There Are No Girls on the Internet

News Roundup: BAFTAs Racial Slur, Nicki Minaj Bot Network, and More

Host: Bridget Todd (iHeartPodcasts)
Date: February 28, 2026

Episode Overview

This news roundup episode dives into major recent events at the intersection of marginalized voices and online culture. Bridget Todd and co-host Mike discuss the uproar over a racial slur broadcast during the BAFTAs (British Academy Film Awards), Nicki Minaj's alleged right-wing bot network, facial recognition tech controversy at Meta, the Pentagon's standoff with AI company Anthropic, a TikTok “psychic” facing defamation trial for spreading false murder accusations, and harsh new anti-trans legislation in Kansas. Throughout, Bridget and Mike center the lived experiences and cultural contributions of marginalized communities, exposing the structural failures and bad actors behind these stories.

1. BAFTAs Racial Slur Broadcast Controversy

[02:28 – 31:46]

The Incident

• John Davidson, a Scottish Tourette syndrome activist, attended the BAFTAs to celebrate a film inspired by his life. He has coprolalia, a Tourette’s symptom causing involuntary uttering of obscenities.
• While Delroy Lindo and Michael B. Jordan (Black artists presenting and celebrated for the film "Sinners") were on stage, Davidson involuntarily shouted the N-word twice.
• This moment was broadcast and widely circulated on social media, causing visible distress to those on stage.
• Sinner’s production designer, Hannah Beachler, also experienced this backstage.

Institutional Failure

• Bridget: “I feel like the BAFTAs invited him to a dance and then did not dance with him. And real inclusion does not pit different marginalized groups’ needs against each other.” (12:45)
• Floor managers warned only the live audience about potential outbursts, offering no specificity or prior notice to nominees.
• Bridget: “This is a ballroom full of a-list celebrities for an international primetime broadcast... This isn’t neighborhood theater.” (14:20)
• Davidson reported being told his tics wouldn’t reach the stage and would be edited from the tape-delayed broadcast; a microphone was placed directly in front of him, which he found questionable.

Editorial Double Standard

• Despite assuring tics would be edited, the broadcast only censored select outbursts (e.g., “pedophile” at host Alan Cumming).
• Meanwhile, anti-genocide and "Free Palestine" remarks by Canola Davies Jr. were cut, as was “piss off” from Paul Thomas Anderson’s speech—while the N-word remained.
  • Bridget: “Who would want that message in their broadcast... the N-word being shouted, that’s fine, make it make sense.” (22:24)
• Warner Bros. (studio behind “Sinners”) immediately requested the slur be cut; BAFTAs claimed editors “couldn’t hear” from their production truck.

Inter-community Harm and Call for Accountability

• Bridget: “Black folks are not going to let this shit go. It's Black History Month. We have a fascist in the White House... We're not standing for this.... every Black person in that audience and watching at home deserves better. And Davidson deserves better. The Tourette's community deserves better.” (28:44)
• The team demands institutional accountability—not scapegoating Davidson.
• Emphasizing disparities in US and UK Black community reactions, and the need to “stay on the BAFTAs’ and BBC’s neck” for answers and change.

2. Meta’s Smart Glasses Facial Recognition Controversy – “Nametag”

[31:53 – 40:36]

• Meta reportedly plans to roll out facial recognition on their smart glasses, with the internal code name “nametag”:
  • Bridget: “As is the case with a lot of this kind of stuff, even though it’s horribly invasive, dangerous surveillance technology, they have to give it a cutesy name.” (32:26)
• Internal docs show Meta planned to shield the rollout by marketing it as an accessibility tool for the disabled community, possibly debuting at a blind users’ conference.
• Meta also planned the timing for public distraction during periods of political upheaval (e.g., federal immigration crackdowns).
• Women’s safety organizations warn that this technology will enable domestic abusers to stalk women, giving any wearer the ability to identify and access info about someone in public, without consent.
  • Bridget: “Whatever happened to some sort of consent-based system?... These people don’t give a shit about consent.” (36:35)
• The Glasses Nearby app is one resistance tool to alert people if someone nearby uses Meta Glasses.
  • Developer Y. J. Renaud: “I consider it to be a tiny part of resistance against surveillance technology.” (38:56)
• Documentation of already documented abuses: filming women without consent in massage parlors, etc.

3. Anthropic, the Pentagon, and AI Ethics

[43:26 – 52:12]

• Anthropic, a “safety-minded” AI company, is in a $200M contract with the Pentagon, but has imposed two restrictions:
  1. Their AI may not be used for fully autonomous weapon systems (no killer robots).
  2. Their AI may not be used for mass surveillance against Americans.
• Bridget: “These seem like very reasonable restrictions to me. If anything, they do not go far enough.” (45:34)
• Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is unwilling to accept these, threatening to invoke the Defense Production Act to seize Anthropic’s technology.
  • Bridging to concerns about US democracy and the risk to historically-targeted communities from AI-powered state violence.
• As of this episode, Anthropic holds firm: “Using these systems for mass domestic surveillance is incompatible with democratic values.... We cannot in good conscience accede to their request.” (49:52)
• Mike: “It’s hard to look at all this and not feel like they are intending to use it for mass domestic surveillance. Like, they say they aren’t, but they’re liars.” (50:54)

4. Anti-Trans Legislation in Kansas – Driver’s Licenses & “Bathroom Bounty”

[52:12 – 59:24]

• Kansas passed a law invalidating any driver's license that doesn’t list sex assigned at birth, with immediate effect ("no grace period"). It also empowers public to sue trans people (“Bathroom Bounty Bill”).
• This is part of a national escalation—federal passport rules, and similar moves in Texas, Florida, Indiana—to push trans people out of public life by denying accurate documentation.
• Exclusive commentary by attorney Brittany Stewart [54:50 – 57:57]:
  • “It was terrifying driving... worried that a small town cop might pull me over, see that my sex marker doesn't match my appearance, and use it as a reason to abuse me.... This is reality. We trans people only make up about 1% of the population, so we need our allies to get loud, march in the streets for us, occupy the Kansas Capitol building for us, fight back.... This is the beginning of a trans genocide....” (57:07)
• Bridget urges allies to take action.

5. TikTok “Psychic” Faces Defamation Trial for Idaho Murders Accusation

[62:14 – 66:53]

• Texas TikTok personality Ashley Goulard, claiming psychic abilities, used over 100 videos to accuse University of Idaho professor Rebecca Schofield of murder in the high-profile 2022 student murder case.
• Schofield, the actual subject, never met any of the victims and was not in the state at the time.
• TikTok ignored cease and desist letters, causing Schofield PTSD and career harm.
• Goulard claims First Amendment and religious freedom (tarot reading) as defense.
• Bridget: “I think this case is a kind of sign of the times... when platforms won’t really police this kind of thing and the law hasn’t really caught up, the only tool that we’re seeing people have is to just sue.” (64:50)
• Bridget shares personal trauma from a friend's murder being treated as content by the media ("...Nancy Grace... blamed my good friend for her own murder…"). (66:53)
• Broader critique: True crime social media creates a climate where strangers feel entitled to spread wild, ungrounded accusations, furthering real harm.

6. Nicki Minaj’s Right-Wing Bot Network Revelation

[66:53 – 83:42]

• Nicki Minaj’s recent alignment with right-wing figures (public appearances with Trump, pro-Trump/Turning Point USA content) is being amplified by a coordinated bot network.
• Cyabra report (commissioned anonymously) found:
  • Over 18,000 bots drive pro-Minaj, right-wing posts on X.
  • In some cases, 56% of all comments on her political posts were from fake profiles (e.g., “lax76283656”).
  • Bots amplify posts with toxic content for engagement; toxic replies boost the algorithm’s spread.
  • Not all are bots: authentic conservative influencers also boost these campaigns.
• Bridget: “The point is to integrate into genuine, authentic conversations to increase credibility and visibility....” (77:17)
• Mike: “It’s such garbage... that [X] seems to be what it’s for: toxicity and hate and... really dumb.” (80:12)
• Nicki Minaj, despite public denials from Trump advisers and no direct comment, is likely benefiting from astro-turfed social engagement.

7. Quick Hits & Notable Moments

Black Internet Culture & the GIF

[83:42 – 84:40]

• Shout-out to Lisa Jalopter, Black woman engineer who helped create GIF animation tech—"Black women have been running Internet culture. Y'all just got here." (84:40)

Host Book Plug

[84:40 – 86:01]

• Bridget and Mike discuss their new audio book, “Love at First Prompt” about intimacy and AI, available for pre-order.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Bridget on intersectional harm at the BAFTAs:
  • “...real inclusion does not pit different marginalized groups’ needs against each other...” [12:45]
• Bridget on Meta’s plans:
  • “Whatever happened to some sort of consent-based system? ...these people don’t give a shit about consent.” [36:35]
• Brittany Stewart on Kansas law:
  • “We trans people only make up about 1% of the population, so we need our allies to get loud... This is the beginning of a trans genocide.” [57:07]
• Bridget on bot networks:
  • “The point is to integrate into genuine, authentic conversations to increase credibility and visibility…” [77:17]
• Bridget on Black internet culture:
  • “Black women have been running Internet culture. Y’all just got here.” [84:40]

Key Timestamps

• BAFTAs Racial Slur Discussion: 02:28 – 31:46
• Meta Smart Glasses & Surveillance: 31:53 – 40:36
• Anthropic & Pentagon/Future of AI: 43:26 – 52:12
• Kansas Anti-Trans Law & Testimony: 52:12 – 59:24
• TikTok Psychic Defamation Case: 62:14 – 66:53
• Nicki Minaj Bot Network Unveiled: 66:53 – 83:42
• Black History, GIF, and Internet Culture: 83:42 – 84:40

Tone

• Bold, unapologetic, and grounded in advocacy for marginalized voices
• Deeply personal at times; Bridget shares lived experiences and encourages solidarity and direct action
• Critical and direct, particularly toward institutions and tech companies

Conclusion

This packed episode underscores the ways online and institutional systems perpetuate harm, and centers the need for accountability. Bridget and Mike dig deep—calling out both the “big picture” forces and individual actors, from the BAFTAs and Meta, to Nicki Minaj and beyond. Above all, they urge listeners to support marginalized communities, push for real change, and remember: the internet’s soul belongs to the voices the mainstream too often overlooks.