They Don't Like Us: The PSYOPticon of Revenge
Hollywood’s limelight continues to fade as Blake Lively gets rotten reviews.
The actress Blake Lively filed a bombshell lawsuit accusing the director James Baldoni for sexual harassment on the set of the movie It Ends With Us. A unique aspect of this case is insight gained from communication with Baldoni’s crisis PR firm, Tag PR, founded by Melissa Nathan. The smear campaign against Blake was more successful than the spin masters’ wildest dreams, as weaponizing fans on social media is relatively easy.
Are we in the clear yet, in the clear yet? Good. Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet?
- Out of the Woods (Taylor’s Version), Taylor Swift
Immediately upon the revelation of the smear campaign, the spin masters, locked in their looking-glass world, began tapping into a broader anti-celebrity sentiment that threatens to unravel the world’s most effective propaganda ecosystem. The year 2024 started with a bang as Katt Williams declared it “the year of truth,” while #BlockOut2024 went viral in response to celebrities’ refusal to speak out against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
There is a rebellion afoot, and the people want to be represented, whether through public policy, on social media, or through vigilante shit. Moreover, they are hungry for the ability to look past the noise and engage in social interactions in good faith, free from manipulation by mere mortals wielding disproportionate power.
We are conditioned to see sex and violence as perverse twin flames—for what is a bombshell, truly? Hollywood uses the limelight to distract from the shadow of moral rot it is truly selling. Lime can only mask the smell of decomposition for so long.
The PSYOPticon of Revenge
The French historian Michel Foucault used the metaphor of a Panopticon to explain how oppressed people are conditioned to regulate their behavior on behalf of their oppressors. A Panopticon is a prison with an architectural design in which the guards can potentially always observe the prisoners, while the prisoners remain unaware of when they are actually being watched.
[Foucault] describes the prisoner of a panopticon as being at the receiving end of asymmetrical surveillance: “He is seen, but he does not see; he is an object of information, never a subject in communication.”
As a consequence, the inmate polices himself for fear of punishment.
- The Guardian, July 23, 2015
Although celebrities know for a fact that they are under constant observation and that any misstep could potentially ruin their careers, the crisis PR industry has repeatedly demonstrated how the public’s perception of good and bad actors can be completely inverted.
When people hear the word “PSYOP,” they typically think of psychological warfare perpetrated by the powerful against the population. Yet, consider a psyop conducted against the powerful. Celebrities are the façade of the powerful—the glossy veneer that provides cover for the puppet masters pulling the strings.
But what if a seismic shift has been occurring over the past few years, led by a contingent of avant-garde artists and fanatical codebreakers cracking the looking glass? What if they are doing so in order to dismantle the power structures as we know them?
What if celebrities are playing in the moguls’ faces, using cultural touchstones and repeating patterns and themes to create the world’s greatest scavenger hunt? Some celebrities are just like us—our peers, trying to fight the system. For them, explicitly speaking out against the system is too dangerous, as we’ve seen so many high-profile rebels meet untimely and strange deaths.
TTPD Is Real!
Some call this motley crew the New Romantics or argue convincingly that Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets Department is real. I am a true believer!
Gaylors are a passionate subset of the Taylor Swift fandom who believe that Taylor has been forced into the closet by the industry, so as not being straight could harm the marketability of her public image. This practice of forced closeting is known as “bearding.” While Gaylors face a significant amount of seemingly manufactured hate online, I find their arguments convincing.
Even Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, seems to be in on the plan, subtly acknowledging the phenomenon of forced closeting in Hollywood—and perhaps hinting that he and Lively might be in a lavender marriage. The account Xnotobeard on X is an excellent resource that tracks bearding, as well as broader issues of abuse within the entertainment industry.
Ryan Reynolds has also referred to the overwhelming control that Penske Media has over the entertainment press, with a portfolio that includes Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, Vox, Indiewire, Variety, Billboard, and Rolling Stone. Their influence extends even further, including ownership of major music festivals like Coachella and SXSW.
If you pay attention to minute detail, as I do, you’ll understand how absolutely rare this type of industry callout is, especially in regards to critiquing corporate consolidation within the industry.
Blake Premieres A Reboot
Blake Lively wore a vintage, iconic Versace dress previously owned by Britney Spears to the premiere of The Last of Us.
In her choice to pay homage to Britney, Blake said the following:
"Britney, us millennials all have a story of a moment, or of years that you made us want to shine and inspire awe, with strength, and joy and immensely hard work," Lively continued. "Thank you for your example and your contribution to women telling their stories." - Blake Lively’s Instagram story
Blake faced immediate backlash in the online Britneyverse for trying to gain clout, as many believe other celebrities do, by co-opting Britney’s image and likeness.
If paying homage is a crime, then explain this:
The dress hubbub felt like a bunch of noise, so I don’t believe I posted about it, but due to my expertise, people did seek my opinion.
A few days later, Britney posted about the Versace dress—and many assumed Britney was dragging Blake. A smarter conclusion would be they plotted a DIY PSYOP—the online discourse sure felt like two crisis PR firms circling the drain together, as there is a constant smear campaign against Britney.
Isn’t it strange that mere days later Britney had a knockoff dress on hand reminiscent of the big money Versace one?
Plus, when I hear “stems,” I think of nice legs to stand on. It would be marvelous if exploitation in the gangster-controlled industry ended with them. We need more women in stem, huh?
Ghoulia, a #JusticeForBritney super sleuth, has pointed out that Blake’s lawsuit mentions the influencer Liz Crokin, as fomenting the smear campaign against Blake. Crokin is a well-known disinformation agent who created the supposed Britney documentary Slave Princess and is a proponent of Pizzagate.
This flavor of operation often points back to the same gang.
This PSYOPticon is a big joke being played on the naive public and the suspect entertainment industry. There are many more examples. Happy hunting!
Phony Baldoni: An Original Gangster
Who has the balls to sexually harass an A-list actress in 2024, if not someone with multigenerational mafia ties?
The Baldoni family’s connections stretch back to the geopolitical power network that flourished in the post-World War II era. This network operates at the intersection of business, government, intelligence agencies, and transnational organized crime. Baldoni’s grandfather worked with the US government, Italian mafia, and Jewish American mafia to take down Mussolini.
After the lawsuit was filed, William Morris Endeavor (WME), one of the big three talent agencies, dropped Baldoni from their roster. WME is also Blake’s talent agency, and they certainly knew about Blake’s claims over a year ago.
Ari Emanuel is the current CEO of WME’s parent company, Endeavor. As in the case of Baldoni’s grandfather, his father played a significant role in manifesting the post-WWII power grid by his membership in the Irgun.
William Morris merged with Endeavor in 2009, and Ari’s maneuvering was central to the deal. At that time, Ari also sat on the board of directors of Live Nation, which merged with Ticketmaster in 2010. Ari’s brother, Rahm, fortuitously was President Obama’s chief of staff. Perhaps Obama helped expedite our march towards oligarchy?
Recently, the private equity firm Silver Lake agreed to take Endeavor private in a $13 billion deal. Let’s leave the UAE connect for later. the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation–Ticketmaster, Silver Lake was named as conspiring with them to maintain their monopoly.
Just a coincidence!
The Era of Taylor
Taylor Swift’s career appears to be a really boring day job. She does seem to thoroughly enjoying it, as do the fans. I cannot imagine narcissism is the only motive for playing the same concert 150 times over two years and selling anything and everything with her face on it.
Maybe you have to become a demigoddess to actually confront transnational organized crime. Maybe Taylor, and her allies, was merely building a peaceful army this whole time.
What if, in this modern retelling, Narcissus fell through the looking glass?
There’s a ton of simpleton and reductive content focusing on Taylor being a PSYOP for the Democratic Party or the New World Order, etc. Yet, if she were really that powerful, she never would’ve lost control of her catalog, much less been screwed over by Britney’s people at the beginning of her career. If she were mobbed up, Scooter would be out of gas.
How far is she willing to go to exact her revenge against the music mafia???
Scooter Braun, who hijacked Taylor’s ability to buy her catalog, is in the same gang that presides over the music industry, including Britney’s manager Larry Rudolph and Irving Azoff.
They just pretend to work for different companies when it’s really The OG Syndicate.
If Irving [Azoff] needs something for one of his artists, we’re there for him. Same thing with Scooter [Braun]. Even though we may be part of diff. CONSORTIUMS, I don’t see them as playing for a diff. team. We just happen to have our own little GROUP. - Larry Rudolph, Billboard, 2013
Revenge: They Not Like Us
Last year Taylor released the rerecord of remix of her song Bad Blood featuring Kendrick Lamar. You think Kenny was jumping back on the track for clout? Psyhhhawwww
[Verse 2: Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift]
Remember when you tried to write me off? (Haha)
Remember when you thought I'd take a loss?
Don't you remember? You thought that I would need ya
Follow procedure, remember? Oh, wait, you've got amnesia?
It was my season for battle wounds, battle scars, body bumped, bruised
Stabbed in the back; brimstone, fire jumpin' through
Still, all my life, I got money and power
And you gotta live with the bad blood now (Haha)
Drake recently accused Universal Music Group of using payola to make They Not Like Us more successful than a half Black suburban child star’s diSSS track. I am more street than Drake than Drake—considering I haven’t been punched like a bitch by Diddy.
Drake claim that “UMG designed, financed and then executed a plan” to turn Not Like Us “into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues”. - Music Business Worldwide, November 26, 2024
Shit! I knew that shit was a bop in minutes… I know my music history, and I know an organic banger for the people—even if everyone uses payola.
Payola like totally for sure explains the success of Macklemore’s Hind’s Hall. Protest songs break into the airwaves all the time.
Drake’s claims are pretty rich coming from the first artist who ever reached 100 billion streams on Spotify… This is why the people want to put the pop your ass back in pop culture.
Whatever metrics you use to ascertain success – it’s rigged and the jig will be up soon.
Wouldn’t you know, Drake is in big business with Scooter. Drake also happens to use the same crisis PR firm as Justin Baldoni, TAG. Melissa Nathan’s life is so meta right now… some in-house upstart is going to fuck to make their own name in the business.
Tag Team back again.
One of these things is not like the other:
We have a definitional issue for this thriving criminal network: the deep state, oligarchy, NWO, Illuminati…
This group is not bound by geography, identity, or ideology. Their aim is to control your dreams by manipulating the culture industry and fabricating the news.
What binds them is the pursuit of maintaining power at any cost.
Don’t fall for -ism traps; their goal is to create schisms when 99% of people are not in their cartel.
The Jewish mafia definitely runs the show.