A Note From A Former Child Star 📝
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Hi my angels!!! Thank you all for all your gorg words and SF/ Austin recs yesterday! You're all the best (but you already know that.) I don't know about you, but yesterday I was following the Don't Worry Darling release at Venice like a HAWK!!!! Liv and I are trying to gather as much info as we can on this before doing a biiiiiig Culture Vulture ep about it, but for now, let me just give you some highlights from Twitter:
Harry answered some questions in a... very Harry Styles way:
People came up with a bananas theory that Harry SPAT on Chris Pine (I think Chris just realised he lost his sunnies)
And also, another example of imp in the wild from a newsy reader:
Love you all toooo much, have a gorgy day xxx
A note from Wil Wheaton, a former child star
A new episode of Culture Vulture, all about Gabbie Hanna
An update on the stabbings in Canada
SYSCA bringing people together
SYSCA tearing people apart
Judge Says Nevermind to Nirvana Baby’s Album Cover Lawsuit
Do you call a portable toilet a port-a-loo or a port-a-potty?
A note from Wil Wheaton, a former child star
A bunch of you replied to Liv and I's podcast episode about child stars saying that we need to look into Wil Wheaton's story. I knew about Wil, because not only is he a SYSCA follower, but he's a ✨SYSCA supporter ✨, and he read Liv's Saturday newsy all about child stars, and replied with a little note about his own experiences. Here's what he said:
Hey Liv,
My name is Wil Wheaton. I was an exploited and abused child star in the 80s. I knew Drew, both Coreys, River Phoenix, Mack, etc. I played Gordie in Stand By Me, and Wesley in Star Trek: The Next Generation. As an adult, I played a version of myself on The Big Bang Theory for 10 years. My mother forced me to be an actor when I was 7, and before I took control of my finances from them, my parents stole everything from me. I have CPTSD as a result of being forced to work when I was a kid.
I wrote about my experiences in a book that was released earlier this year. I mention this because I posted a long excerpt from it to my blog last week, which may be relevant to this newsletter, and the discussion about child labour. What I wrote about happened to me in 1986 or 1987. It breaks my heart and enrages me that this is still happening today, to people like Britney Spears, Jeanette McCurdy, and Demi Lovato. I really appreciate you speaking about calling child labour what it is, and starting a conversation about protecting children.
Anyway, if you're interested:
Thanks for everything you and the rest of the team do.
Wil
We're so blessed to have people like Wil who are willing (no pun intended) to come forward and share their experiences, and the least we can do is share and learn from them. I would highly recommend going and reading his full blog post.
And now a new episode of Culture Vulture!
This episode was brought to you by the legends at Hello Period! Use our discount code 'SHITYEAH' at checkout for 15% off their new Hello Undies! Visit helloperiod.com to get yours today!!
Gabbie Hanna and the Dangers Of Influence - Culture Vulture — open.spotify.com
This week is HUGE! Stories about period sex, a note from Wil Wheaton (a former child star), and then a big discussion about what went down on Gabbie Hanna's TikTok last week, and how we react to influencers 'posting through it.'
An update on the stabbings in Canada
Yesterday I wrote about the stabbings in Canada that left 10 people dead and 18 injured, and I told you that the police were on the hunt for the two suspects. An update: one of the suspects, Damien Sanderson, had been found dead with injuries that appear to be 'self-inflicted' and the other suspect, Miles Sanderson may have been sighted. Live updates here.
Judge Says Nevermind to Nirvana Baby’s Album Cover Lawsuit
I can't remember if I spoke about this in Culture Vulture one week or if I wrote about it in here, but you know the baby from this Nirvana album cover:
Well, after they were the Nirvana baby, they grew up to be Spencer Elden, and decided to sue the band for putting them on the cover. Elden claimed that the cover was basically child pornography and that the photo (which was taken of him by a family friend when he was four) caused him “permanent harm” as well as a “lifelong loss of income-earning capacity.”
Elden filed this lawsuit in 2021, naming record labels, members of the band, and Kurt Cobain's estate (among others), but US District Judge Fernando Olguin has now dismissed the case with prejudice, saying that it "was filed well past the statute of limitations (10 years)."
SYSCA bringing people together:
I love reading cute this like this in my inbox 🥺🥺
Hi Luce!
I thought you guys should be one of the first people to know, as I kinda owe you guys !
Anyways, I started talking to my friend via the Harry channel on your discord (forever missed, it had immaculate vibes ), and we’ve been saying since then we want to go to a Harry show together, and as of ten minutes ago, we’ve managed to get tickets for LOT in Munich ! It’s something we’ve wanted for ages, we couldn’t get it work out for us for the eu dates this year, and as soon as the new dates came out we started planning what dates we could both get to, and somehow I managed to survive the queue?
So, I have got to thank you guys for this, I never thought I would get to visit a part of Europe I’ve never been to, and I get to do it with one of my closest friends, who I wouldn’t have started talking to if it wasn’t for you guys ! So massive thank you 💜
SYSCA tearing people (or at least this person) apart:
I love reading cute this like this in my inbox too🥺🥺
Do you call a portable toilet a port-a-loo or a port-a-potty?
65% say port-a-potty
35% say port-a-loo
It's defs port-a-loo, sorry!
PS I watched this yesterday as I was writing this newsy:
Launching a Rocky & Eating Some Choccy (The Shit Show)
Gabbie Hanna and the Dangers Of Influence (Culture Vulture)
Instagram was fined $402 million for mishandling teens’ data in the EU (The Verge)
Zach Sang, the Ryan Seacrest of the Youth, Wants to Save Radio (The New York Times)
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Our HUGE SYSCA reading list! (✨Supporters only✨)
