Mia Sato
Appearances
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
Okay, so Sidney Gifford is suing Alyssa Scheel, claiming that Ms. Scheel is copying her. And this lawsuit is real and it is progressing?
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
Okay, the cases are unpredictable. We think we know where this will land. Like, the smart money says Sydney Gifford can't win. But if she does win, what could this change?
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
I'm Noelle King with Mia Sato. Mia writes about tech companies for The Verge. She broke the story of the sad beige influencer lawsuit, and she begins with the accuser, Sydney Gifford.
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
Right, like imagine being scared to wear beige. I mean, listen, I don't love beige, but I've learned many women do. Imagine being afraid to get on camera and show your beige house because somebody might sue you for it because your house looks too much like her house. This is crazy making.
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
I wonder whether or not the platforms bear any blame for these creators looking and sounding and talking alike and having the same vibe. Because if they're pushing stuff at you via an algorithm and you're seeing one person do it, you're seeing two people do it, you're seeing three people do it, you become the fifth or the sixth or the tenth.
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
Like, has anyone ever looked at, okay, the platforms are serving me a lot of sad beige content, and therefore they are responsible for me thinking, huh, sad beige, that's the way to do it?
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
Alex Roberts. She's a professor of media and law at Northeastern. Hadi Mouagdi produced today's show. Amina El-Sadi edited. Andrea Christen's daughter and Rob Byers are our engineers. And Laura Bullard is our senior researcher. Today Explained is made by Victoria Chamberlain, Avishai Artsy, Miranda Kennedy, Patrick Boyd, Peter Balanon-Rosen, Miles Bryan, Amanda Llewellyn and Travis Larchuk.
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
Today, Sean and I and the rest of the team are saying goodbye to Halima Shah, producer, reporter, fill-in host, and full-time woman of mystery. Halima reported for us on everything from refugee resettlement to the promise of psychedelics to Brazilian butt lifts and stolen bees. She forever raised her hand to cover the most challenging stories, and then she did so with heart and humor.
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
And what does Sydney Gifford say that the other woman is copying?
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
Their aesthetic is beige. It's serene. It's a little basic on purpose. And now one is suing the other for stealing her vibes.
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
Two influencers, both alike in dignity and some other stuff, on the internet where we lay our scenes.
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
OK. Wow. All right. So this is this is more dramatic than even I had realized. What is the aesthetic that Sydney Gifford is saying now?
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
Okay, so lest our listeners think there are no stakes here, these women are actually making money from their presentation on video, the aesthetic that surrounds them. Like, this is actually what they do for work.
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
Yes, it does. And now you have made me wonder whether or not they know each other in real life.
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
OK, so it's at this point that Sidney decides I'm going to sue. And what is the content of her lawsuit?
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
Yeah, both of us are basic. And a lot of people online, I mean, I've seen these videos of them and of others. A lot of people online are basic. It's an aesthetic, right? An aesthetic can't just be one person doing it because if it is, then it's not an aesthetic. It's like, oh, that girl's got good style.
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
But nowadays, everybody online is copying everybody else, whether it's like using someone's dance or their song or their clip or their meme. And then other people are just going to use it and repeat it and mess with it a little bit around the edges. How big could the implications be here if Sydney were to win?
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
That was The Verge's Mia Sato. Coming up, everybody's getting a lawyer. So we are, too.
Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
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Today, Explained
Beige, don't kill my vibe
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