Drew Afualo Gave An Update On Her Mental Health
To announce it, she posted an emotional five-minute video explaining the struggle of seeking validation from loved ones and the communities she works so hard to uplift. While Drew expressed her gratitude for the life she leads and the support she receives, it was time to step away for a minute and focus on herself.
Well, I recently sat down with the content creator for BuzzFeed's Voices of the Pacific series and asked her how she's doing now.
"I'm doing much, much better," Drew told BuzzFeed. "Thankfully, my break from TikTok was about six and a half, seven weeks, which was the perfect amount of detox time for me, especially around the holidays, too. My family and I love the holidays. That was the best time for me to take a break, really, because it got me offline and off my phone and really helped me feel a lot more present."
Her break was successful as she feels "genuinely refreshed" now — so lovely to hear! As much I love watching her viral take-downs of misogynists, I'd obviously prefer she takes the time when she needs it. Health first, always!
"I feel like myself again," she continued. "I feel a lot more connected to myself and a lot less connected to the internet. That was a huge reason why I took the break in the first place. I felt like the paradigm was shifting negatively, and so I needed to make sure I keep a finger on the pulse and make sure I take care of myself and my mental health."
"I'm feeling a lot better, feeling ready and raring to go. My 2025 so far has been nutty. So, I'm right back to work, right back to being super, super busy. I'm a Virgo. I love being busy. But thankfully, now that I've taken my break, I am very much so excited every time I have to work and stuff, which is always, but no burnouts. That's what I'm trying to avoid."
Drew also shared what she's got going on for the rest of the year, and I'm sooo looking forward to checking out these projects when they're announced.
"I have so many irons and so many fires. I'm focusing on TV and film a lot in 2025, which is very exciting, too. Doing more acting, which I'm nervous about but excited. And continuing to put my people on, that's always on the agenda every year. Lots of huge things. My dream ultimately would be to just continue to spread into all traditional forms of media and really solidify myself as a person in entertainment. That would be my ultimate dream, really, and to just continue doing what I love, which is being silly for a living. I love it!" she concluded with a laugh.
You can read Drew's full interview here.
And you can read our Voices of the Pacific interviews here.
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'90s Celebs Who Disappeared
Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community to share which '90s stars once seemed destined for greatness but have since faded from the spotlight — whether by choice or not. Here are 16 of their top responses: "Skeet Ulrich." —angrygoose681 Skeet was a '90s horror icon with his roles in Scream and The Craft. He continued to work steadily, but after his twins were born in 2001, he made them his priority. In 2005, he got a divorce and won custody of the kids, so he decided to be a stay-at-home single dad because he could afford it. In 2019, he told Fatherly, "Being a parent has driven me to make the decisions I've made. I did work, but I would only work in Los Angeles until Riverdale. The kids would be there with me. I hired a nanny once when I was doing the first season of Jericho. They were starting kindergarten, and I hired a nanny once more when I did Law & Order. That's it. A screaming kid is screaming for boundaries, screaming for something they know. They need a parent to step up." "Stuart Townsend, but that's his own fault because that ego is too big." —justineh4c2cc065d With his star on the rise, Stuart was set to play Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings in the early '00s. However, one day before filming began, he was replaced by Viggo Mortensen. He was reportedly fired for being difficult to work with, and Ian McKellan allegedly asked him if he even wanted to be there. However, Stuart has a different opinion on what happened. In 2005, he told Entertainment Weekly, "Two weeks ago I finally read an article where the filmmakers said, ''We were totally wrong about Stuart, and we accept that it was our fault,' which was so nice because I did get shafted up the ass. I was there rehearsing and training for two months, then was fired the day before filming began. After that, I was told they wouldn't pay me because I was in breach of contract due to not having worked long enough. I had been having a rough time with them, so I was almost relieved to be leaving until they told me I wouldn't be paid. I have no good feelings for those people in charge, I really don't. The director [Peter Jackson] wanted me and then apparently thought better of it because he really wanted someone 20 years older than me and completely different." "Rick Moranis is a famous example of this, albeit a bit more '80s than '90s. He had a very successful career, including Ghostbusters, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (and its sequels), Little Shop of Horrors, etc., but then he slowed down his work after his wife died of cancer so he could be a more attentive single parent to their two kids. Now the kids are grown, and we're all anxiously awaiting his return to our screens with the Spaceballs sequel! Also — shout out to his Barney Rubble in the live action Flintstones movie (it's worth a Google to remember that killer cast)." —braccolirob In 2015, Rick told the Hollywood Reporter, "I took a break, which turned into a longer break. But I'm interested in anything that I would find interesting. I still get the occasional query about a film or television role...I was working with really interesting people, wonderful people [in Hollywood]. I went from that to being at home with a couple of little kids, which is a very different lifestyle. But it was important to me. I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever. My life is wonderful." "Jonathan Taylor Thomas for sure! He was super talented and had that X factor about him. I wish he would make a comeback. The actor who played Jill on Home Improvement [Patricia Richardson] was on a podcast last year where she said she still spoke to him and said he has no desire to return to acting, and I respect him for that. I hope he is living his best life." —Anonymous, 39, Tennessee Jonathan exited Home Improvement before the series ended, appearing in only three episodes of the final season. Trading acting for academia, he attended Columbia, Harvard, and St. Andrew's University. In 2013, he told People, "I'd been going nonstop since I was 8 years old. I wanted to go to school, to travel, and have a bit of a sit in a big library amongst books and students — that was pretty cool. It was a novel experience for me." "Jamie Walters is now a firefighter, IIRC. He had a hit single and seemed to be a rising star, but he played Donna Martin's abusive boyfriend on 90210 so well that it damaged his career. He seemingly couldn't get hired." —abby-rose Jamie quit acting to become a firefighter in Los Angeles. In 2024, he told The US Sun, "A lot of years have gone by, and I don't think people are expecting when the fire department shows up that the guy in uniform might be somebody from a TV show in the '90s. I'm thankful that I was able to switch gears and do something that I'm proud of and that my kids find interesting and cool. I still have a lot of friends that are in that business, but it's a tough business. Unless you're doing well, it's a struggle to raise a family." "I started having second thoughts about this [acting] career path, and I'd always been interested in becoming a firefighter. The more I researched, I was like, oh man, it's hard to get this job. This is really competitive. It took like three years, the process, from the time you take the written and you have medical exams, background checks, psychological, more physical agility checks. I finally got my job offer to come to the training academy in 2003," he said. "Jasmine Guy." —Bulky-Cauliflower921 Best known for A Different World, Jasmine has continued working, mainly in smaller TV roles and made-for-TV movies. Following her divorce in 2008, she relocated to Atlanta with her daughter. In 2010, she told Creative Loafing, "I wasn't working enough in LA and kept leaving LA to work. When my daughter was younger, I had no issue with taking her out of preschool, since I know my colors and my ABCs, and could teach her those. But once she got older – she's 10 years old now – I had to decide what's the best lifestyle for her. Atlanta is easier for transportation, money, food, rent, jobs. And I found it more loving, more embracing. Because I grew up here, I knew what will happen for a young person who lives here. I found LA to be a more separate city, and I hated that separation. I want her to grow up around all kinds of people." "Bridget Fonda." —AllyBILM According to the Independent, Bridget Fonda retired from acting in 2002. She had actually signed on to a recurring role on The Practice in 2003, but after "miraculously" surviving a car accident a few weeks before the series went into production, she was replaced. In 2023, she reportedly told a paparazzo at an airport that she wouldn't return to acting because "it's too nice being a civilian." "Shane McDermott. A handful of TV appearances and one movie (with Jack Black and Seth Green), and he noped right out of Hollywood and became a realtor." —luxahoy Shane became known for his roles in Airborne, All My Children, and Swans Crossing. However, he reportedly stopped acting because he wanted to lead a simpler life and start a family. Now based in Texas, he's an artist as well as a realtor. "Leelee Sobieski. She was hugely popular in the '90s with films such as Deep Impact and Never Been Kissed. Then she retired from acting in the 2010s to focus on her family and art career. —gaelicmaiden In 2018, Leelee told AnOther, "A lot of the time when you work, it's a money project basically. I started paying the rent on our house when I was 15, so I had a lot of pressure and things got complicated for me… So when I could, I stopped. It's kind of a gross industry – well, they all are, when you examine them – but in acting, you're selling your appearance so much. I would cry every time I had to kiss somebody; I couldn't stomach it. I would think, 'I like this person, so I don't think they should pay me to kiss them,' or 'I don't like this person, so I don't want to kiss them. Why is my kiss for sale?' It made me feel really cheap." "It didn't matter whether people thought it was an admirable thing to do – in my soul I thought, 'My kiss is not for sale' – it might have been acting, but it was real for me as it was my first or third kiss, so it was confusing for me. I don't know why it's legal for a child to act unless they can sell oranges or whatever legally too. It's a crazy double standard, and that's super weird for me. Now that the #MeToo movement has come forward, people understand more that it's pretty gross and uncomfortable," she said. "Richard Grieco." —Jock7373 Richard is known for his roles in 21 Jump Street, Mobsters, and If Looks Could Kill. While he's done a few smaller acting roles over the years, he's also become known for his paintings. He describes his work as "Abstract Emotionalism." In 2012, he told Chron, "Dennis Hopper told me my artwork was too good to just hang on walls. He said I needed to get out and show it." "Richey Edwards." —lovelychicken23 The Main Street Preachers' lyricist and rhythm guitarist was known for his incredible talent as well as his outspokenness about social issues. However, he also very publicly dealt with mental health issues. In 1995, the day before the band's US tour was set to kick off, he disappeared. He left his hotel in London, dropped his passport, prescription, and credit card at his home in Cardiff, then drove to a service station near a bridge in the small town of Aust. The car was found at the station, but Richey was never seen again. In 2008, he was legally declared dead — something his parents had the option to do since 2002, but they held out hope that he'd faked his own death to escape the pressure of the spotlight. "Didn't Jason Patric kinda fizzle out?" —waxmuseums "Jason Patric decided very early on in his career that he wasn't interested in being famous at all — that happened when he dated Julia Roberts, and the spotlight was on both of them for a minute. He's still working in films today, and definitely had the talent and good looks to be a bigger star, but he maintained that he was just happier without the fame thing. There are some actors who love the work but just prefer not to be in the spotlight." —sappydark In 1992, while he was still dating Julia, Jason told the Oklahoman, "It's a persona that one has to deal with that's largely speculative and out of control. I don't subscribe to People magazine, and I don't know what George and Edna think in Illinois, but I haven't been invited over anyway. I've been forced into a glare at times that certainly was not my creation... The idea is that because you have fame or money, you have no right to privacy, that somehow that's been forfeited. If you go to the other end of the spectrum and say someone who makes under $20,000 a year has no protection and no privacy, you'd have your head handed to you. The idea of the human being has been forced out the window." And in 2003, he told the Irish Independent, "I knew dating [Julia] would be trouble. I just didn't know how much of an impact it would have on my privacy, because I'm such a private person. What happened was the ultimate nightmare. I'd worked for six years on my career to be as anonymous as possible, and in the space of a few weeks, I was one of the most public people in the world just because I was dating a famous person who enjoyed being in the media spotlight. There is celebrity that comes with fame. There's no question about it. I don't bemoan that. However, don't come into my house, don't bother me at a non-public event. But if I use my personal life to advance my fame, then I owe you my personal life. If I invite People magazine to the wedding, then they're invited to the divorce as well." "Edward Furlong." —Tasty-Celery9082 After rising to fame in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Edward reached teen idol status in the '90s. However, in the following decades, his career declined to mainly straight-to-DVD releases as he faced a series of substance abuse problems and legal issues, including a DUI and several alleged instances of domestic abuse. When he returned to the Terminator franchise in 2019, the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence director of programs, Jacquie Marroquin, told the Hollywood Reporter, "It's important not to sweep Edward Furlong's reported history of domestic violence under the rug just because he's returning to a beloved movie role... There are consequences for survivors, who may think twice about seeking help when they see people who harm gaining fame or power without being held accountable by their fans and peers." "Anybody remember Dan Cortese, the rock climbing himbo from Seinfeld?" —Aromatic-Bath-5689 Dan has worked consistently, but he dealt with typecasting. In 2009, he told Greg in Hollywood, "It is one of those things with television where it's, 'Dan's great at playing the good-looking, dumb guy, that's what he does. If you need a good-looking, dumb guy who can hit his mark and hit the punchline, he's your guy.' It is tough to play against type... I always want to play against type. The fact that I've basically made my living as a television actor. In television, you tend to get pigeonholed, where they'll be like, 'You know who we need for this? We need Dan because Dan plays that guy.' But I would love to have like a film role where I could play completely against type. I love dark movies; I like dark comedies. Anything like that." "Kari Wuhrer played the part of Gina Lempke in the Stephen King movie Thinner (1996) and was a part of the ensemble in Anaconda (1997). She also spent a year on Beverly Hills, 90210 in the mid-'90s. But I can't tell you the last time I heard her name." —Anonymous, 41, Pennsylvania Kari was a working actor through the '90s, '00s, and 2010s. She last appeared in the made-for-TV movie Fiancé Killer in 2018. She's active on Instagram, where she shares her life as a dedicated mother. And finally: "Jewel — she was so major, like Taylor Swift! And now nothing…" Jewel took a two-year hiatus following the success of her second album, and she later took a seven-year break before releasing her most recent album in 2022. She told Spin, "I couldn't psychologically adjust to the amount of fame that I got to. By the time I was on the cover of TIME, it didn't work for me. It was really psychologically crushing, and so giving myself two years to contemplate, 'How do I do this? Can I do this? Does this make me happy?' and developing a career and a strategy that upheld my number one goal, which was to make sure my mental health was the priority. Then my number two goal was I want to make the records I want, how I want, in the genre I want, that's going to be how it is. It's going to be an adventure." "The choices I made in my career, especially in the '90s, were considered suicidal–career suicide. Taking two years off at the height of my fame was a huge no-no. Switching genres was a huge no-no, but it's what I needed to do to keep myself psychologically healthy and creatively healthy. I had to deal with a lot of people saying, 'Oh, she's washed-up. She doesn't know what to do for her third album.' Completely misunderstood, and to make sure that didn't bother me, and that's your decision. It has to be water off a duck's back. You persevere because you believe you made the right decision," she said. Are there any other actors you thought would be major stars, but their careers never quite took off? Let us know in the comments (or in the anonymous comments box below)! Note: Some responses have been edited for length/clarity. Do you love all things TV and movies? Subscribe to the Screen Time newsletter to get your weekly dose of what to watch next and what everyone is flailing over from someone who watches everything!
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Alex Warren's 'Ordinary' actually is the song of the summer — but nobody wants to admit it
According to the charts, Alex Warren's hit single "Ordinary" is the undisputed song of the summer. The song has reigned at No. 1 on the Hot 100 for nine weeks, but fans and critics remain unenthused. The love song has taken off on pop radio and is perfect fodder for relationship montages on TikTok. Where is this year's song of the summer? It's the question that's haunted road trippers and pool partiers for months now. But like so many low-stakes mysteries, the answer has been hiding in plain sight (or, in this case, earshot) all along. If we're going with cold, hard facts — Billboard chart data — there's one song that's dominated the airwaves as the weather has warmed. It's just that a soaring love ballad a 24-year-old TikToker wrote about his wife is not exactly the ideal soundtrack for your day at the beach. Released in February, Alex Warren's "Ordinary" took a few months to take off, becoming a bona fide commercial juggernaut by June, when it ascended to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's remained atop the all-genre chart for nine weeks so far, and continues to dominate Billboard's Songs of the Summer chart, where it hasn't budged from its No. 1 position since Memorial Day. Though it makes every attempt to sound momentous, "Ordinary" is a love song that's true to its name. Dedicated to Warren's wife, Kouvr Annon, the song uses vaguely spiritual lyrics to describe their connection. His vocals backed by hymnal echoes and a pounding drum line, Warren insists "the angels up in the clouds are jealous" of his marital bliss and compares his wife to a sanctuary, a vineyard, and a sculptor. If the song's theme of divine love wasn't clear enough, the couple also costars in the music video, and Warren later released a "wedding version" of the song paired with footage from their real-life nuptials. That the song is generically gooey has worked to its advantage in the airplay department. "Ordinary" owes much of its longevity to companies like iHeartMedia, America's biggest radio network, which allocates tens of thousands of spins to the song each week. In its most recent week atop the Hot 100, "Ordinary" tallied over 73 million radio airplay audience impressions, according to Billboard, compared to only 12.4 million streams and 6,000 copies sold. The song's lack of specificity also makes it a broadly appealing soundtrack for lovey-dovey moments on TikTok, where both versions of "Ordinary" have been used in millions of videos with billions of cumulative views. Annon's own uses of the song, usually featuring sweet moments with Warren, frequently collect over 1 million likes. Call it the home court advantage: As a former YouTuber who joined Hype House, a flashy collective for big-name TikTokers, in 2020, Warren learned and then perfected the art of getting engagement. He and Annon briefly lived in the Los Angeles mansion together, constantly creating content, orchestrating David Dobrik-style pranks, and sharing glimpses of their lives together; Warren described the experience as "college, but for social media." "It helped me learn how to create content that resonates with an audience and can captivate people," he told Variety. Warren's self-conscious positioning as America's top new "wife guy" offers the media a tidy narrative to push while reporting on the song's success — and helps cement "Ordinary" as a favorite song choice for romantic montages and relationship content across the internet. But the differential between the song's commercial utility and its artistic value has perplexed critics and fans alike. "Genuinely WHO is listening to this," reads a recent tweet with over 27,000 likes. Even r/popheads, a Reddit community for recreational pop scholars whose self-appointed mission is to take the merits of the genre seriously, is full of cold contempt for the song's dominance. "I don't think you can deeply hate the song by itself," one commenter wrote, "because it's so fucking boring." Rolling Stone's Larisha Paul coined the phrase "'The Voice' Audition Core" to characterize the musical formula that "Ordinary" follows: ideal for soundtracking a throwaway emotional moment on reality TV, but devoid of any real personality. Indeed, Warren performed the song on the "Love Is Blind" season eight reunion special, slotting easily into a generic vision of happily ever after literally accompanied by a montage of couples. Still, there's no denying that "Ordinary" is the summer's defining hit. Remaining atop the Hot 100 for over two months is no small feat, and even as late-season challengers have emerged — most recently in the form of a fictional K-pop group from a Netflix film — there isn't enough time before the autumnal equinox for another song to challenge Warren's reign. It's just a shame that many excellent summertime jams actually have been released this year, they just lacked the radio push or market power to challenge "Ordinary" at the top of the charts. Addison Rae is Warren's fellow former TikToker-turned-singer, but the similarities end there; her cool-girl collaborators and creative curiosity resulted in a debut album, "Addison," that toes the line between nostalgic and eccentric. (The appropriately named "Summer Forever" is a standout.) Lorde's latest album, "Virgin," includes gems like "Shapeshifter" and "Favorite Daughter," which wrap arresting lyrics in melodic, highly accessible packages, the ghost of last year's "Brat summer" hovering on the margins. Care for something a little less personal, a little more irreverent? Tinashe and Disco Lines have you covered with the freshly remixed "No Broke Boys." And forget song of the summer, Haim's "Relationships" may be the song of the year. Danielle Haim and her sisters manage to spin the agony of indecision into flippant, funky magic. As the season winds down, a new Taylor Swift album draws closer, and the charts begin to change shape, may "Ordinary" serve as a reminder that summer trends may disappoint or underwhelm — but they never last forever. Read the original article on Business Insider Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
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Miniature NYC replica built over 21 years showcased on TikTok: ‘Carving it by hand'
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