Hello and welcome to Outspoken, your dose of the hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm Amy Torbert and I'm joined by my sisters and journalists Kate and Sophie. On today's show, Daddy bloger Brad Kerns is owned by his stepmother. In awkward clapback the Kardashians over the top Easter celebrations, Sky Wheatley snubbed from Big Brother and cashed up Coachella. But first, you may have noticed that our podcast artwork has changed. We have officially rebranded,
which is very exciting. Hopefully it's an upgrade from the paint esque album art cover that Amy created. I didn't do it on painted it on photo shop well that it was looking rather unprofessional. So well, that old photo was taken in Amy's family room. We removed everything off the wall so we had a white background, and yeah, it wasn't looking good. But thank you so much for everyone's really lovely feedback on the photo. Most people seem to be liking it, so we really appreciate the support.
It was pretty funny because a few people said they wanted to hear about the behind the scenes of this photograph. And how we ended up picking this particular photo and we decided we wanted to get a professional to do it this time.
So we got the amazing.
Adelai photographer Josh Gleeson to take the photos, and he was hilarious and he really did have his work set out for him, because we are not great at being photos. To be fair, Amy, you kindly put together a bit of a mood board. And if you look up most podcasts, most podcasts have two people in the cover artwork.
It's often not three people.
And so you were looking into examples of three people posing and you sent across all these photos where.
These women were doing these like blue steal looks, but you were more thinking smiles. Well, no, there was only one photo of smile. They were all very moody, and you sent this through to.
Josh, and you more meant that you wanted the bodies aligned like that. Anyway, he got a totally different vibe. So when we arrived, he was forcing us to do all these blue steal looks and I'm sorry, but my only look is smiling, like I cannot do anything else. And at one stage he asked us to give him a sexy look, and we were just like we just so we did not have that repertoire. And our boyfriend's like pissing themselves laughing when we told him, because yeah,
we're very much just a cheesy smile. I said to you guys before we went in, let's just let him know that we just want smiley photos. And you guys are like, no, nah, let's just you know, let's see what he'sal I did love it because there was this shot that's probably never going to make her onto the internet. It was beautifully shot by him, but we just looked ratshit in it, and it.
Looks like we're stuned mullets.
It's basically us sitting on a couch and so so sitting on the actual couch and Kate and I are on the back of the couch and we're.
All holding cool photos. Yeah, all holding hands in this weird way. It is so bad. We didn't even want to share our boyfriends. It's so embarrassing. Well, you actually came up.
With the idea Amy for the photo that we actually chose, and it was actually one of the last photos we took. And Amy had this idea that she wanted to be holding a microphone and you spent hours. We went down to km up bought you know, a ten dollar microphone and you is it b jazzed bejazzled it. It didn't take me hours. Approb took a half an hour anyway, and we were too embarrassed to get our props out because we're like, does this look blame that we've booked propped with us?
Anyway, it ended up working out quite well.
So that tea too cut paid for itself. I drag anyway, my Diamond Aaron came up and the O Janet.
It's fun those kid Nay.
The Kardashians are well known for their over the top parties, but the Easter celebrations this year have divided opinions. Amy, can you tell us more so? Chris Jennet channeled her in at Easter Bunny this year and transformed her home into.
Every child's dream Now.
I follow a number of the Kardashian Jenna clan on Instagram and almost every Insta story was the same. So Chris had set up quite arguably the most instagrammable Easter table. So there were large personalized chocolate eggs set up on the table for each family member and the theme of the decorations was pastor, so there were beautiful pastel eggs, flowers, and Easter themed sweet food everywhere, and there were even
massive gumball machines set up. So these appeared to be a gift from Kylie Jenner to stormyt Chicago, True and Dream, and at first.
I was a little bit confused.
Why the boys didn't get one too, But then I noticed that there were also four bikes set up, and presumably they were for the boys. I know a few of our listeners were confused because we posted this in our Facebook community, and then a lot of them were saying, I wonder if the gumble machines were just hired out, because surely the Kardashians wouldn't allow that to be in their house all year round.
I don't think it would fit their aesthetics truly.
I don't know if you saw, but the kids also received massive hampers from Christian and so did all of the parents. And I must add there were no Humpty Dumpty or cream eggs in sight at this Kardashian Easter extravaganzer. Now, if they were from Australia, they'd be having hags in those baskets.
I think and I noticed they did an Easter egg hunt.
And you know, normally you buy the bag of cab or the bag of Lynch chocolates. They had these plastic eggs which had toys in the middle of it. I hit them for Archie. Actually on Easter morning? Did they have toys?
Though?
Now they had Smackos in them?
I thought you were going to say they had cash in them.
Didn't we have a friend?
Yeah?
It was family hid cash around the house. It was one of Brandon's friends from school. Yeah, they had a Instead of Easter eggs, it was money around the backyard. That's just obscene. Now, obviously this was extremely over the top and not your average Easter celebration, so a lot of people jumped online to slam the Kardashians for being wasteful. There were a lot of comments saying that the Kardashian kids were going to become spoilt brats, and to be honest, like,
is there a chance that they're not at all? I mean, like, this isn't the only stuff that they get spoilt with, Like this is probably just very subpar normal for them.
I mean, have you seen their Christmas? I know, but to be honest, as well.
I mean, those kids aren't hanging out with the normal kids in the school yard, aren't they. They're hanging out at schools of other very wealthy families. Oh I can't. I completely agree with this person's sentiment though, because can
you imagine growing up thinking that that's normal. I actually couldn't believe the Easter baskets they had because there were so many toys and it was just so much excess, And it did make me feel sick thinking the amount of stuff that was just going to be thrown in the bin, because if you're a Kardashian child, I'm sure on the daily you're getting lots of presents, and yeah,
I just just made me feel uncomfortable. It did make me think, imagine if Mason, who's caught his son, imagine if he ended up marrying a normal and in quotations, I say normal, normal person and he went to their Easter Day and he was just like.
What the fuck?
Like where personalized hampers. Now, while there was a lot of criticism about the Kardashians Day, there was also a lot of support for the lavish Easter, and I know I personally enjoyed having that fly on the wall access to their celebration, and to be honest, I got a kick out of seeing how the other half live because it's just so different to what we do on the day. I just find it so fascinating. What did you guys
actually think about it? Well, I'm a person that loves celebrating things like I just love organizing events and I love buying people presents, So I kind of think about it. If I had all that money, I'd probably do the same thing, but I probably would juxta position it with then donating a lot of things to charity or you know, maybe doing something for the environment that counteracted all.
The use of the plastic.
I mean.
The thing is, a lot of people were saying, oh, they shouldn't be wasting all that money, they should be donating it to charity. But the thing is, the Kardashians actually do donate a lot of money to charity, and they also do a lot of charity work, but they just don't publicize it. The thing is a lot of people are saying it's tone deaf because we're coming out of a pandemic and a lot of people have lost jobs and can't afford to celebrate Easter and I totally
understand that. However, social media is a form of escapism.
That's the thing.
I feel like the Kardashians can spend their money however they want to. But you do have to admit that the food that they had made for that party was extremely wasteful. And I've always wondered what happens to all of the food and decorations once the celebration is over.
So I did do a bit of.
Digging, and I found that Chloe Kardashian had previously answered a tweet from a fan asking that very question. So Chloe said, the day call is normally rented, but anything personal like the quote science, I have in storage for another function one day. The food leftovers always gets donated to a food bank or church. Sometimes the food may go elsewhere, depending on the situation. So that made me
feel a little bit better about the situation. I feel like they're so savvy they're not going to be throwing it in the bin.
So where are the gumball machines gone?
Are they just going into storage? Surely they're not taking them. Surely they didn't eat all of the gumballs or chocolate in them. I just think it is so on brand for the Kardashian to do something this lavish.
And I, for one, I don't know.
I'm just on the train of enjoying it rather than criticizing them for it. Yeah, especially if they're putting in measures where the food is donated and that they are renting things and reusing them.
All right, it's the bomb McDonald.
So Dramatic has revealed that Sky Wheatley was dropped last minute from appearing on this season of Big Brother Back to the Future, which is set to feature Australia's favorite former housemates Amy Can you tell us more? Yeah? Well.
Journalists Meg and Pisetto revealed Big Brother producers had initially included Sky in the lineup, but were forced to drop her from the show after she made controversial comments about her partner Lockie listeners will remember back in September, Sky was asked in an Instagram Q and A who was more dominant in the bedroom out of her and her partner. Sky responded saying, ha ha, me, but only when he's mad and says he doesn't want to have sex. Ain't nobody telling me no? I won't take no for an
answer if I want sexy time. Now, these comments led to heavy backlash online, so it's not surprising producers chose to drop Sky. I'm a bit surprised, though, because I thought that they would want to ride the controversy, and Sky is always in the news for saying controversial things. She would have gone into the house and offended people and it would have got them a lot of attention. So it really surprised me that they cut her. I would have really liked to see her in the house,
to be honest. Although I would have loved to see her on the show, I really respect the fact that Big Brothers producers got rid of her because I think that for so long many followers have been questioning why she never receives any sort of backlash, or not backlash, but any repercussions for her behavior, because there's just been a string of stupid shit that she said, and the brands don't seem to drop her. She seems to get
no punishment from it. So I think that this is quite just and I think maybe it'll make her think twice about making, you know, just chucking up a stupid comment on Instagram that has the potential to hurt people who are viewing it.
My name is jama Ja apastrophe. Mie weird name, I know, but you'll get used to it. Yes, I come from one of the most expensive private girls schools in the state, but I am actually really cool.
Controversial Australian daddy blogger Brad Kerns has been called out online by his stepmother. The drama began when Brad complained his parents dressed him in big w clothes as a child. The drama showcases the real life impact of influencers, over sharing and the imbalance of power. Firstly, Sophie. For those who don't know who are the Kerns family well, Brad and Sarah Kerns attracted a following on social media when Sarah was admitted to hospital shortly after her son Finn's birth.
Now.
While Sarah was in hospital, Brad began to share posts detailing the difficulties of looking after their other two children, Knox and Teddy, and taking on the role of mum. Now that was the catalyst for Brad's Instagram account called dad Mum, which has now attracted over ninety four thousand followers. While his wife Sarah is an influencer in her own right with over eighty one thousand followers. On Instagram now.
Before making it big on social media, the couple previously worked as police officers on the central coast of New South Wales. The couple are well known online injecting humor into their posts and often joke about the reality of living with a partner and complain about each other's little quirks.
Now Brad has divided opinions online. While some followers love him, others criticized him for perpetuating stereotypical gender roles, especially when it comes to household chores, and he was in hot water recently after he shared a selfie on his Instagram story doing laundry at a hotel. In the caption, he told followers he became the chief laundry officer once per year and asked whether he deserved beers for doing it. A follower wrote in, saying once per year, no beers
earn and no hero. Stereotypical gender roles still in play with the washing it seams now. Brad publicly responded, saying I'm going to introduce a daily asshole leaderboard for this crap from now on. Thanks for the passive, aggressive, incorrect, ignorant and downright rude message, I said, Chief once per year, not that I'd do it once per year. Now, Amy, can you tell us about this latest controversy that has unfolded?
Yeah?
Well, the latest controversy erupted last week when bradshard a post on the couple's dad Mum Facebook account discussing his childhood. In the post, he claimed he doesn't have a birth certificate and had to stop playing football when he was younger because he needed one to register to be part of the team. He also discussed going without as a child. He wrote, I remember on mufty Days, which is known as casual days elsewhere or carnivals, I choose to stay home instead.
It was because I.
Didn't want to wear my big w clothes to school. I was always self conscious of that stuff. I'd bleach my own shirts and wash them daily because I hated the thought of them being yellow. I repainted the same BMX every year from twelve to seventeen, just so it didn't look like the same one at the skate park. I'd borrow my friend's sports gear or old boots because I didn't really have my own. There are things from childhood that are still so vivid. The things have followed me into parenthood.
They do. You can't avoid it, no matter how silly it is.
He then went on to say that he refused to let his kids wear secondhand clothes, even if it's uniform spares.
He then finished off by saying.
I'm just a kid who wants to make sure his kids never feel like he sometimes did. What has caused so much attention is that his stepmom commented under the post, claiming that his recollection of his childhood was untrue and that she worked hard to provide the things that she gave him. She then went on to make claims that Brad was a rebellious teenager.
She also alleged that.
He had taken part in other behavior that for legal reasons, we won't go into. I just think this whole saga is a really good example of what happens when influencers overshare.
I mean, we all know that a big part.
Of being a successful influencer is being authentic and transparent, and this pushes so many influencers to tell detailed stories
about their lives. But I think it's really important to remember that these stories are coming from their own perspective, and that is where this imbalance of power comes in and It's really not for us to say whether or not Brad's recollection of events are true, but it's clear his family don't agree with the picture he is painting, and it is evident there is an ongoing family rift and it's sad to see this all playing out online.
I mean, Brad has opened up previously and said he doesn't have a relationship with his extended family because they don't talk to him, and I can only imagine how upsetting it would be from his family's perspective having information which they deem as untrue posted to Brad's large following. Yeah, it just seems really unfair for influencers with large followings to be able to share these private details that do
have implications for others. And it seems like it gets to a point where families want to set the record straight and the only way that they can do this is by talking publicly on social media.
And I think that we are going to.
Begin to see more and more instances like this where influencers families try to set the record straight or have their say on the matter. I do remember last year we saw Georgia Love's stepmom come out and write some pretty public comments about Georgia's so I agree. So if I think we are going to see more and more of this play out online, I think the really tricky part is that a lot of these family members don't have large social media platforms themselves, so they don't have
the same reach that their famous family members do. Therefore, I can sort of see why if you're a disgruntled family member, you might feel tempted to go and comment on the influencer in questions posts because that's where a lot of their engaged audience are. However, in most instances, influencers will quickly moderate the comments, but these days people are so quick to screenshot and share the comments on influencer forums, so quite often these messages do actually cut
through to the mainstream. The thing is one of the only options family members have to silence their influencer family members or to put their side of the story out. There is also suing for defamation to set the records straight, and we all know just how expensive legal dramas like that are, so I can see why people are resorting to clearing their name online.
That's the thing.
This isn't really a new thing. For years, celebrities have had family dramas, and before everyone had a rite of reply on social media, it was quite common for celebrities family members to come out and write memoirs of their famous family members' lives, and recently we did see it
with Britney Spears's sister Jamie Lynn. That's right, and I mean, this whole thing got me thinking about how much influencers put into creating their online personas, because you hear a lot of discussions about how influencers appear larger than life
on their stories, when in actual fact they're introverts. And there's obviously a recipe to becoming a successful influencer, and clearly a big part of that is building a strong parasocial relationship with your followers, and one big way to do this is of course sharing personal details about their lives, which makes their audience feel connected. And I think the more personal experiences better in a lot of cases, so
things that other people can relate to. And I do agree, I really think that influencers can benefit from projecting a rags to riches's story, So it's easy for audiences to turn on influences once their lives start looking different from their own, and we often do see this underdog influencer getting all the love when they first start out. However, once they make it and start earning the big bucks and moving into mansions, audiences suddenly begin to get jealous
and no longer relate to their lives. So once certain influencers do make it big, I think that they do benefit from trying to portray their previous lives as relatable or misfortune, so there is still that element of relatability. Yeah, I agree, now, Sophie, I know you took great offense to Brad backing out vic W clothes, because I haven't
heard you stop going on about it. I just thought this was a really bizarre element to the story, particularly because a lot of parent bloggers and mummy bloggers their staple is working with bread like Big W. Target came up those sort of brands that a lot of families can afford, and personally for us, Big W was a staple in our wardrobe when we were going through primary school, and I think these days that those sort of chains are bringing out really cool clothes for kids that are
affordable for family. So I was surprised that he was shitting on Big W a bit. And also it has been brought to my attention that he did do a collaboration with Big W when they brought out a Disney range of pajamas. So I do think it's quite interesting. I mean, he could have just said crappy clothes or
no brand and clothes. He didn't have to specify Big W just thin Devil's advocate, though, So I do think with the rise of social media, kids are more judgmental than ever about the clothes they wear, and also the clothes other children wear. So I can actually understand this notion of wanting to give his children the things that he didn't have, all the things he felt like he missed out on. But perhaps he just hasn't gone about
it the right way. With this blog post, how do you become an Instagram influencer?
You just got to like pull yourself out a little bit and travel and like live your best life and not care what people's thing.
Now, what do you influence people to do?
Do you think probably come to like events like this and waste their money.
After a two year hiatus, Cachella returned and it seemed like the world was back to normal. Influencers flocked the event and flooded our feeds with selfies and rules to make us jealous. However, it seemed like something had changed. Kate, what do you think it was? I think our attitude towards influencers has changed so much since the pandemic that every influencers content just looked like a blatant ad, particularly for fast fashion brand.
And I don't know if.
It's my age, but I just looked at every photo and couldn't get over how stupid the fashion looked. And I just feel like, yeah, it's a place to be seen. It's the perfect backdrop for influencer brand endorsements, and it's just so obvious that they're all there to cash in and make a lot of money, whether it's a free trip a paid promotion, and it's just hard for me to sort of look at that content and enjoy it anymore.
I reckon it would be the best place for people watching, except I wouldn't actually want to have to be out there amongst the crowds, because remember we used to joke with our best friend Owen that we'd love to own a bar, but we'd love to sit up in an office and have one of those reversible those mirrors control room. Yeah, well you can see out, but they can't see in and you just sit in your trackie dacks and.
Just people watch.
Yeah, well you probably could have worn your trackie jacks and a bra to coach Oller. Okay, just some of the clothes were ridiculous, and yeah, I'm not I'm probably so out of fashion, but I was just looking at the stuff. I'm like, how could you wear that all day? It looked so uncomfortable. So just a bra, trackie dacks and body glitter is that basically all it was? Yeah, basically in some very ninety pigtail hairstyles. Now it doesn't fit in daytails. So if you're my look the high
school was that we weren't. We're not that old that we were in high school on the nineties. Amy just putting it out there. Yeah, well, do you guys think it's still a cool place to be or do you
just look like a sellout now? It was interesting because The New York posted a story outlining the day in the life of an influencer at Coachella, and they interviewed a US influencer about her Coachella schedule, and it was pretty funny because she said, despite the fact that it's the fourth time she's attended the event, she still is yet to attend a performance because she's too busy creating content.
She said she wakes up around seven am to get a hair, makeup and look sordid before attending a series of brand activations and parties, and spends hours editing videos and photos to send to brands for approval, and by the time the performers take to the stage around sundown,
she is absolutely exhausted now, she said. With her reach of one hundred and eighty six thousand followers, she can make upwards of ten thousand dollars on Coachella, so she charges two thousand dollars for a no frills photo and three thousand, five hundred for an Instagram video reel. She explained though, that brands usually want more than just a post from Coachella. She said, they want you to attend the event. They also want you to do stories. They
may want multiple posts. They want you to post even before Coachella leading up to it, so there's more opportunity to make more money now. CEO of Obviously, which is an influencer marketing agency, was also quoted in this article, and he said Kachella is so big it's probably the
biggest festival and the biggest festival for influencers. Everyone is there and wants to make a deal and wants to be with the best brands, and the brands want as many influencers as possible to be part of their activations, so they're actively recruiting influencers. So, just to explain how it all works, brands provide influences with free accommodation, airfares and festival passes in exchange for promotional posts, and in the case of this US influence, the brands are also
paying her for additional content like photos and videos. And the thing is, even if you don't get a free, all expenses paid trip, there a lot of influencers go and pay their own way because it's all a matter of relevancy. Attending Coachella makes you relevant. And I thought it was really interesting to take a look at how some brands approached Coachella this year. So there is a fintech company called Willer and they use Coachella as a
launching pad for their influencers only airline. So the company found success by creating an app that allows social media creators and freelancers to easily get paid by agencies and brands, and they made a lot of money of that. So they've now launched what they're calling Willer Air, which is essentially a private jet higher service just for influencers. So to create excitement, they launched a competition for twelve influencers
to win flights to Coachella. Now the package included a pre flight lounge in Venice Beach with a concierge check in and champagne breakfast. Now on the website it said that they provide adaptogenic beverages. Now I had to go google this term because I had no idea what it means. And for those people like me who have no clue, these beverages have ingredients in them like mushrooms and herbs that counteract the effects of stress.
On the bottom.
So they're actually not allowed in Australia, so I don't know about them. Is that because it's so stressful to be an influencer or the stress of flying?
I have no idea.
Probably a bit of from column A and a bit from column B. Now, post festival, the airline provides influencers with recovery IV drips at the departure lounge and future trips are likely to include New York Fashion Week. Now, another brand that generated headlines was Revolved, so they developed a Coachella adjacent two day festival which influences compared to the Fire Festival. Now, if you were on Instagram last week, you definitely would have seen photos at this event, which
is in its fifth year of existence. So while it's not an official Coachella event, it is the place to be with k K. Kardashian and Kendall Jenna in attendance. So previously the event has been invite only. However, this year it appears Revolve extended invites to micro influences and essentially oversold the events. So basically, micro influencers weren't treated the same as big influences, with some asked to pay two thousand dollars for spot on the invite list. So
Kate what happened that caused so much controversy? Well, unfortunately, the event wasn't as picture perfect as it was made out to be on Instagram because there were reports online that the event was mismanaged. So the only way you could actually get to the Revolve festival is if you took one of their specific shuttles to the grounds. So Apparently the logistics started to get dangerous, with people shoving to get on the buses because there weren't enough buses
for the people. And as time passed, things escalated, with influencers apparently screaming at each other about who was more important and thus deserved the transport, And apparently there were security guards that tried to get involved and people are screaming like, no, I've got a million followers, and the security guards were like, I don't even know who these
people are. There were also claims that influencers were feeling dizzy and didn't have any water, and apparently people were passing out in the heat, and it got so much for some influencers that they didn't even make it to the festival. Now the designer clothing brand was forced to issue an apology after they were accused of mismanaging the event. However, influencers didn't receive the sympathy they were hoping for from
the general public. They were they were mocked online and told to suck it up and that they were entitled. And I think the general public had a good point because influencers are given a free ticket for these lavish events, they're given free food, free drinks, designer clothes, It's the place to be.
So what did you guys think?
Did you feel sorry for the influencers or do you think they needed to suck it up a bit and just wait for the bus?
Is it bad that I've just kind of had some pleasure? I know that stuff. I think a lot of people did.
It was just pretty funny because I don't know, to imagine all of those influencers one trying to fit their egos in the bus, as well as obviously it being jam packed with too many people. It's just a funny thought, and particularly with people being like a gun one hundred thousand followers, it's just I don't know, just such a dick measuring competition on the bus.
It's pretty funny.
Now.
I was watching a lot of UK influencers at Coachella and did you hear this?
Goss?
So, do you guys remember Lucinda from UK Love Island?
Yeah? She was with Millie really really yeah.
So basically apparently Toby McGuire aka Spider Man approached her at Coachella. Why sumi Coachella or over DMS. She was just telling this story at Coachella and asked her.
Out and she didn't know, really, she didn't know who he was.
She she was joking that she'd be like, are you Lizzie Maguire's brother?
Oh my gosh.
But I was thinking I thought that he had a long term partner because I googled afterwards and it sounded like he had a long term model partner.
But I mean, he's a lot older than here. I think he's I think he's in his forties.
Well, that probably doesn't mean too much in these circles that they're moving in. On a more local front, I saw a picture of Jack from The Inspired Unemployed with Lucy from The Wild Ones, and I was like, are they suddenly an item? Because they looked quite cozy at Coachella. No, I think he's got a girlfriend. I think he's got a model girlfriend, so I'm assuming they're just friends. Oh my god. I saw this and I had to Google to be like, are they together or does he have another girlfriend?
Like I did a lot of in depth looking in.
I don't know why I cared so much, but I think a lot of people were also saying that it's kind of cool that two people who have really popular podcasts are becoming friends. I suppose it is pretty cool. What was also very cool to me was seeing the Meski twins hanging out with Saffron Barker, Like, I always find it weird when I see Australian influencers mixing with the UK ones. Does anyone else, Yeah, it is always a bit weird. I was quite jealous because I do
love Saffron. But the thing is, I always find that it's the influencers who have a lot going on that don't actually attend Coachella because they're so a bit of a burn that they don't need Coachella, you know what I mean, Like, they don't need Coachella to be we're talking about Molly May, because Molly May wasn't there, your Queen, Molly May was at home doing your house account. So well, I think that's all we have time for today. Thank
you so much for joining us for this episode. If you have enjoyed it, could you please make sure you subscribe on Apple Podcasts and also Spotify, And if you want to continue the conversation, you can join us in our Facebook community, which is Outspoken at the Podcast Community, or follow us on TikTok and Instagram. At the hand or Outspoken Underscore The Underscore Podcast,