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And ‘Creator of the Year’ Goes to…
CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #163 | August 29, 2023 On this week’s “Fear&” podcast Patreon exclusive episode with creators Will Neff, Hasan Piker, QTCinderella, and AustinShow, streamer QTCinderella (the founder of the Streamer Awards) loudly and proudly said, “Fuck the Streamys.” Why? After creating her own awards show specifically targeting categories of creators left out by…
By
Grace Stanley
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We Just Found Out Why Elon’s X is So Bad For Creators
CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #162 | August 24, 2023 Yesterday, Passionfruit’s “Reactorverse Podcast” host Eric Rodriguez uploaded a 2-minute hype video onto Twi…. *sigh* X. His fan edit took a scene from the new Disney+/Star Wars show “Ahsoka” — featuring iconic “Rebels” character Sabine Wren playing chicken on her speeder bike with two pilots — and…
By
Passionfruit
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Newsflash: It’s Not a Great Time to Be Making Music on the Internet
CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #161 | August 22, 2023 MediaMuv founders Jose “Chenel” Medina Teran and Webster “Yenddi” Batista Fernandez were sentenced yesterday to six and four years in prison, respectively. Their crime? 30 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, money-laundering and aggravated identity theft, taking place over the course of four years and netting the duo…
By
Drew Grant
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CriticGate and MovieTok’s Conflict of Interest
CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #160 | August 17, 2023 In an infamous AMC ad, Nicole Kidman wore a glorious sparkly pinstripe jumpsuit and made a good point: When watching movies, all of society comes together—and we are not just entertained, but transformed. Kidman, of course, was paid to say this. While we can appreciate the sincerity…
By
Grace Stanley
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Musk and Zuckerberg Pull a Page From Putin’s Playbook
CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #159 | August 15, 2023 Back in July 2022, amid an ongoing Dogecoin racketeering lawsuit and a court battle over the future of Twitter, Elon Musk took a little getaway to Mykonos on a $20,000-per-week luxury yacht. When topless photos of the richest man in the world were leaked by paparazzi, the…
By
Grace Stanley
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Creators: When Was the Last Time You Took a ‘No Bones Day?’
CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #158 | August 10, 2023 In European journalism circles, August is colloquially known as “Cucumber Season.” This, according to Passionfruit’s publisher James Del, is because traditionally, very little happens during the month to move the news media needle forward other than the ripening of certain long, green fruit. (Hey! Cucumbers are fruit!…
By
Drew Grant
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Internet Vengeance, Schadenfreude, and Bad Bosses
CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #157 | August 8, 2023 I don’t know about you, but I’ve had some really scummy, abusive bosses: I’ve had a producer scream with specks of spit flying at my face, slamming a door so loud it could be heard down the office block. I’ve been harassed on the job by men…
By
Grace Stanley
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SAG Bears the Mark of the (Mr)Beast
CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #156 | August 3, 2023 It’s not been a great week to be the world’s most popular YouTuber, Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast aka probably not the antichrist, who may or may not also be a scab? I mean sure, I MAY be inclined to think the worst on hearing that there are…
By
Drew Grant
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BookTok’s Hockey Smut Sexualization Problem
CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #156 | August 1, 2023 Ah, BookTok. A place heralded as a safe haven for young female readers—both feminist and not-so-feminist. It’s a place for some to connect over the revolutionary musings of Bell Hooks and Audre Lorde. A place to be a self-aware Sally Rooney sad girl, an unhinged satirical “My…
By
Grace Stanley
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What Makes a Career Content Creator?
CREATOR NEWSLETTER Issue #155 | July 27, 2023 Words mean something. It’s important to define your terminology—especially now, during Hot Labor Summer, with SAG, the WGA, and several non-Hollywood-based unions on strike. Unfortunately, in the case of SAG in particular, a lot of the terminology has gotten quite muddled, sometimes leading to conflicting responses. If…
By
Grace Stanley