A Guy Who Made Larry David Trend On Twitter For All The Wrong Reasons, And More Of This Week's 'One Main Character'
Every day somebody says or does something that earns them the scorn of the internet. Here at Digg, as part of our mission to curate what the internet is talking about right now, we rounded up the main characters on Twitter from this past week and held them accountable for their actions.
This week's characters include an anti-vaccination activist who got Larry David trending on Twitter, a rocker best known for a song primarily comprised of the lyric "woo-hoo" accusing Taylor Swift of not writing her songs, an editor-in-chief soliciting journalists' salaries but refusing to divulge his own and a conservative pundit upset at a cartoon character wearing pants.
Sunday
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The character: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., husband of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Cheryl Hines, anti-vaxxer, guy who clearly didn't read the end of "The Diary of Anne Frank."
The plot: While speaking at an anti-vaccination rally in Washington DC, Kennedy invoked Anne Frank in a jeremiad comparing COVID-19 vaccine mandates to the Holocaust, saying, "Even in Hitler's Germany, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, you could hide in the attic like Anne Frank did... Today the mechanisms are being put in place that will make it so none of us can run, none of us can hide."
The repercussion: Kennedy's comments about Anne Frank drew widespread condemnation, with the US Holocaust Museum issuing a statement decrying the activist, saying that "making reckless comparisons to the Holocaust, the murder of six million Jews, for a political agenda is outrageous and deeply offensive."
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, also spoke out against Kennedy's rhetoric, saying his remarks were "deeply inaccurate, deeply offensive and deeply troubling."
But the saga took a bizarre twist when netizens began realizing that Kennedy was married to "Curb Your Enthusiasm" star Cheryl Hines, and Larry David became wrapped up in the whole scandal by association — and even trended on Twitter.
Rolling Stones' EJ Dickson revealed that David actually introduced Hines to RFK Jr. in real life.
In the wake of the furor surrounding his comments, and nearly cancelling Larry David, Kennedy apologized on Twitter, saying, "To the extent my remarks caused hurt, I am truly and deeply sorry."
Hines also issued a statement condemning her husbands remarks as "reprehensible and insensitive," distancing herself by saying, "His opinions are not a reflection of my own."
David has yet to comment, but we can safely assume he wants nothing to do with this meshugas.
James Crugnale
Monday
Damon Albarn
The character: Damon Albarn, frontman of bands Blur and Gorillaz, guy who presumably has written every single one of his songs entirely on his own with no help from anyone.
The plot: In an interview with the Los Angeles Times's Mikael Wood, Albarn responded to a question about artists he admired by praising Billie Eilish and dismissing Taylor Swift on the basis that she "doesn't write her own songs."
Not only was he factually incorrect about Swift, he went on to describe what he perceived as the difference between songwriters and co-writers: "I know what co-writing is. Co-writing is very different to writing. I'm not hating on anybody, I'm just saying there's a big difference between a songwriter and a songwriter who co-writes.
Which is its own debatable sentiment, but more to the point: Swift does, famously, write the vast majority of her own songs — and she said as much in response to Albarn on Twitter:
The repercussion: Not only did people pile on Albarn for his false statement, they pointed out the contradiction in his praise of Eilish versus his dismissal of Swift.
Albarn apologized to Swift a few hours later on Twitter, and said that his words in the interview had been "reduced to clickbait."
Molly Bradley
Tuesday
Nicholas Carlson
The character: Nicholas Carlson, Global Editor-in-Chief of Insider, guy who "loves reporters!," salary unknown.
The plot: On Tuesday, Carlson tweeted about a new reported series from Insider which purportedly "demystifies people's salaries."
Despite the fact that, in response, people were bound to ask him about his salary, Carlson seemed utterly unprepared when someone did, and his response was not particularly well thought-out:
The repercussion: Predictably, Carlson was lambasted for running a series on salary transparency at his publication and then turning around and openly refusing to disclose his own. (Sure, he might have been equally roasted for sharing a very high salary that painted a portrait of wage disparity within Insider, but then you'd have to award him points for honesty.)
In addition to the dunking, Twitter users quickly turned his evasive response into a versatile and delightful meme:
Molly Bradley
Wednesday
Candace Owens
The character: Candace Owens, conservative personality, anti-vaxxer, not a Disney millennial.
The plot: Right-wing rabble-rouser Candace Owens has been quite low-key these past few months — but it was all undone by her new nemesis: Minnie Mouse.
Disneyland Paris announced they were celebrating their 30th-year anniversary with a Stella McCartney designed suit for Minnie, which somehow personally offended Owens.
Owens surmised that Disney's announcement was a ploy to divert the public's attention from more pressing issues, like inflation. (Disney never got a chance to comment if they're working with the Biden administration on that one; we're still waiting to hear back.) "They're taking all of these things that nobody was offended by and feel like they have to get rid of them and destroy them because they're bored!" Owens exclaimed.
The repercussion: While at this point even the serial dunkers on Twitter have become fed up with Owens' shtick — whose bar for outrageous takes has been set so high that no stylistic change to Minnie's wardrobe could make us blink — there are a lot of people who continue to discover Owens's brilliance on the daily, and she did eventually end up trending on Twitter.
But the most damning response came from netizens who dug up photos of the conservative pundit dressed in the same controversial outfit.
Adwait Patil
Read the previous edition of our One Main Character column, which included a West Elm furniture designer that went too far.
Did we miss a main character from this week? Please send tips to [email protected]
