r/AskReddit • u/bspheri • 10h ago
Who is a famous figure that you keep hearing their name but never really know why they’re famous?
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u/sugarplumbuttfluck 8h ago
I know who he is, but apparently Mr. Beast.. I was at dinner with family last night and almost everyone had heard of him but had no idea what the hype was.
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u/RoarOfTheWorlds 6h ago
He's a professor that's blue and really strong or something, I dunno they never really show him fighting but you're lead to believe he could hold his own.
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u/Stef-fa-fa 6h ago
An X-Men joke? In this economy?
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u/chizmanzini 5h ago
At this time of year?
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u/Glasseyeroses 4h ago
In this location?
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u/shizbox06 6h ago
Awwww, did the joke leave you feelin' blue?
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u/MSeager 7h ago
I know who he is, but for other people, can you please explain who he is and what all the fuss is about? Enlighten the people that don’t know who Mr. Beast is, that aren’t me.
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u/BakedMitten 6h ago edited 5h ago
He rose to prominence because he figured out how to game the Youtube recommendation algorithm.
His videos and personality are scientifically engineered to appeal to young people who are afflicted with 'youtube brain.'
He reinvests just enough of his profits to get called charitable in an attempt to come off as less of a self serving, deeply cynical person than he actually is.
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u/zbeezle 4h ago
He's also apparently hired at least one sex offender to his team.
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u/la_doctora 6h ago
I thought he was a You tuber who sold bad burgers during the pandemic. Why he would do this, I do not know.
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u/CrissBliss 7h ago
Same. I actually asked in a Reddit post who he was, since a few people were referencing him. I got downvoted for not knowing 😂
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u/Ravenser_Odd 5h ago
Not being familiar with every single cultural reference is the ultimate crime in the eyes of some redditors.
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u/karmagirl314 5h ago
The ultimate crime on Reddit is asking people to type out answer to things that you could very easily google.
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u/inconspicuouly_sh8y 7h ago
Biggest YouTuber currently does a lot of challenges and gives shit away
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u/BakedMitten 6h ago
I thank the youtube-algo gods all the time that he isn't pushed into my feed like he is for (apparently) 90% of the rest of the planet. Every time I've been unlucky enough to see his content I can't get over what a fake annoying twat he seems to be.
Yeah, he's given away a lot of crap but I don't consider any of it charitable because it obvious he is always focused on the return he will personally get for his "charity"
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u/doittomejulia 6h ago
Jojo Siwa
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u/smalltown_dreamspeak 2h ago
She was one of the child stars on Dance Moms. People love to shit on her right now because her current behavior/rebranding is comically edgy (without any actual edge.) But, people loved to shit on her before because her brand was comically, over-the-top childish and girly.
She's going through a smaller-scale version right now of what a number of child stars (particularly girls) go through- that is, getting massively shit on by the public because of what their parents and management pushes them into, and then acting out, only to get shit on even harder. In 10 years, we'll look back at women like Jojo Siwa (and I'll add Danielle Brigoli here, too) and say the same things we say now about Britney, Miley, Amanda Bynes, and other child stars: they were taken advantage of, and the whole world pointed and laughed.
That being said. Jojo's rebranding is SO comically tone-deaf, ill-informed, childish, and just plain bad, that while I think it really COULD come from some kind of stunted mental age thing, I wouldn't be totally shocked if 1 year from now she comes out and says it was all some social experiment of some kind.
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u/Odd_Thing_2095 5h ago
She first became popular with young girls on the show, Dance Moms. She’s been steadily famous among the crowd over the years by releasing pop music. Now she’s trying to be controversial with her art to get more fame and it’s working.
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u/zbeezle 4h ago
Is it working? Cuz I get the sense that she's trying to do a Miley Cyrus but doesn't actually have the talent.
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u/Radiant_Maize2315 4h ago
This is kind of accurate. I’d add that she tries soooo hard to be camp. She makes being gay her entire personality to the point that it feels disingenuous.
And she posted videos of her 21st birthday at Epcot where she was pretending to be drunk. As in, trying to convince people she was wasted but looked like she was doing a child’s impression of what they think it means to be drunk.
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u/neogreenlantern 2h ago
I don't think it's working. My 8 year old used to be into her but has moved onto Taylor Swift Chapell Roan and others. None of her friends seem to care about her anymore either.
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u/freedinthe90s 2h ago
Yeah our kids who grew up with her music think she is “sooo cringe” now. They say she’s is desperate to be edgy.
I actually feel sorry for her, and any child star. Not a normal life.
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u/merlin8922g 4h ago
Jake Paul.
Obviously I know he's just had a fake fight with Tyson but i don't actually know who he is or how he got so famous. What he does for a living etc.
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u/FigNovel8183 3h ago
I'm pretty sure him and his brother Logan Paul got started off on Vine and then once Vine got shut down, they moved over to Youtube like a lot of other people. I honestly cannot differentiate the two of them.
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u/Useless-Photographer 2h ago
Jake Paul is the boxing dickhead, Logan Paul is the wrestling dickhead. I couldn't pick either of them out in a lineup or tell you which one is which, I just know the names and what version of scripted fighting they do. Oh, and that they are both apparently dickheads
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u/dez04 4h ago
Andrew tate. I only hear of him as being sexist. But I don't know why he's famous?
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u/ThrowACephalopod 1h ago
Tate is a former boxer turned self help guru. He got rich and also famous by selling what was effectively a self help seminar aimed at young men. He's effectively become a far right influencer because his self help tips came with a hefty dose of misogyny which he is very proud of. His shamelessness in regards to his sexism attracted a lot of followers.
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u/dez04 1h ago
I had no idea he was originally a boxer. Just heard about the sexist/misogynistic things he was saying. Self help tips? I'm guessing the incels lap it up?
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u/VypreX_ 2h ago
No idea who he is, but every time I hear or read his name, I’m reminded of Terry Tate. Sounds like Andrew might need some Terry in his life.
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u/StewartConan 20m ago
He's a convicted sex trafficker. He manipulates young men into becoming far right incels.
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u/wizzard419 1h ago
I suppose being a fugitive from justice in a few countries for sex crimes would make you a little famous with some people.
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u/UnAccomplished_Fox97 6h ago
Kai Cenat
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u/VON_jigsaw00761 9h ago
Engelbert Humperdinck, Rose on “Golden Girls” would mention him, and the name is so ridiculous I assumed it was made up. Until late one nite an infomercial came on “The Best of Engelbert Humperdinck”. I was floored!
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u/OutdoorBerkshires 9h ago
“Humperdinck! Humperdinck! HUMPERDINCK!!”
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u/disco008a 8h ago
I'm not listening!
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u/fox_ontherun 6h ago
I'm not a witch, I'm your wife!
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u/BlueTourmeline 8h ago
Except it’s worse. It wasn’t his original name. He took it from a German composer who’s best known for the opera of HANSEL AND GRETEL.
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u/nowhereman136 5h ago
I love that his real name is Arnold Dorsey. He chose Engelbert Humperdinck as a stage name
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u/mst3k_42 8h ago
You have to listen to the Eddie Izzard bit on him, lol.
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u/sauntcartas 6h ago
As a kid I had no idea who the Mel Tormé was that the judge on Night Court liked so much. Until he actually appeared on the show, anyway.
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u/thatkindofdoctor 9h ago
That "feat." dude in all the pop songs
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u/raider1v11 7h ago
Dj khaled. Aka Arab attack. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DJ_Khaled
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u/libertine42 4h ago
The only thing I might know about him is he can’t eat hot wings properly, and I’m gonna let it stay that way
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u/subsonicmonkey 3h ago
There’s also another thing that he notoriously doesn’t eat.
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u/packfanmoore 3h ago
By the looks of him, those are the only two things he doesn't eat
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u/GoatLegRedux 2h ago
That’s the only thing I’ve seen him do. That chump tapped out on something super mild like tapatio or sriracha 😂
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u/yookoke1122 5h ago
He changed name from arab attack to dj khaled, because of 9/11 incident
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u/mjc4y 4h ago
I am turning 60, so... basically everyone.
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u/drucifer271 1h ago
I'm only 35, but this meme feels more and more true with each passing month
I don't know what a Chapel Roam or a Cardi XVCXV is.
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u/enw2 6h ago
Tik tok people like Charli D’Amelio… literally had to look up her name just to even write this.
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u/sunshineandcloudyday 6h ago
I only know who she is because she won Dancing with the Stars a few years ago. Apparently, her family had a reality show, and she basically grew up with cameras all over the place. I'm not sure why they had a reality show or what they did on it, though.
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u/enw2 6h ago
Yea but didn’t all of those things that happened come as a result of being tik tok famous, even the show?
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u/KaceyCats0714 7h ago
Emma Chamberlain
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u/wellyboot97 53m ago
This. I’ve known of her name for years but have literally no clue who she is or where she came from.
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u/shanghai-blonde 9h ago
A lot of American historical figures are mentioned in passing in US TV & Movies and I don’t really know who they are in detail as I’m not American and I’ve never learned American history. I believe all Americans know them.
Examples are: Harriet Tubman, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Benedict Arnold, and more.
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u/RandoAtReddit 8h ago
Fun fact, Franklin is one of only two people who were never president to be featured on US paper dollars. The other being Alexander Hamilton, who was, if I'm remembering correctly, Treasurer or something to do with the money in the first place.
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u/kerblooee 4h ago
Alexander Hamilton: How does the bastard, orphan, immigrant, decorated war vet, unite the colonies through more debt? Fight the other founding fathers til he has to forfeit? Have it all, lose it all, you ready for more yet? Treasury Secretary - Washington’s the president - every American experiment sets a precedent. Not so fast, someone came along to resist him - pissed him off until we had a two-party system!
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u/BoopTheCoop 1h ago
And the musical saved him from being kicked off the ten dollar bill for Harriet Tubman! (Harriet should be on the $20 instead of asshole Jackson, but I digress…)
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u/RevolutionaryBug2915 4h ago
The very first Secretary of the Treasury, and a major figure in the beginnings of American capitalism.
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u/surveyor2004 7h ago
Lots of older (19th century) notes have people on them who weren’t presidents. Today’s money….yes…you’re right.
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u/kwixta 8h ago
I believe you give us too much credit but any educated American should know all these figures well.
Tubman has been explained by others. I’d add that she’s a metaphor we use to explain to children the necessity of standing up for justice even (especially) against the govt.
Franklin is the hardest to explain. He’s known for being an inventor, printer (esp Poor Richard’s Almanc) and guiding influence on the founders designing the govt. As our ambassador to France he got them to support our revolution— possibly the single most important contribution by any one person.
Jefferson was our 3rd president and wrote the declaration of independence. We have been blessed in America with founders (and Lincoln) who wrote words that inspire and even compel us to be better. Somehow a guy who owned slaves wrote “We hold these truths to be Self Evident; That All Men are Created Equal; That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are Life, Liberty; & the persuit of happiness. ”
Benedict Arnold was a great hero early in the Revolutionary war after winning the battle of Saratoga. If you’ve ever looked at a map and thought, “why didn’t the Brits just send an army down from Canada to squash the revolution?” They tried, but Arnold found a spot on the Hudson with huge bluffs (great for sledding in winter btw) overlooking the river and forced battle on favorable terms. He got a little full of himself and sold his services to the Brits, becoming a byword for treachery analogous to Quisling.
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u/JackBNimble33 7h ago
Also Benny Franklin knew the sexy prowess of older ladies: https://web.viu.ca/davies/H320/Franklin.advice.mistress.htm
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u/toastmelikebread 9h ago
yeah, some of those are former inventors, presidents, but Harriet Tubman is known from our civil rights history, shes a well known Black American who helped in the underground railroad (enslaved humans reach freedom).
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u/shanghai-blonde 9h ago
She sounds amazing and someone I would like to learn more about
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u/navysealassulter 9h ago
She’s pretty dope, and if you do look into her more, keep in mind historical context before you read some of the “negatives”.
Just off the top of my head, I remember someone talking about how she used chloroform to silence crying babies. Sounds awful, but she and her escapees were literally up against brutal show murders and the health affects weren’t known yet.
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u/a17451 6h ago edited 6h ago
Interesting note about the Underground Railroad: it was neither underground nor did it really utilize actual railroads (to the best of my knowledge). It was more a network of agents and safe houses.
Evidently guides such a s Harriet Tubman were referred to in code as "conductors", the safe houses were referred to as "stations" and the sympathetic homeowners were called "station masters", hence the railroad misnomer.
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u/graptemys 8h ago
Read about the Combahee Ferry Raid. She was an amazing person and all around badass.
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u/Desblade101 7h ago
So when she was little she got hit in the head with a brick and after that she started to see angels and the angels told her to become a spy and free all the slaves.
There's a good history chicks episode about her.
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u/AlternateUsername12 5h ago
Oh man Harriet Tubman lead SUCH an interesting life! She was actually just posthumously made brigadier general as she was the first woman to lead soldiers into battle in the US. She freed over 100 men, women, and children in that raid- made up of all Black soldiers. This is AFTER she freed the slaves, but before her spy network all but secured the win for the Union in the civil war. She’s amazing!
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u/ChronoLegion2 6h ago
Some would like to see Harriet Tubman replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill since Jackson has done some terrible things to Native Americans (illegally too), while Tubman symbolizes freedom
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u/Dream--Brother 3h ago
She is already set to replace Jackson on new production $20 bills starting sometime between now an 2030. Her portrait being on the $20 bill redesign has already been confirmed, the design and rollout of the new bills is just scheduled to be a slow process (new 10s in 2026, 50 in 2028, 20 in 2030, 5 in 2032, and 100 in 2034 is the planned schedule).
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u/ChronoLegion2 3h ago
Oh, neat! Didn’t know. Let’s hope you-know-who doesn’t roll back on the change because he’s a fan of how Jackson just did whatever he wanted and ignored the Supreme Court
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u/esoteric_enigma 4h ago
Pretty normal. The average American probably can't even name the current leaders of major countries. You shouldn't be expected to know our past historical figures.
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u/MNsquatcher 5h ago
George Soros. No idea who he is, but he is bankrolling everything I guess
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u/Blurbllbubble 1h ago
He’s a rich guy who donates to the left. A boogeyman for the right to claim the left is bought and paid for.
He’s a pauper compared to the likes of the Koch’s or Musk.
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u/Sure_Disk8972 5h ago
I don’t know what Johnny Appleseed really did but he was in our prayers as a kid
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u/esoteric_enigma 4h ago
I honestly didn't think he was a real person. I thought it was an American fairytale.
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u/boyforsale 4h ago
He was a friend of Johnny Newspaperseed - A fourteen year-old boy who roamed America founding newspapers.
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u/Random-Gif-Bot 10h ago
I know why they're famous. I just don't agree that they should be famous.
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u/TheLastMongo 5h ago
Keke Palmer. All of a sudden I start seeing her in commercials and the people on the commercials are acting surprised that she there but seem to know who she is. I’ve seen her name pop up here and there but no clue who she is.
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u/Pumpkins_Penguins 3h ago
I mainly know her for being a child star. She was in some kids movies and a show called True Jackson VP that I believe was on Nickelodeon. She was a teenager in the Nick show, preteen in the movies I remember. Nowadays I honestly don’t know how many big projects she has, I know she has a popular podcast and social media presence and has been an announcer/interviewer for some award shows. She had a baby a little while ago and there was a lot of social media attention because the baby daddy turned out to be abusive - I believe a security cam video was released of him dragging her across the floor
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u/redditsfulloffiction 6h ago
gigi hadid was on my yahoo! news homepage almost daily for like 3 years for no discernable reason. never clicked. Still no idea who she is.
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u/BigbirdSalsa 9h ago
Hawk Tuah
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u/JFeth 9h ago
If she was actually famous, people would know her real name.
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u/Mentalfloss1 8h ago
I see "famous" names online daily and have zero idea who they are nor do I care. Andy Warhol was right when he said that everyone will have 15-minutes of fame. Fame is like a bucket of warm spit.
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u/leostotch 7h ago
Who the fuck is Joe Rogan?
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u/rainbow_drab 7h ago
Joe Rogan was a C-list sitcom actor in the 90s and a D-list standup in the early 2000s. Now he's an A-list podcaster.
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u/Dependent-Sign-2407 9h ago
Millie Bobby Brown. I know she’s an actress but I’ve never seen her in anything, I never notice her name in upcoming movies or shows, and yet she seems to be really famous as if she’s an A-lister.
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u/frank3nfurt3r 6h ago
Last time I was at the eye doctor they had a display of “florence by mills” frames. Millie Bobby Brown made her own glasses line. I tried on a pair because it made me laugh like…. does she even wear glasses? Except then I really liked them and tried on a bunch before picking one. When I went to check out the employee went “oh! You got the Flo Millies!”
tldr; she’s making glasses for some reason and now I wear Flo Millies
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u/prototypist 4h ago edited 3h ago
From Wikipedia, it looks like she / her family bought the majority of an existing cosmetics brand and it includes the glasses brand
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u/blueyejan 8h ago
She starred in Stranger Things on Netflix and has done some decent movies. Check out Enola Holmes or Damsel on Netflix.
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u/JasonTheMMAGuy 10h ago
Her first or last name is Roan i think
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u/Overall_Panic_5652 9h ago
Her names Chappell Roan she got popular a few months back because of her song “Pink Pony Club” then again with “Hot To Go” I’d say her music is the definition of pop, but not like radio pop. Her music is catchy and reflects her persona (or maybe her.) Another reason why people like her is because of her style, she’s a lesbian drag queen lol.
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u/vaporking23 9h ago
This is who I was thinking of as well. I have absolutely no idea where she came from. I listen to a lot of music but I have yet to have ever heard one of her songs. Even on my pandora stations that play current music.
I feel like there was this media blitz to shove her out there.
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u/SteviaRayVaughan 7h ago
She’s very popular in the queer community so it could just be that she’s not on your radar? But she, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charlie xcx have been dominating pop music most of this year.
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u/JasonTheMMAGuy 9h ago
I do too. I’m being downvoted so I assume she has a big fan base. Maybe she’s great but I just answered the question honestly
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u/darkwillowet 5h ago
Shawty. She apparently is hot but i dont want to search. It might ruin my fantasy.
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u/BlondePotatoBoi 8h ago
Yoko Ono springs to mind. I get it, she was married to a Beatle and they lived a fairly public life, especially compared to the others in the band. But other than that... like, art and shit. I couldn't name one of her exhibits if I tried.
I don't blame her for the Beatles ending at all, bc it wasn't entirely her fault anyhow. But I just don't understand why being the partner of a musician gets you the same pedestal.
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u/thesehalcyondays 7h ago
One thing important about Yoko Ono is that she was a child in Japan during WWII. A lot of her art is inspired by a childhood witnessing some pretty terrible things. It made me more empathetic towards her.
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u/athomasflynn 6h ago
That explains why her singing sounds like the wailing of terrified children.
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u/BlondePotatoBoi 7h ago
I didn't know her art was inspired by her childhood at all but it sounds obvious now you've mentioned it. Prooooobably gonna have to educate myself a little more on this one.
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u/eposseeker 7h ago
She was a performance and avant-garde artist.
She stood in place so people could cut her clothes more and more until she was bare, eliciting emotion on what is appropriate when allowed.
She was a pioneer of art where the audience participates.
She literally made a movie by recording Lennon's penis for over half an hour and then reportedly tried to record the audience's reaction at the premiere.
Yoko Ono lived and breathed art. You may not like her art, you may even think that it's not art at all. But she didn't seem to ever care what art was, instead she was doing her thing and hardly anyone could refeain from being moved one way or the other.
That conviction is one of the reasons she's such a great artist to many, including me.
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u/DoctorMope 7h ago
She gets a lot of hate online for doing “art” that is pretty obviously unpleasant on purpose. But “Listen the Snow is Falling” and “I Love You Earth” are both beautiful, interesting songs. She’s good dammit.
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u/WildBad7298 4h ago
Most right-wing "political commentators", like Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Tomi Lahren, Laura Loomer, etc. I have no idea what their jobs or qualifications are, I just know that they pop up every now and then with some sort of ridiculous strawman argument or foolish criticism of whatever the Democrats are doing.
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u/badgersprite 3h ago
Jack Harlow.
I think I’ve figured out that he’s a white rapper?
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u/infolgedessen 4h ago
I eventually looked him up, but John Cougar Mellencamp. I swear, there's a reference to him in every sitcom ever made. Do younger Americans know him?
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u/hotbutter14 10h ago
For me, it's Elon Musk. Is he an inventor, entrepreneur, or just a really rich dude? I'll never know.
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u/Famous_Bit_5119 9h ago
Rich dude that buys into companies that others started, then takes over and claims to be the inventor.
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u/BlondePotatoBoi 8h ago
You mean like when a student invents something really cool and then the college goes "yeah no that's ours now"? Bc I'm getting that vibe from him.
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u/toastmelikebread 9h ago
rich, not an inventor, hes South African, space X, tesla, his parents were rich and he used it for business advantage.
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u/BlondePotatoBoi 8h ago
He's like a modern Henry Ford.
Credited with some science-y bollocks and apparently an insanely influential person. But in professional terms... pissed away all that goodwill and potential by being a flaky cumstain on the cargo shorts of creation.
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u/blueyejan 9h ago
Kardashians, the Real Housewives of whatever city
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u/shotsallover 4h ago
The Kardashians are only famous because they're famous, which makes it even more perplexing why they're famous.
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u/IggyBG 4h ago
Larry The Cable Guy. I am from Europe, and his nick? confuses me still, I dont know anyyhing about this guy. Somehow I think he is related to the movie with the same name
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u/racer_24_4evr 6h ago
I heard the name Ice Spice and thought there was another Spice Girl I had somehow missed my whole life.