Transcription
[Music] Welcome to Popcorn Planet. I am Andy Signore, and on this channel we talk a lot about journalists who don't tell the truth. Specifically, uh, Taylor Lorenz, previously of the New York Times, now in the Washington Post. She's in with that crew with Cat 10 Barge and all the people who are pro-Amber. I'm very excited because we have someone here who is suing Taylor and the New York Times, which is not an easy thing to do. So happy to have Ariadna Jacob here. How are you doing, Ari?
I'm doing really well, thank you so much for having me.
Yeah, welcome to the show. Uh, look, there's a lot to break down. For those that don't know, uh, this is an important story that you hear to get her side of this because Taylor and obviously the mainstream media are pointing in another way. Uh, but I wanted to bring Ariane here to share her side of this case and why she's suing and why the case is not actually dismissed, which is what Taylor and others are putting out there. Let's let's go back if we can, Ari. I want to go through—here's Ari on Twitter; you can follow her and get updates on this as we go—um, but this is the article in question. So in the New York Times, back in—um, what was the date on this? This was August of 2020—published this article uh, about basically slamming you. Taylor wrote this article as sort of an exposé about a TikTok house uh, that was uh, with influencers managed by Ari. And correct me if I'm wrong, Ari, but some serious allegations were leveled against you in this piece, basically saying you weren't paying these people, uh, they weren't getting their opportunities that they were promised, they were not getting the brand deals that they were supposed to get, uh, you were secretly filming them, uh, you actually apparently leaked nudes for revenge against one of them, uh, where you were leaving these girls and houses without electricity and water during the pandemic. It's a really nasty read. The people you knew—Gary—um, the—the he's a big guy in this space, what's his name, GaryVee—you're just using him; you don't have actually CL, you know, access to him, etc. A really a lot of really bold claims that clearly did not uh, help your career moving forward. Did I have—I summed it up correctly?
Yeah, yeah. Now, was any of this true?
No. I mean, not even, you know, I think Taylor has a mixture here of of things that are completely false and uh, things that imply negative things that were not true.
No, I—I know you're you're in current litigation, so we got—I know you got to be careful probably on certain things you say, and I appreciate you being here because there's a lot to break down here regarding this case. We—she's given us some proof examples that are in this case that prove that Taylor was lying. We're gonna go through that, um, but I want to sort of fast forward a bit to just explain that if you—if you're believing what the media has told you and what Taylor has put out there, this tweet has now since been deleted, but uh, for over a year the right-wing media has been relentlessly covering this bogus lawsuit. Today the judge dismissed it—this case against New York Times nurse—what's just weird to me is like I didn't know your politics; I don't know your politics. What does this have to do with politics? I don't know, but of course there—I already see her spin: this is a conservative conspiracy against the left-wing media; you guys must support me, blah, blah, blah; I'm a victim, uh, when that is ridiculous because the—even as the press is saying it's dismissed this case, that's not actually true, correct? You're actually still uh, pursuing this case. Certain elements of it were sort of addressed or said could not be—could not be addressed in the lawsuit; however, as uh, Viva here eloquently puts it, the judge specifically identified actionable claims and gave permission to amend. So there is no victory lap for Taylor as she is doing, correct?
Yeah, I would say you got that pretty spot on. So what can you explain to sort of us, or if whatever you're able, like what—what was wrong, or what's—what's still on—on deck? Can you sort of explain the process of where you are today in your lawsuit?
Yeah, so I—I would encourage anybody that's just interested in understanding how the media works uh, to—to read the amended complaint. I know it's long, but uh, this, you know, this time around I have a whole team of attorneys working on this. Um, it's a 55, I think, page complaint, um, and we didn't have to appeal it and then, you know, go through it again. So this time I believe the lawyers just put everything possibly in that would show that what actually happened, um, and I think they did a really incredible job because uh, this time they—there's screenshots in there, there's like receipts, uh, and when you read the story, you know, from the legal perspective, I don't know how you come out of it uh, you know, with a different opinion I guess than—than what the truth of what actually happened is. But I don't blame anybody who read the initial article to think I'm a terrible person. Uh, I think also, you know, one important thing to recognize is that in 2020, during the pandemic and uh, basically there was no touring going on in Hollywood; there's no uh, music, you know, there's no concerts, no music touring, no making movies, no making TV shows. So the uh, entertainment industry is really hungry for um, uh, you know, talent agents were getting laid off left and right, and so this was a very lucrative industry to be in uh, when—when—when all this went down. So so there was a lot of money involved. I represented Charlie and Dixie D'Amelio, who since 2020 I think have made uh, 70 million dollars, um, so it's not chump change.
No, it's interesting because money seems to be the—your critics, right, are out there just not even trying to read the case or get the evidence; they just are like, well, who's backing this attack on Taylor in the media? This must be some right-wing conspiracy group paying you and funding this, and that's what it is because you're on a life's mission to destroy Taylor. I mean, what—she's the one who wrote the article and and made these weird decisions, right?
Absolutely. And I—I would definitely say for people watching this thinking like, you know what, how do I know if I'm about to get canceled? And one of the biggest things is to understand who are these journalists connected to? Um, you know, if you go on Taylor Lorenz's uh, Twitter page, she even has a list of all the uh, people she admires or she follows in journalism, and so, you know, it's just important to know who you're dealing with and their connections. You know, it's kind of like when people look at like Monsanto and they own all these different food companies, it's very similar like that in the media and just the connections that are involved. So um, but I did find it interesting, I think you had clicked on it that, you know, Peter Thiel, who's a billionaire, um, he funded a lawsuit against um, against um, Gawker for Hulk Hogan, and right here he says why he did it: because even Hulk Hogan couldn't afford his defense. He plays really short in the Justice of the case more and more because there were so many different people that you interacted with who had been destroyed, you know, in many cases, in most cases it was—it was not—it was not super prominent people, it was uh, or super wealthy people; it was people who couldn't afford to do anything, you know, and uh, and one of the striking things is that if you're—you know, if you're a middle class, if you're upper middle class, if you're a single-digit millionaire like Hulk Hogan, you have no effective access to our legal system; it costs too much. This was the modus operandi of uh, Gawker in large part; it was to go after people who had no chance of—of fighting back in the Justice of the—scary stuff, indeed.
I want—so you are fighting back, and I think we should applaud you for doing so.
Thank you. And I want to go through sort of the allegations here and and sort of your respondents. So as you've gone through this piece, it's a—I guess addressing some of this—your amended complaint really does address this fact. Let's start with the fact that you didn't pay them—that's completely nonsense, right? As you're—as you're uh, amendment—amended—shows. Sorry, I'm on the wrong screen here, which I'm jumping ahead. Um, you—you had—they were getting dozens of brand deals, correct?
Yeah, so this shows uh, screenshots of one of the influencers uh, who had 10 million followers. So somebody like Taylor should have checked her sources is what the complaint says.
Yeah, she doesn't seem to check her sources. I've had a problem with her.
Yeah, so so the brand deals is sort of silly. I mean, I've worked—I don't know this situation again; you guys may go do your research, make your own decision, but I even from my own experience in working with influencers specifically, it's all about—about a usually young, inexperienced creators who are, you know, talented but don't know how the business works. They expect—they want managers; they want agents, and then once they get a manager they don't want to pay those managers and agents, and the reality of the businesses—yeah, agencies, management, they help to bring in deals; they help you bring more, but you have to pay them, and there are contracts and there are things that sort of connect these things. So as I read this piece, Ari, I was just like, you know, I—I didn't know you even—but I'm like, this sounded like a bunch of whining creators to be honest, that they were just sort of sour grapes or whatever, maybe about certain things that may have happened or may not have happened, but overall the way that she wrote this hit piece against you was this clear agenda that you were manipulating, you were a predator, and you were a liar. And I think the one thing I want to get to quicker than I want to respond because I want to try and share some of this—this idea that you didn't know who GaryVee was—I mean, you shared with me—here's proof not only that you knew GaryVee, but that he was helping one of your uh, uh, clients get a Super Bowl commercial. And to be very frank, because of my relationship with Orange, um, I wanna help my friends through this, but I think Britney has caught a cultural enough moments, and I think the exposed the fact that she would be in a Super Bowl spot would change her career because they'll never opened up every brand—we're so excited, so excited. And then so here—here he is again, right here. Um, well, we're really, really excited for a very, very long time. So you hear you are connecting with uh, a lot of your—I imagine talent here with him—Zoom chat. So this idea that she sort of tries to imply that you know uh, that you didn't really know him and that was just sort of a—you were using that name to get your—to that you weren't mentored by him and that therefore uh, this nonsense—the lawsuit has—um, that those videos linked and so—and you can hear it—he—you know, Gary says, um, this is a time where I can pay back a friend who I adore, and so he's essentially telling Brittany, who's also mentioned in this article, Miss Tomlinson, that because of his relationship with me and because of him being able to pay back a friend that he adores, he's going to—yeah—just—yeah, that's what he's saying. And so for her—and what people need to understand is this is a very sort of prolific person in this industry, and so uh, for GaryVee to champion you means a lot, and for him to not champion—for somebody to say that you're using his name sort of to drift off of him and pretty much a name drop, um, that is—it basically tears away all your credibility to sign clients to work with major brands. I mean, Gary has like a Madison Avenue-style agency that does digital for some of—some of the biggest uh, Fortune 500 companies.
Yeah, and bring him in the middle of this is probably not even helpful for you. I'm sure you don't even want to do that; it just—it's—to—well, it just broke my heart. He was my mentor, you know, like you could see in that video; I was—it was just—I almost started crying because it's like—it was such validation that he did care about me and that, you know, I—I mean, I thought we had a good relationship, but for him to tell the client that to her face, saying, "Hey, you're great and everything, but I'm doing this for Ari," it really meant a lot.
Yeah, and it's in this industry when you're like labeled the toxic thing that—that Taylor does, and it puts even your own friends—I've experienced this—they—they doubt or they question, and then it—that really does cause uh, conflicts to your career. I want to continue to help sort of prove what Taylor was reading was—was false. So this allegation that there were secretly filmed—patent—this is from your amended complaint—patently false. The GD at the house um, had an iPad entrance with a system that required them to sign—or even guests—to sign and sign a liability release waiving, stating the house's video surveillance—all rooms other than restrooms and showers. And I mean, of course you're filming, and you have this liability—that would make sense; the TikTok house—everything's being filmed at some point or another—duh. They didn't read the stuff. This property has video surveillance inclusive many bedrooms. The only exception being private areas of restrooms and showers, um, and so they all knew what they were getting into, and so they're all complaining at the end, uh, so I mean the amendment really goes through and proves a lot of stuff. I—I encourage you guys to go through and read this, but I—I for levity's sake—you know, brevity's sake—I want to try to get to the core issue here, which is, you know, Taylor's uh, not very credible, and here was one person—I want you—you brought this to my attention; I want to make sure we share it. This was a—a—this is an influencer—Adam, correct?
Yeah.
Adam Cohen. And so Adam Cohen was here um, basically acknowledging that Taylor—and correct me if I'm wrong—I'm going to send it back to you, but to set it up for everybody who doesn't understand: Taylor was basically trying to reach out—everybody in this house or manage clients at all different houses, yeah, and he's starting his own. And so basically Taylor comes after this guy and is basically trying to get dirt from him about you uh, and don't let them—be show his boss uh, and then around um, this time uh, she was basically just pushing—"I felt pressured to give Lorenz negative information about Miss Jacob. I had not experienced those negative interactions. Uh, she kept sharing them to him, trying to say, 'Well, you must have whatever.' At any point during the seven months I had been working closely with Jacob, I did not witness her behave unprofessionally around like any creators. Uh, my response to Miss Lorenz: I knew that Miss Jacob for who she was, and I didn't experience what she was describing. Miss Lorenz continued to share more negative information for a few minutes, but I did not go along with what she was saying. This seemed to anger Miss Lorenz, and she seemed pissed; she became very short with me after I did not share negative info about my manager, and we ended the conversation on around October 12th. Not long after my conversation, she texted me: 'So selfish and irresponsible, Adam. I'm very disappointed to see this,' in reference to a tweet about an out-the-Alpha House, which was something else he had done, sort of basically from—as I read this whole exchange in the text of her sort of shaming him—she basically didn't get what she wanted and then kicked him to the curb and then started to make him the enemy. Is that how you took this—a 17-year-old, a kid that just turned 17 that was previously 16 that she had spoken to? I mean, I—I don't know why a journalist bullying and shaming a 17-year-old to—to come to basically say things they don't feel about you is—a—this really upset me when you shared this to me, like am I—I mean, we've summed it up, I guess. How—how heft up is this?
Yeah. Um, and so, you know, obviously my initial sort of gut reaction was—was hurt when like I read what some of these influencers said, but you know, these are not people that have been in the entertainment industry very long; they're—I think being sort of, you know, leveraged and used, um, dangling a carrot of fame uh, in order to—for a journalist to, you know, get them to say what—what they want them to say, um, and so, you know, I was hurt by what—what they did, but I was a kid too, and I think sometimes when you're young and you're—you just kind of go along with what—it's just like high school behavior is—is sort of how some of these journalists operate, which is unfortunate.
Yeah, it's super unfortunate. One more thing I wanted to add: you shared—as there's a lot to go through here, I'm trying to get to the best of the most important pieces—I think that really nip at her credibility was another case you had shared um, about uh, Ari—uh, basically this guy Ari—Arya—thank you. Um, Taylor was given information from a source named Kyle; you found this out, and basically—basically Kyle, the informant—says, "I was a source for Miss Lorenz on the New York Times Reporter piece uh, where she labeled him a fraud," um, is what she did—like really nastily—in—in a tweet exchange—"scamming people, pyramid scheme," whatever, uh, and the informants like, "Never, ever did we say this or did this happen," and in fact, as you know her story, because we never gave her any evidence to confirm that he defrauded anyone. So imagine being then accused in the New York Times of defrauding people and then being at the airport and having, you know, the DOJ hand you a piece of paper saying you're under investigation, um, and in his lawsuit, I'm pretty sure Arya has—there's a—there's a piece um, that said somebody claimed that Taylor messaged them—DM'd them—and said, "Hey, don't tell anyone, but here's the uh, email of an FBI person; you know, you can email them my story about Arya." You know, it's like, why are you getting that involved? You know, it's like, you want somebody to go to jail? I mean, maybe she's so convinced of her lies, you know, I mean, it happens, right? It's like—I mean, certainly not in my case. I—I know that there's malice there because there was so much evidence like, you know, that she had access to and that she knew, uh, but yeah, I mean, she's got to believe the lies to sort of create the narrative is what I mean though, and that's part—I think also it helps with the malice of just like—she's gotta create—she's gotta continue—maybe it's a sense of power of saying, "I can get anyone to believe anything I say, and you can't back down because it's your whole performance that you're giving to this—to social media and your—and your followers of—you know, this is the list of people that I support, and these people aren't—they go against that list of, you know, my politics, etc." It's just scary that this is what, you know, these are journalists—The Washington Post, the New York Times—uh, we—I had a new—an NBC journalist come after me and just blatant lies, uh, and what's so scary is—you—I think really eloquently put—and I guess was in this clip too—about the Gawker clip—it's really hard to go against them guys.
Well, it's really hard to go against them. If you go back to the tweet that Taylor did with her early victory lap and you—and you—um—and click forward uh, to the next picture. Yes, here we go. So yes uh, okay, filing a lawsuit, which anyone can do, then endlessly doing press is meant to cause reputational harm to me; that is the goal. Will these outlets update their story? First of all, she—she has uh, the Wrap in there, which is owned by Sharon Waxman, who's very liberal, so that is not the—the right-wing media going after her, but the fact that she says anyone can file a lawsuit is just really telling of what she's trying to purport to.
Other people that don't know enough about this because God knows I didn't know how difficult it is when this happens to you. Go to an attorney and you're like, "This isn't true, this is not fair," and they pat you on the back and they go, "You can't sue the New York Times, good luck with that, honey." I mean, they didn't say that to me, but that's what I heard, you know what I mean? Because it's very like, you know, it's very much like you're doing something that's almost impossible. The New York Times—from an article I read from the New York Times—I think it said that the New York Times hasn't lost a defamation lawsuit in the United States since the 1960s, so it's not easy. Um, and then I think whatever the next one is… she's… yeah, well, she's she's playing the victim here, and she's just basically scaring people like, "Hey, I work for the big press, you can't—I can say whatever the hell I want, and you can't come after me," because these are smear campaigns, reputational attacks against her, not against you. Forget whether her sources or her own brain and bias are wrong; she's the one who's now being targeted. Uh, newsrooms must be clear-eyed about these. It's it's why I'm so grateful to the New York Times for their support and the court for dismissing the spaceless case—again a lie because they didn't dismiss the case. So even now she's caught again, lying again. It's like, the credibility is out the window. Why do you get to be the authority, police?
I want to give you the last line as we wrap it up. Uh, yeah, what what do you want audiences to know? Where can they find you? How can they help? Um, uh, I'm Little Miss Jacob on pretty much every platform. Uh, I'm launching a podcast next month; uh, it's called Little Miss Radioactive, um, and we're gonna interview just people who have been canceled and uh, hear stories of how people came back and hopefully help people understand how the media operates and and help expose… I don't think Taylor is uh, the first or the last uh, journalist that that needs to be held accountable for lies. Um, but hopefully the more people sort of understand, um, you know, how these people operate, we can kind of work together to to hopefully give, you know, independent journalists and independent creators, um, uh, just, you know, tools to use against so this type of thing doesn't happen to you. I will say one of the things that I learned quickly is that um, the way to sometimes beat these people to to a negative story is to basically scoop them. So if you know that they're going to write something about you, you know, I think it's it's it's not traditional the way PR is because they say, "Don't create the Streisand Effect and create attention," but I think kind of like a Dave Portnoy, it's like, "Emergency press conference, this is what's going to be said about me, and I'm going to get ahead of it," and sometimes if you get ahead of it and you got people behind you, then it's not really worth them doing the story. So hopefully we can scoop them on stories about you, about um, that umbrella guy, about the ocean sisters that I think Taylor's trying to do a story about. Um, we all kind of need to stick together.
Yeah, it's a really good point. As someone who didn't who waited, had to wait a year, it did not help me. I mean, it helped me mentally, like, to get offline, but I agree, you got to respond immediately, especially if it's not true. If you're caught doing something you you did wrong, you got to own it. Just own it. Accountability. Too many people are using cancel culture, and I'd love to come on the show and talk about it as somebody who's there. Too many people use cancel culture now as an excuse to get away with bad behavior, and it frustrates me, um, because there are real instances where it's happening. Um, but yeah, if you didn't do it, you got to come out hard and fast to to beat it. I think it's a good—that's good advice. If you want to follow up with the updates of this case, you can go follow Ari over on Twitter, like she said, Little Miss Jacob. Thank you for coming here. Keep us updated. Come on anytime you have an update. Uh, Taylor, I've TR—I've offered you to come on the show; we've even DM'd a little bit way back, and now you know I'm supporting Johnny, so therefore I guess I'm toxic, but man, I'd love to challenge you on this one, ask some questions, but I'm gonna guess she's gonna say legally she can't. Uh, but uh, open invites all my all everybody here. Uh, but thank you Ari for coming and sharing your side and your story of this. Uh, I I I don't trust Taylor, so I got your back on this. Keep us posted, and if you uh, want to support her, go follow. In the meanwhile, make sure you hit that subscribe button, hit that bell for all alerts, smash that like button, and leave a comment down below and your thoughts. Are you surprised? I bet you you're not. Uh, we'll see you uh, Monday. I'm back in the studio live Monday. I'll see you guys there. Thank you guys so much for watching. [Music]