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NBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- NBC News
At Sean 'Diddy' Combs' trial, some online content creators are playing by different rules
In recent years, the defamation suit between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard and the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion by fellow rapper Tory Lanez put a new spin on how celebrity trials are covered, as content creators and vloggers flooded social media feeds with the most explosive moments. The federal trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs is no exception. Each day, outside a towering courthouse in lower Manhattan, a horde of traditional media outlets, online streamers and curious spectators jostle to score a seat inside the main courtroom where Combs is facing sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges that could result in a lengthy prison sentence if convicted. Sign up for the ' Diddy on Trial ' newsletter for key developments and analysis When the proceedings pause for a lunch break or conclude for the day, it's the dozens of content creators who take center stage, scrambling to the sidewalks to set up their cellphone tripods and emote the latest testimony and courtroom drama for their eager followers. But with Combs' fate unfolding in a trial that is not being televised, the rush to relay every sordid detail and rack up views can pose challenges fraught with ethical issues as well. The real-life consequences came to light when two women who took the stand using pseudonyms were exposed when their presumed names were leaked online, highlighting how irresponsible behavior in this new wave of content creation can be harmful. Federal prosecutors said 'Mia,' a former assistant to Combs, had her identity revealed by a YouTube streamer who had been in the courtroom and her name was also posted on X, while another court watcher may have unmasked 'Jane,' an ex-girlfriend of Combs who testified over six days. Jane's personal lawyer told U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian last week that such 'posts and media outlets threaten her safety and privacy that led to the court's pseudonym order.' Subramanian has said he would consider specific media gag orders or barring violators from court in a trial poised to continue through early July. Revealing the names of Combs' accusers wouldn't necessarily impact the trial itself, since jurors aren't supposed to consume media about the case or talk about it to others — but it still represents a line that must be tread carefully, said Mark Chutkow, a defense lawyer who handled racketeering cases as a federal prosecutor in Detroit. If names are leaked, he said, 'it could deter victims from coming forward in future high-profile cases because they won't believe the law enforcement assurances that their identities will be protected.' To help protect the accusers' identities, the court sketches of them released publicly have not included their facial features, and traditional media coverage of their testimonies hasn't included physical descriptions. For the creator behind the YouTube account Make It Make Sense, which has more than 213,000 subscribers, shining a light on the accusers' experiences was an important reason to cover the trial, he said. He temporarily moved to New York to be in the courthouse each day. 'Do not try to guess who Jane is, please,' he told his followers recently. 'It's not a joke. She is supposed to remain anonymous.' The creator behind Make It Make Sense told NBC News after court ended this week that 'legacy media' may understand the repercussions of certain actions, but there is a different attitude among some content creators who are attending these high-profile trials for the first time and seeking to go viral. 'Exposing people's names does not move the needle or change the story,' said the channel's creator, who asked for his real name not to be used because of fears for his personal safety. One afternoon after Combs' trial let out, a woman who said she works as a court employee gushed as she watched popular online streamers — like the man behind Make It Make Sense — leaving the courthouse. 'They're how I get my information,' she said. And no legal background is required. For some content creators, it's simply about fulfilling people's curiosity — and their own. Michelle Bracy of Manhattan said her TikTok account, miss_knockout, has grown from about 9,000 followers since Combs' trial began in mid-May to now more than 35,800. She said she goes live in the mornings before the trial starts, sits in court where she takes extensive notes on a legal pad, and then returns outside the courthouse at the day's end, sometimes broadcasting through the evening. 'I do follow the rules because, of course, it's TikTok, and you don't want to be removed,' Bracy said, 'but I also make my coverage more relatable to people. And I stay in the middle. I'm not on this side, I'm not on that side. I just get the facts on both sides.' The 2022 courtroom dispute between Depp and Heard showcased a new frontier among online content creation. The trial, which was televised, attracted droves of livestreamers and spectators to outside a Fairfax, Virginia, courthouse where they could show their support for either side. Online as well, memes and hashtags, particularly ones manufactured to support Depp, popped up and gained billions of views on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Combs' case has not attracted that same groundswell, as the initial appearance of people in 'Free Diddy' T-shirts early in the trial has subsided outside the courthouse. But on days when certain witnesses have taken the stand, including his ex-girlfriend, Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, the rapper Kid Cudi and Jane, their presence reinvigorates interest. On Friday, the courthouse was buzzing with a surprise appearance by the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, who tried to get inside the main courtroom to support Combs and was ushered instead to a court overflow room, where he stayed for several minutes. When he left, members of the media and vloggers ran for the elevators to follow him outside, sprinting across the promenade to catch him before a car could whisk him away. It's these viral moments and quick interactions with key figures in the trial that content creators like Bracy yearn for, she said. She had her own moment last month with one of Combs' defense lawyers that helped increase her followers. 'Are you Brian Steel?' she said before Steel entered the courthouse. 'Can you say 'hi' to my TikTok real quick?' 'Hey,' Steel responded. The idea that other content creators would defy court orders in Combs' trial is disappointing, Bracy told NBC News. 'You got to respect the court system and the judge,' she said, 'and be bright enough not to repeat the names.' Competition can be stiff among the creators. When court lets out, they jockey for position with television cameras as Combs' family, including his mother and children, are escorted by security to their car. The spectacle can draw a small crowd from interested passersby. Oota Ongo, a YouTube streamer from Brooklyn, gives street preacher energy as he talks to his more than 13,600 subscribers from outside the courthouse. He told NBC News that he started covering the trial, his first, to 'see everything for myself and put my biases aside.' The most surprising thing about the trial, he added, has been knowing how much sway he can have. 'How small content creators, big content creators, big publications, big news programs, all of these people are merging as one,' Ongo said. 'I really dived in,' he added. 'This is our trial of the century.' On a recent afternoon after court, he began streaming to his channel, contending with several other online streamers pacing the sidewalk, a crush of media cameras and reporters, and unrelenting New York City street noise. He took it all in, anticipating what's to come when the jury finally reaches a verdict after weeks of an energized trial. Like 'Madison Square [Garden] out here. Psychos. People on unicycles, like this,' an expressive Ongo told his followers, pointing to a man pedaling a unicycle. 'All of that going on. Drinking and juggling going by you. The Moon Man. All of that is out here because they're here every day.'
The Guardian
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
How a New Zealander working from her mum's kitchen started a news service read by Madonna
Lucy Blakiston, the 27-year-old founder of a thriving global media company, loves being underestimated. And swearing. 'I wear on purpose the girliest, pinkest, most colourful outfit to an event of tech-Bros,' she tells the Guardian from her home in New Zealand's capital, Wellington. 'I like them thinking, 'who the fuck is that and why is she here?' and then slowly start to release when I open my mouth and talk, 'oh, she knows what she's talking about.'' Blakiston is the founder of the online media platform Shit You Should Care About, a company that says it 'cuts through the bullshit' to make global issues and news accessible for broader and younger audiences. She trawls news websites to pull together easy-to-read stories on everything from celebrity culture to news on conflicts, which she then boils down to digestible snippets to share on Instagram, X and TikTok. Fans can also subscribe to a free newsletter and tune into podcasts, while paying subscribers fund the business. What began as a blog with her friends Ruby Edwards and Olivia Mercer in 2018, Shit You Should Care About has since amassed nearly four million followers on social media, including celebrities Bella Hadid, Madonna and, to Blakiston's surprise, Joe Rogan. It has more than 80,000 newsletter subscribers, and has spawned a podcast series and book titled Make It Make Sense. Nearly half of the platform's followers are based in the US, with another roughly 30% in the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The company's success lies in meeting Blakiston's generation where they are: social media. Research by the Reuters Institute has found that engagement with news, especially among young people, has steadily declined over the past decade. Still, young people are using social platforms to source their information as trust in mainstream media also declines. In recent years, news aggregation accounts have proliferated on TikTok and Instagram. 'Lucy figured out really early they would have to show up in the places [young people] are and you have to speak the language,' said Duncan Greive, a media commentator and co-founder of The Spinoff, a New Zealand-based online news magazine. 'Picking Instagram as a platform, and then using the stylistic choices she made around how to make it presentable and palatable in those environments – that was the genius.' There's a tension over where these platforms sit in the broader news ecosystem or act as a substitute for legacy news sites, Greive said. Either way, he said, 'there are lessons in style, tone and distribution legacy media would do well to observe'. Between 2022 and 2023, Blakiston's fellow co-founders left the business to follow other pursuits, leaving Blakiston to run her media business alone from a small desk in her candy-coloured bedroom. Blakiston's home is a visual echo of her online world, embracing politics, pop culture and whimsy. The red-black-and-white flag of Māori sovereignty hangs in her hallway, Charli xcx's record brat is displayed on her living room wall and tiny ceramic mushrooms peep up out of plant pots waiting to be moved into an outside 'fairy garden'. Online, Blakiston sandwiches bulletins on climate change, war and Indigenous rights between deep-dives into cultural shifts, 'mundane polls' – like 'Do you keep your eyes open or closed at the dentist?' – and 'timeline cleanses' of celebrity crushes, primarily Blakiston's hero, singer Harry Styles. 'Using Harry Styles can Trojan Horse people into caring about the news,' Blakiston said, adding that fandom – particularly when experienced by women and girls – is often derided but can be a powerful tool. 'The world is so happy to take money from fangirls, but it won't take them seriously,' she said. 'If you love a sport, you can become a sports commentator or sports journalist – but if you love a boyband, what options has the world told you you have?' Blakiston 'owes much' of Shit You Should Care About to loving One Direction. The skills she gained running a One Direction fan account as a teenager were instrumental to the construction of her media company – from editing and Photoshopping to mobilising large groups. Her celebration of Styles is an antidote to the onslaught of bad news. 'The ethos,' she said, 'is giving you the news, without the blues.' But amid the fun and frivolity, Blakiston also uses her platform to explore difficult subject matters – medicating depression and navigating grief after her brother's sudden death in 2019, for example, and deeply researched coverage of global crises. The latter, she views as complementary to – rather than a challenge against – legacy media. 'I see it as an ecosystem,' she said, describing herself as a middle man. 'I couldn't exist without good journalism.' Her venture was born from her own frustrations in trying to understand global issues while studying media and international relations at university in 2018. Around the same time, she travelled to Myanmar, where her exposure to the Rohingya crisis ignited a sociopolitical awakening. 'I was looking around one day and thinking, 'is anyone else struggling to make sense of all of this?'' she said, recounting her days sitting in her classes. Blakiston texted her friends proposing a blog where they could write what they wanted: 'Harry Styles, or the Bachelor or gay rights in India'. 'It has not strayed from those initial texts whatsoever, which I am deeply proud of,' she said. By June 2020, their Instagram account had 200,000 followers. Then, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, her platform helped cut through misinformation, winning over celebrity fans, who – by sharing her posts – catapulted her page's following to a million by July. Blakiston remembers thinking: 'We have Ariana Grande coming to a Kiwi … who's just been laid off from her waitressing job from Covid, sitting at her mum's kitchen table.' 'It was the scariest time and the most exciting time … we went into panic mode … but it wasn't a deterrent, it was a moment of 'OK, you need to learn Lucy'.' Since then, the self-described 'obsessive' has thrown everything into the company. It's both a job and a hobby, she said, rising at 5am to spend hours digesting news, factchecking sources, and sending out newsletters and social media posts. When she is not up-skilling in technology, or presenting to international summits, she is cooking, reading and spending time with her friends – a close-knit group she said keeps her grounded and happy. 'Most of my days are thinking and pottering … watching Love Island, then trying to find a way to explain a big foreign policy announcement,' she laughs. 'But otherwise its a pretty normal fucking life.'
