Latest news with #MeredithHayden
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Wishbone Kitchen: TIME100 Creators 2025
Credit - Charles Sykes—Bravo/Getty Images After being laid off from her day job in the pandemic, Meredith Hayden became a full-time private chef for a family in New York. In 2022, she went viral for social media posts documenting her aspirationally cheery daily routine in the Hamptons—plucking herbs from the garden, grocery shopping, and preparing vibrant, elegant meals—under the name Wishbone Kitchen. Since then, the brand has flourished, drawing more than 2.7 million followers across TikTok and Instagram. Hayden's joyful, accessible approach to cooking has earned her comparisons to industry greats like Ina Garten and Martha Stewart—praise she doesn't take lightly, especially given her early struggles to be taken seriously. 'Femininity isn't always embraced in professional kitchens,' Hayden tells TIME. 'I had a lot of people in the industry tell me that I was only really good for bachelorette parties and ladies' lunches.' Staying true to her vision has paid off: this year, the 29-year-old released The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook, which features recipes inspired by summers in the Hamptons and her childhood on Nantucket. The title became a New York Times best seller. 'I'm just glad to have found my people,' she says. Data and insights powered by #paid Write to Annabel Gutterman at
Los Angeles Times
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Why cozy content is king for stressed-out young adults
Meredith Hayden, a New York-based social media influencer and cookbook author, didn't start out wanting to create comforting content. But that's exactly what resonated with audiences. She went viral a few years ago by posting about her 'day in the life' as a private chef in the Hamptons. Now she has a large following on YouTube for her Wishbone Kitchen brand and her 'Dinner With Friends' video series, where she shows herself setting up relaxing dinner parties, making French-style hot chocolate and re-creating a cozy coffee shop at home. You might see her online wearing pajamas or in bed with her dog while talking to the camera. She doesn't edit out the parts where she messes up the recipe, saying her fans appreciate the flubs. Hayden, who recently completed a tour for 'The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook,' said she isn't necessarily going for a vibe, at least not intentionally, despite the clear Ina Garten influence. 'This is really just how I live my life,' Hayden, 29, said by phone. 'I am glad it comes across as comforting, because I'm definitely someone who gravitates more towards 'comfort content' myself.' 'I'm not planning on watching 'Severance,'' she added, saying she gravitates toward more wholesome, grounded content, such as home makeover shows of the non-competitive variety. That personal preference aligns with a broader trend among young adult viewers, according to recent data from United Talent Agency, the Beverly Hills representation firm. The company's data and insights group, UTA IQ, compiled stats suggesting that many younger consumers are leaning toward material that soothes the nerves and acts as a warm blanket, rather than ratcheting up the anxiety. 'Comfort content' is like popping a Lorazepam (though not in the excessive dose Parker Posey's character takes in 'The White Lotus') or CBD gummy at the end of the day. The trend is playing out across TV, streaming, literature and social media, said UTA IQ executive Abby Bailey. She sees it in the rise of #CleanTok videos (totaling 49 billion views last year), in which people do mundane household chores, as well as robust streaming viewership of nostalgic low-intensity sitcoms including 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' and the successful February debut of a new CBS soap opera, 'Beyond the Gates.' 'Somber themes, intellectual depth, cultural satires — those have always defined prestige entertainment, and it's left many to discount the value and the viewership of this more lighthearted, comforting programming,' Bailey told The Times. 'But as audiences are prioritizing their well-being and taking brain-breaks from the weight of the world, the definition of what's capital 'I' important in entertainment is shifting.' The changing attitudes are particularly noticeable in the young adult entertainment space, which several years ago was dominated by postapocalyptic teen dramas such as 'The Hunger Games' and the 'Divergent' series. More than half (58%) of U.S. adults ages 18 to 30 say TV shows and movies depicting young adults have become too dark and heavy, according to UTA IQ's April poll of more than 1,000 people. More than 70% said they want to see lighter and more joyful TV shows with young people. That's not to say that the upcoming season of the dark and sexually explicit 'Euphoria' won't be successful or that the next 'Hunger Games' film won't work at the box office. That type of content still has its place, even as tastes evolve. But studios and streamers appear to be noticing the audience's shifting habits. Examples are popping up in the young adult space on streaming services, including Tubi's 2024 sports romance movie 'Sidelined: The QB & Me,' which is getting a sequel. The Netflix teen drama 'My Life With the Walter Boys' was recently renewed for a third season, ahead of its Season 2 premiere. There are plenty of other opportunities now for young people to take mental breaks on the couch, from the rise of 'cozy gaming' to the crossover appeal of 'healing fiction,' a genre of whimsical books from Japan and Korea that have taken off elsewhere. Olympic diver Tom Daley, who went viral when he was photographed knitting between his events in Tokyo, created a competition show called 'Game of Wool' that will debut on Channel 4 in the U.K. Some millennial parents have turned to gentler, less overstimulating TV shows from decades ago — think 'Arthur' and 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' — to co-view with their young children. Comfort content is certainly nothing new. The term brings to mind the idyllic autumnal walkways of Stars Hollow, the fictional small town from 'Gilmore Girls,' as well as just about anything on the Hallmark Channel, which has enough of a following to justify its own $8-a-month subscription streaming service. But there may be a reason the category is finding renewed purchase in trying times. Bailey hears that theme from consumers who just aren't in the mood for any more nail-biters. 'Time and time again, I get people saying, 'I just can't bring myself to watch anything serious,'' Bailey said. ''Like, all I want to do is watch Bravo.'' As expected, Warner Bros. Discovery will split into two companies, separating its streaming and studios businesses from the struggling television networks business, the New York-based media giant said Monday. The Streaming & Studios company will consist of the film and TV studios as well as HBO and HBO Max. The Global Networks company (which is taking on much of the debt) will have CNN, Discovery and other channels. The divorce is aimed to be completed by mid-2026. Afterward, Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav will be CEO of the streaming and studios group, while Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels will run the networks. The firm previously foreshadowed this move by restructuring its operations along similar lines. Warner Bros. Discovery thus joins Comcast's NBCUniversal, which is sweeping basic cable networks, including MSNBC and USA, into a new separate entity called Versant. It's widely speculated that Paramount Global — if and when the Skydance deal happens — will also eventually unload declining legacy networks. The breakups reflect an ongoing reality — linear television is in big trouble. The struggles of the cable bundle have continued to weigh on studio finances, with customers moving rapidly to on-demand services. Indeed, if anyone thought the entertainment business' bloodletting was over after last year's series of layoffs, Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery disabused them of that notion in recent days. Disney slashed several hundred employees on June 2. An actual number was not disclosed, but the cuts are significant, coming after Bob Iger embarked on a plan to reduce staff by 8,000 two years ago following his return as chief executive. The latest layoffs hit film and television marketing teams, television publicity, casting and development as well as corporate financial operations. The cuts happen to land as the company is celebrating huge box office results from 'Lilo & Stitch.' The new downsizing comes amid Disney's efforts to pare down its production pipeline after binge-spending during the streaming wars. The reduction corresponds to Disney's efforts to focus on quality over quantity while also cutting costs. A couple days after Disney's layoffs, Warner Bros. Discovery cut staff from its cable television channels business. Those Warner Bros. Discovery reductions were smaller in scale (eliminating fewer than 100 roles), but the message to the industry couldn't be clearer. Comcast's NBCUniversal has also undergone layoffs. The question is: What comes next? Many expect the cast-off Warner and NBCUniversal networks to merge at some point, with Paramount channels perhaps joining them one day. Listen: Turnstile's new album 'Never Enough' is out. Also, The Beths have a new tune. Sabrina Carpenter's latest has already been declared the 'song of the summer.'
South China Morning Post
29-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Is TikTok chef Meredith Hayden Gen Z's Martha Stewart? The Wishbone Kitchen influencer has hosted dinner parties with Joe Jonas and Hasan Minhaj – but why was she upset with Bon Appétit?
Meredith Hayden, a chef and social media influencer, amassed millions of followers on TikTok by sharing videos of herself preparing meals for a wealthy family in the Hamptons. She's since become so popular that she's a regular at hosting dinner parties for celebrities like Joe Jonas and Hasan Minhaj. She also made headlines earlier this year when she accused popular food magazine Bon Appétit of ripping her off. The publication announced a new series called 'Dinner with Friends' – the name Hayden first used for her own series. So what else do we know about the influencer who's been dubbed the Gen Z Martha Stewart Her love of cooking was inspired by her mum Wishbone Kitchen's Meredith Hayden last autumn. Photo: @wishbonekitchen/Instagram Advertisement In an interview in People in 2022, Hayden told the outlet that her love of cooking, as well as her social media username @wishbonekitchen, was inspired by her mum. 'The inspiration behind me getting into cooking has always been my mum. She was a fabulous cook growing up. And once a week, she would make us a roast chicken for dinner, and she would always save the wishbone when she would carve the chicken,' Hayden said. 'After dinner, we would do the thing where you pull the wishbone in half, and whoever gets the bigger half gets to make a wish. I just have really fond memories of being in the kitchen with my mum.' She worked at Condé Nast Meredith Hayden previously worked at Condé Nast, and had hopes of becoming a recipe developer at Bon Appétit. Photo: @wishbonekitchen/Instagram Before 29-year-old Hayden became a professional home chef, she worked in marketing at Condé Nast – but her passion was always cooking. Hayden would take culinary evening courses at the Institute of Culinary Education, hoping to eventually become a recipe developer at Bon Appétit. In 2020, she landed her first gig as a personal cook for designer Joseph Altuzarra and his husband Seth Weissman, per the New York Post. This is also when Hayden began her Instagram account @WishboneKitchen. Condé Nast is the parent company of Bon Appétit, so it seemed ironic that Hayden had tried to transfer to a job at the foodie magazine before she says it ripped off her idea. 'You rejected me to work there for two years,' she said when calling out the publication for the 'Dinner with Friends' controversy. Finding TikTok fame
