Washington]

Get involved. Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

Come on. We about to throw them back. No, we'll get you your money. We promise. Yes. So in late July, Bobby Valenti Shirt and other leaders of the company held a zoom meeting for the creators who were owed money. No, we don't want no zoom. We want in person. Person meeting. It's time to show up and show kazoom. You can cut that camera off. No, you need to be in person.

[Sydney Washington]

And how many people did they owe money to?

[Lacey Mosley]

Remember, they signed like 300 creators in the beginning. Yeah. So during the meeting, Bobby said, I'm sure you guys have better things to do than hear some asshole talk about why he didn't pay you. Nah, don't try to self flagellate, bitch. Where's the money? You're right. We don't have time. The first thing you should say when you click your camera on is, this is where your money is, and this is how long it's going to take to get to you. We don't hear nothing else. He also complained about the lawsuit brought against the company while promising big opportunities for black creators in Saudi Arabia. So Bobby said, I can't discuss the lawsuit because everyone keeps suing me. I'm so tired of being sued, by the way. Now you make. This is the.

[Sydney Washington]

If everybody's suing you, don't you want to look at you? Maybe you're doing something wrong.

[Lacey Mosley]

Wrong. Why are you trying abilities.

[Sydney Washington]

It's like, it's. Y'. All. Y' all are the problem with the suing. Who does that?

[Lacey Mosley]

Everybody keeps suing me, and I'm just like, so tired of it. Like, lawsuits after lawsuits. Talk about, why didn't you pay us? You lied to us. You. Something about breach of contract. I'm. It's affecting my mental health, y'. All.

[Sydney Washington]

It's giving. It's giving. Becky with the good hair. That's what.

[Lacey Mosley]

It's good. You're trauma dumping on black folks, first of all. And this is fake ass because Triller's paying your dumb ass because otherwise you wouldn't be on the zoom.

[Sydney Washington]

But is he really Getting paid. I mean, we're looking at the thread count in the. In the T shirt, so.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, but that's sponsored by the company. The company's cheap. That don't mean they're not paying him. They paying him to rob everybody. So he getting his check. Okay. Cause he's doing a great job at robbing everyone. Success. So Triller denies that he said this? Recordings of the meeting say otherwise. Yes. Triller. Y' all just out here lying, huh? Okay, well, because they have to save face.

[Sydney Washington]

They're like, we still want to be able to do something later on, and we can't admit that they're freaking, that we're wrong.

[Lacey Mosley]

But you're on video, so what face are you see? They're like, no. If we lie hard enough, no one will know.

[Sydney Washington]

Hey, I love when someone's lying and they don't blink an eye. Solid. That's a professional. Okay.

[Lacey Mosley]

Skill.

[Sydney Washington]

That's. That's something I can respect.

[Lacey Mosley]

You can lie to my face and not break a sweat. Yeah, Talent jumped out.

[Sydney Washington]

I actually want to hire you for a few things. Thriller.

[Lacey Mosley]

Right. So he went on to blame the many months of missing payments on internal miscommunication and promised to have creators paid by the end of the month. Crazy that internal communication was working when y' all was threatening the creators, but then all of a sudden, when they needed money, the communication just stopped.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

So there have been a lot. Excuse me. There have been no efforts to make reparations with the creators who have gone into debt or have been otherwise affected by months of missed and decreased income? Of course not. Because they thought nobody would ever hear about this. And if they did, no one's going to get outraged. Nobody wants black people to have money. And this is how I'll tell you. I know. Because anytime I'm in a space where you have to have money to be there, every single time some white person comes up to me and asks me what I do for a living, what's my job prize into my livelihood? Because they're like, how do you have money? Money?

[Sydney Washington]

We.

[Lacey Mosley]

We don't want y' all to have that here. Systematically, we've made sure that you don't. So you must be, like a rapper or some kind of pawn or tool that we use. Because otherwise, how do you have money? Because I don't like debt. Why you black and having money? So they knew. Like, even if black people spoke up, it's like, nobody wants black people to have money. Like, we're gonna get away with this.

[Sydney Washington]

But also, it's it's thriller. Like it's just, it's just a thing that's like a niche app or service that, that not enough people are using it for us to care.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, we don't use it. We definitely don't use it. However, you still can't rob people just because we're not using your app.

[Sydney Washington]

Right?

[Lacey Mosley]

So. Triller still plans on going public this fall, but creators in the program say they've yet to be allocated shares of the company. They didn't give them. David Warren, a 22 year old dancer and creator, said, us as black creators work twice as hard and three times as hard just to be seen. All these platforms preach about diversity, but just like old Hollywood, there's a lot of people being used as token characters while the owner of the platform still turns a profit. I know that's right. Oh, he's cute. In the wake of news about its failures, Triller has neglected to address concerns directly and has instead recently published an article praising its ABC program. They were like, we're just gonna shift the narrative. We're gonna lie, lie, deny, deny, deny. And who's gonna stop us? The blacks? No. Not possible. On August 16, the music producers and co founders of Versus, Timbaland and Swizz Beat sued Triller for $28 million owed to them. Triller acquired Versus in January 2021 for an undisclosed amount. The lawsuit cites that Triller made the first two payments to Timberland and Swizz before failing to continue to make payments according to the contract. Of course they did. Now you're, you're getting in a different tax bracket now. Triller, you were robbing like medium income black people. Now you're robbing like Alicia Key's husband and Timbaland, who's made music for everybody. I think you might, might want to tread light cause these are rich ones.

[Sydney Washington]

How are you as like connected to music now? Trying to rob the people who made spaces for music.

[Lacey Mosley]

Right, That's.

[Sydney Washington]

So you're biting the hand that low key feeds you.

[Lacey Mosley]

No, high key feeds you high key. Only reason we even talk about Triller is because black people are upset because Triller robbed them. Otherwise when would we be talking about Triller? Like y' all even get free press from this? Like we don't talk about Triller. So what? In February 2022, the parties reached a settlement and a payment agreement. But Triller only made the first payment, right? And then started failing to make payments again. So this is February 2022, after the article comes out. Whatever they're like all right, we'll pay you, Negro. Shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up. We trying to go. We got ipo.

[Sydney Washington]

They might not have the money, yo.

[Lacey Mosley]

They don't.

[Sydney Washington]

They don't have the money. So it's like, that's the only reason why I could think, like, the payments in companies is because not only were they not able to pay these little people, I mean, now that we're in this. This huge realm of, like, people who have status and money and famous, and I mean it. I'm sure they're stressed out. I'm sure people are ready.

[Lacey Mosley]

They don't got no money.

[Sydney Washington]

I'm sure they're ready to jump out the window. They're like, we need to. Or they're ready to leave this ship.

[Lacey Mosley]

Bobby and his thin ass T shirt is like, in this economy, right? It just disappears. Peace. So meanwhile, Chiller claims the lawsuit has no basis. Of course they do. And in a. They said, this is truly unfortunate, and we hope that there's nothing more than a misunderstanding driven by lawyers. Trillers. Shut up, y'. All a lot.

[Sydney Washington]

The only time there's a misunderstanding with money is when the money has not been deposited.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, that's how money misunderstandings happen.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

You offer money for a service, the service happens, and then the money doesn't come. That's how the misunderstanding happens.

[Sydney Washington]

That's the only misunderstanding that happens.

[Lacey Mosley]

So There was an $18 million settlement agreed on in March 20 of 2022 with a 1 million a month for the 10 months following, according to the Washington Post. But they're like, no, that's crazy. The. The lawyers agree to that. But we never said that. As Triller. As us. The lawyers for us and. And them said it. So y' all see, how do they.

[Sydney Washington]

Do they not know how having a lawyer works? Where did they get. Where did they get these lawyers from? That's what I want to know.

[Lacey Mosley]

Off the.

[Sydney Washington]

Off the thrill. The Triller act, right?

[Lacey Mosley]

They saw. They saw a lawyer on Triller and were like, we'll pay you for content. Also, can you represent us? Yes.

[Sydney Washington]

Imagine one of the. The lawyers that's supposed to be in court is also now making dances on the fucking op.

[Lacey Mosley]

Why is that lawyer dancing with Popeyes during the deposition? What's happening? Oh, he got to get the brand deal.

[Sydney Washington]

He said, this is how. This is how. He's also making a little money on the side.

[Lacey Mosley]

You know, he's sitting over there in the damn deposition. Talk about not me being a lawyer and dancing.

[Sydney Washington]

He said, listen, always be working, okay?

[Lacey Mosley]

Always be working. Always.

[Sydney Washington]

Always be working.

[Lacey Mosley]

Always be conning. That's what that ABC stood for. Sad. Well, Triller, I hope you get your act together and stop robbing. Okay, they won't. They won't.

[Sydney Washington]

I mean, listen, at the end of.

[Lacey Mosley]

The day, maybe don't use Triller. Were you using it anyway? We weren't.

[Sydney Washington]

We weren't. But even. Even if we're like, we can learn from Triller. Is that like, anybody can get this smoke. Anybody.

[Lacey Mosley]

Right, Triller, you better not show up at no influencer events. You kind of have to never do it again because we're not going to forget. And they're not going to forget either. And they go pull up on you.

[Sydney Washington]

So if people who have money missing. Yeah, definitely.

[Lacey Mosley]

Maybe only do virtual. Maybe be at Comic Con on zoom. Like.

[Sydney Washington]

I can't imagine Comic Con on Zoom being the move they like, hold on.

[Lacey Mosley]

The WI Fi. The WI Fi going in and out. Trilla can't even afford that good. That good WI Fi.

[Sydney Washington]

Imagine Triller being in Starbucks trying to log into Comic Con using Starbucks.

[Lacey Mosley]

That's what it's given. It's just Bobby on public domain.

[Sydney Washington]

Wait, how come now I feel bad for Bobby? Damn.

[Lacey Mosley]

No, don't feel bad for Bobby. We not crying for Bobby over here. All right, we run it long. This always happens with friends. But we're gonna move into our last segment here, Scammer of the week. This is where we highlight a charlatan or maybe a group of charlatans that's worthy of our praise. Or not. Sometimes it's a company. We'll see. This week we're talking about French physicist Etienne Klein, who has apologized for passing off a piece of sausage as a star. Social media has made us all sick.

[Sydney Washington]

Excuse me. What?

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, so on July 31, he tweeted a photo of the star with the caption. Picture of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the sun located. Girl point two light years.

[Sydney Washington]

Not this lunchables ass piece of pepperoni. No, he did.

[Lacey Mosley]

Listen, it's 4.2 light years away from us, okay? It could look like a lunchable.

[Sydney Washington]

It's giving. This is giving. I drank too much tequila and cocaine and I'm about to do some foolishness. I'm about to start a rumor.

[Lacey Mosley]

He said it was taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. Oh, no.

[Sydney Washington]

Wait. Is this real? This can't be real.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yes. I actually saw this tweet.

[Sydney Washington]

This is fake.

[Lacey Mosley]

I saw this tweet when it was viral, before it was debunked. And I didn't retweet it, but I was like, I don't know. It's giving gaseous planet to me. I don't. What. What am I supposed to say about stars? I don't. That's not my. That's my bread and butter. And no, I.

[Sydney Washington]

Listen, I don't know. I don't have to be an expert in stars to know that I am an expert in charcuterie boards. And baby, this is not even top tier meat.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, no, it's giving. Like the pepperoni in the bag that you get to make pizza with at home.

[Sydney Washington]

It's giving. It's. It's like, oh, my God, we're in preschool and we're. Now we're making pizzas together.

[Lacey Mosley]

Okay, but if you didn't know that it was a piece of sausage before I said that, look at it now. Look at the lines and the ridges and look at the fatty parts. They're supposed to look like. They're like explosions.

[Sydney Washington]

No, this ain't. Not nar. Bit of this. This look like a star.

[Lacey Mosley]

Oh, no, bro. It's giving star to me.

[Sydney Washington]

No, if you squint your eyes and turn all the lights off and then also, you know, be blackout drunk, maybe it looks like a star, but that's also. You just could be blackout and seeing stars. So I just. No. Wow. Okay, so what?

[Lacey Mosley]

What? So he did this. The. This Tweet received over 20,000 likes, and many responded in awe of how detailed and beautiful the new James Webb's photos are. Klein later had to admit that the photo of a sliced chorizo was a joke. He tweeted, according to the contemporary cosmology, no object belonging to Spanish charcuterie exists anywhere but on earth. Despite the apology. Was that an apology?

[Sydney Washington]

No.

[Lacey Mosley]

And his admittance that it was a joke. Many are still mad that in the time of fake news, the director of research at France's Atomic Energy Commission tried to pass off a cured meat as an astronomical object. Y' all gotta stop chasing clout. If you. Some. Some jobs do not require you to be going viral on social media. Like, they just don't. Okay. This is definitely where.

[Sydney Washington]

No, I think every. I think in 2022, if we learned anything from 2020, is like, oh, going viral is your bread and butter. You know what I mean? Even if you don't have money coming in, at least you have notoriety.

[Lacey Mosley]

But do you. I don't remember who like was. That's. I can't even think of a. Okay, a viral video. You know, the one that's like, I'm gonna do that. Cause that's how I am. I have no idea who that woman is.

[Sydney Washington]

Is.

[Lacey Mosley]

Have I seen that video a billion times? Yes. Do I know who that is? No.

[Sydney Washington]

Like, where the money resides.

[Lacey Mosley]

Okay. He did. He did actually make a. And then he was fighting on Zeus network.

[Sydney Washington]

Oh, God. I don't know if that's a come up, but, yeah, sure, live your life.

[Lacey Mosley]

Come up from jumping out of Hondas. I actually feel like.

[Sydney Washington]

I actually feel like there's more dignity in hopping out of a Honda.

[Lacey Mosley]

You're right. There's more to be hopping out of a trunk of a Honda for your job than fighting Kirk Franklin's son on Zoom.

[Sydney Washington]

Stop it.

[Lacey Mosley]

You're not wrong.

[Sydney Washington]

Do you know? I'm tired of. I'm tired of this era. I'm tired. Take me back to when, you know, we had dial up. Take me back to AOL chat rooms. Take me back to my space. Take me back to when people were meeting up in real life and having real things to say. This has got to stop.

[Lacey Mosley]

Stop. It's. It's getting. It's been out of hand. It's been absolutely out of hand. But you're right, it was. There was, like, a niceness in not being able to use the phone and the Internet at the same time that we need to bring back. But I don't know what could. Could stop us from all. From the sickness. I. I don't know. I think it's too late and to look.

[Sydney Washington]

And I saw the picture of the dude and it just looked. He looks like he don't even know what's going on on social media. How did he get caught up in this?

[Lacey Mosley]

Because he was cloud chasing. Like, why do you think you, as a reputable person for a science institution can get on Twitter and make jokes? You can't get a burner account, you weirdo. Like, you can't do that from your real account. That's like, if Dr. Fauci was like, Monkbags, like, I don't know, like, just made. He was like, it was a hoax. Like, you can't do that from your Twitter, bro. You have a job. That implies that you're a professional.

[Sydney Washington]

I'm telling you, he was. He was drunk off them Jagermeisters, and he let loose. He let loose. He was probably at some, like, fine dining, like, little event.

[Lacey Mosley]

He French, so probably red wine.

[Sydney Washington]

Oh, red wine. Oh, yeah.

[Lacey Mosley]

Okay. And cheese. Maybe there was a charcuterie board. Maybe that's where he got it from. He was lit.

[Sydney Washington]

Maybe he found it in his pocket and it fell. And then he was like, yo, wouldn't this be funny if people thought this was a star? I gotta know the backstory. We have to talk to this man.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yeah, we need to know more. You can't just come on Twitter and be like, no, we need answers.

[Sydney Washington]

Damn. I mean, we really, we really went.

[Lacey Mosley]

Off on this one.

[Sydney Washington]

We really took it there, Lacey. And this.

[Lacey Mosley]

We really went there. I hope y' all still had fun.

[Sydney Washington]

Yeah. This is why you can't have your, like, very close friends that you stay on the phone with till like 3 o' clock in the morning on your podcast. Because then we can really just take it there. We can move into it.

[Lacey Mosley]

We really be here all day. Like, I don't understand. Me and Sid be on the phone sometime four or five hours. So this is. We're gonna. We're gonna stop now. We're gonna spare you.

[Sydney Washington]

I love you.

[Lacey Mosley]

Thank you, thank you. I love you. But we always ask before you go, where do you want to be found? Anything on a plug? People can see you live. All the things.

[Sydney Washington]

Yes. I mean, yeah. As we talk about engagement and whatnot. Yeah. Follow me on Instagram. Follow me on Instagram. JustSydBW. I have my Black Barbie stories that I do.

[Lacey Mosley]

They're very fun.

[Sydney Washington]

I have a one woman show called how to Start a Fire that I'm doing in LA and all around. So please, yeah, follow me to find out about things that I'm doing and support me, please.

[Lacey Mosley]

Yes. And you can follow Sid because she's making content. She's making the hahas and the hehes. She's giving the girls the yuck yucks. Ok. It's very funny over there.

[Sydney Washington]

Okay?

[Lacey Mosley]

It's not just for clout. It's also. You're going to get something out of it, as always. Guys, follow me. Maybe you'll see my page. Instagram is not fucking with me. D I V A L A C I D V on all platforms. Follow this podcast to see all of the photos, including Pepperoni Stargate at Scam Goddess Pod on Instagram and also on Twitter. And always, guys, snitch on your friends and family. Just make sure the scam is retired so we don't fuck up your bag. Scam got his [e-mail]. congregation, stay scheming. Scam Goddess. This has been an Earwolf production in association with Team Coco. Scam Goddess stars and is hosted by me, Lacey Mosley, AKA Scam Goddess. It's produced by Judith Cargbo, Engineered by Marina Paiz and researched by Kalen Brandt. Stay Scheming.

[C]

This has been a Team Coco production in association with Earwolf. This is Comedy Bang Bang the Podcast the promo and in 30 seconds I'm gonna tell you why you should check out the show. I the host Scott Aukerman, have a lighthearted conversation with famous celebrities like Jon Hamm, Alison Williams, Phoebe Bridgers, Jason Alexander, Natasha Lyonne, Bob Oden, Kirk, just to name a few. Few things go a little off the rails when different eccentric characters and oddballs drop by to be interviewed as well. Each week is a blend of conversations and character work from your favorite comedians, as well as some new hilarious voices. Comedy Bang Bang the Podcast Listen every Monday wherever you get your podcasts.

[Lacey Mosley]

My name is Lily and I've had Hydrodinitis suprativa HS for years. I finally found some relief since taking Cosentyx. Relief means I can show up more.

[C]

Cosenty Secukinumab is prescribed for adults with moderate to severe Hidradenitis supra tiva. Don't use if you're allergic to Gosentyx before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Like tuberculosis or other serious bacteria, bacterial, fungal or viral infections, some are fatal. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms like fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough had a vaccine or planned to, or if inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, serious allergic reactions and severe eczema like skin reactions may occur. Learn more at 1-844-cosentix or cosentyx.com Ask.

[Lacey Mosley]

Your dermatologist about Cosentyx.