Hello and welcome to Outspoken – it’s your dose of the hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week.
An argument over the cost of a ceramic ‘sippy cup’ is spilling over on TikTok with young women being asked to take sides. Dubbed ‘mug gate,’ the latest online controversy involves Gen Z ‘it girl’ Sophia Begg and small business owner, Shelby Sherritt.
Madison Woolly has revealed she was forced to spend 10-days in Bali after her parents rented out the house she was living in.
And has Tammy Hembrow said yes to her Vera Wang the dress?
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Follow Outspoken on Instagram and TikTok, plus join in on the conversation in our Facebook Community. Podcast hosted by Amy Taeuber, Kate Taeuber and Sophie Taeuber.
On today's show, the Sippy Cup drama spilling over on TikTok Tammy Hembro's sponsored wedding dress try On, and Madison Woolly is left temporarily homeless as her parents rent out their family home. Hello and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm Sophie Torbert and Amy. You're back refreshed from your honeymoon. How was it? It was really good? Thank you. I feel like all Dale and I did though, was just eat in Balley. We did see a lot of TikTok fogs of the food. Some of those buffets were absolutely incredible. Yeah. The funny thing is when you go on holiday, you do get excited for the buffet, But after the first buffet, I was kind of over it. I more enjoyed going out and actually just getting just one meal out for breakfast rather than having so many choices, just spoilt for choice. That's talking about being spoiled. Taylor Swift blew everyone's tiny minds yesterday at the Grammys when she announced in her acceptance speech for her thirteenth Grammy, of course, that she's releasing a new album. It is called The Tortured Poets Department and it's out on April nineteen. I feel like Joe Alwan will be absolutely squirming because she said this has been two years in the making. She really got everyone good because there was a theory developing online that she was going to re release Reputation because she changed her profile picture to a black and white photo. She also wore black and white to the Grammy. I was excited for Reputation, but this is so much better, particularly because it's been two years in the making. Because I'm expecting by the title that we're going to be hearing a lot of breakup songs about Joe. I'm also hoping we get an insight into Travis and Taylor's relationship. Madison Willy has revealed she was forced to spend ten days in Balley after her parents rented out the house she was living in, so Madison moved back in with her parents into their news And mansion last year. Her excuse is that she's looking for a Sydney apartment. However, she's been there quite a while now. I thought she would have moved back to Sydney by now. Well, if you were living in that mansion, would you really be rushing around trying to find a new rental house. My boyfriend Jonathan also made the move into State, so he's been living it up with her there as well. Yeah, imagine moving in with the in laws when you're in your thirties. Side note, I was in Bali at the same time as both Jonathan and Madison, and also Sophicacia, and a few people listen to the podcast were messaging me being like, you've got to be careful. I did think that, but Bali is such a big place. I was there when Olivia Rogers and Morgan Waterhouse. I'm guessing it was because we had that run in with Kurt Tills and everyone was feeling for us because it was so fucking awkward. Dale said to me, He's like, what if you like, because Dale has no idea who any of these people are, He's like, what would happen if you did run into one of them and they said do you want to get a drink? And I was like, Dale, one, I wouldn't go, and that's not going to happen. No, I've got a cop abuse if anything. Yeah. Now, on Madison's podcast, she did touch upon having to go to Bally. This is what she said.
I'm currently without a home right now. I my parents, so you know how I'm saying. You guys know the drum staying in New Side at my parents' house. But they've gone overseas, so we've done like a house exchange swap. So there's people in the house, but I don't know them. So I had to leave so for three weeks. My parents are like, yep, you kind of have to be out. You've got nowhere to stays.
I'm like cool.
So anyways, John and I going to Bali for ten days on Saturday, whichuld be lovely.
I'm very excited. And I'm sorry, Charling, this whole story cracks me up. I mean, maybe it's the way that you've prefaced it, Kate, but that she's forced to go to Bali because their parents are renting out the place. Like I think a lot of people would love to be forced to go on a ten day holiday to Bali. Particularly the villas they were staying in. They looked insane. Well one was a five bedroom villa and it looked epic. But my first thought was how boring would that be? I mean, it's just the two of them rattling around in this villa. Like Dale and I purposely stayed in resorts because you kind of want other people around, but you can go out. I think the good thing about having a villa in Bali is I tend to get sick of the people, particularly people that are in Bali, like the Bogans. I get sick of them and want to go into a villa to get away. They're great people watching, but when they be doing all of their content shoots there, I'm sure that this is some sort of tax deduction for them. Well, on Madison's recent podcast, she said that Jonathan was taking photos of her and someone in the neighboring villa actually offered to come over and take some cute couple photos. I'm sure they did, but she was scared that she was going to get robbed because apparently last time they were in Balley they got robbed. They didn't, but she said she was just paranoid. Now it gets interesting because a couple of weeks ago, a listener sent us a real estate dot com link to what appears to be the Woolies Nooser home. So despite Madison being back from Barley, now it's unsure where she is living, as the home is still being advertised as a rental that's actually available on the twenty sixth of February. Now, the home looks exactly like the one that Madison shows off in her content and in the it says it comes fully furnished with the use of a convertible Lexus and golf cut and it's available for a minimum two month fixed term least. So I'm wondering, are Jonathan and Madison homeless? Like where are they living? Well, surely they're just going to move back to Sydney and get a rental. Wasn't Madison living in a hotel room when she would come back to Sydney. Maybe she's just because you've probably got some deal with the hotel where they're just staying there for free. I don't think so. More like maybe her parents have offered to put her up somewhere to apologize for their house not being available. What I don't get is it's clear that the Woolies are extremely wealthy. Their home is absolutely stunning at will cost a mint. It's a bit strange that wealthy people have chose to rent out their house literally kick Madison and Jonathan out, Like, why didn't they just get Madison and Jonathan to pay them some rent? That's how the wealthy get wealthier. Of course, I mean they're good business people. Maybe they want them to get the fuck out of there, Like that was me and I'm this, you know, I aren't they scientists or something. They're super medical scientists. Yeah, these super intelligent people. They've got these two influences. All they're doing is spending all day by the pool sending their emails. And you know, you've got some thirty something year old guy there with your younger daughter. I'd probably be like, get the fuck out.
Yeah.
Do you think it's a bit of a hint to leave? I definitely think so. I think that's saying, look it's over, get out. Times up. An argument over the cost of a ceramic sippy cup is spilling over on TikTok, with young women being asked to take sides. Dubbed muggate, The latest online controversy involves jen z it girl Sophia Beg and small business owner Shelby Share it Now, Sophie, how did this all start? Well? More than a month ago, as part of a Christmas hole, Sofia uploaded an eight minute TikTok showing her followers what she bought her family members for Christmas. Now as part of the whole Sofia explained that she bought a ceramic mug with little strawberries on it from the finders keeper market. Let's try to what she said there.
I actually have no idea trying to give this to Basically, I was up this market, the finder finders Keeper's market. How can you just cut right? I think it's actually like a kid supper cut, which is silly because it's ceramic, so if they dropped, it was smash. But I didn't say that. I thought it just had one hand. I was like, oh, that's such a cup mug. But I'm just gonna get it. Like I was like whatever, like, I'll just get it. Didn't ask how much it was. She's like, yeah, that's all good. You can tap. It's a hundred She's like, oh, she's like it's so good, you can tap. Fucking look at the Fox machine one hundred and twenty five dollars.
But that's what the smugg is.
It's literally tiny, that's like a proper mug size. I was like, she like fully wrapped it and put it in a bag and like I was about to tap. She was like, there's no way I can be Like no, I could have, but I would have felt really bad. So I just got it. But now I'm like, fuck, do I give this too? I'm not going to give this to actually one of my cousins that's small, because they'll just break it. It's so breakable. It's like hands serrained, hand ceramiced, you know. So I don't know who the fuck that's for, but we'll figure it out.
I think it's important to point out here that Sophia didn't name the business or the owner. She did show the cup, though, which contained the designer's signature artwork, so a lot of people who are familiar with shehell, we would to put two and two together. Now. This is where small business owner Shelby Sharett entered the chat. For some context, Shelby has a huge following of her own. She is an Aussie potter based in Ballarat and has garnered over two million followers by sharing her artwork and her love of clay. I think that point is really interesting because when I saw all of this unfold online, I assumed that it was Shelby Sharett punching up, and a lot of people were like, Oh, this girl is clearly trying to get clout after using Sophia's name. But it's actually interesting because she's got eight hundred thousand more followers than Sophia. That's the thing. People are seeing this as some sort of David and Goliath battle, and they're looking at it as though it's a situation we've seen in the past where some influencers take down small businesses who have no platform to defend themselves on. And I think she has cultivated such a passionate and dedicated audience not only because her pottery is just so beautiful, but because she actually started pottery in twenty sixteen after she was diagnosed with cancer and at the time she said it felt gave her some agency and control back. So not only does she have a beautiful story behind the pottery, but the pottery is exceptional itself. Now. On Wednesday, Shelby hit back with a four minute TikTok of her own, accusing Sophia of lying about her experience at her store, and she also took issue with Sophia, criticizing her pricing structure. Here's a snippet of what she said.
I just wanted to say thank you so so much for supporting my soul business. It means so so much. Every single time someone purchases a piece that I make, I have literally spent hours and hours finessing glazing. I handpaint every single one. And that's not including how much money goes towards tax, how much goes towards GST, how much outgoings. I have all my supplies that have also increased in value. It also includes my staff's wages. It's also deeply upsetting to have someone not only question you as a business owner and the all about how I interacted with you, but to also have you question my pricing when you two also run a small business and you know how much goes into every single little thing that small business does.
I found the timing of this all really strange because, as you mentioned at the start of the segment, Sophie Sophia actually posted about this back in December, So wh're now in early February. Do you think that Shelby only just saw this video and it's her instant reaction or do you think there was some strategy behind it? Well, it was an eight minute video. I think that that's why it's taken so long for Shelby to come across this. I assume that one of her followers has just tagged during the video and said, Hey, you've got to mention here, and then you have to sit through the eight minute hole of all the boring Christmas presents. I was a little bit taken aback about how so for Dover actually spoke about the cup, it did come across as a little bit rude, particularly if she had met the business owner and learned more about the business itself. It just I didn't sit well with you. See, she's disputing whether she did actually meet the business owner. She said that she thinks that someone else served her, and she is also denying that they had this huge conversation that Shelby said they had. I disagree with you, Kate, because when I first saw the video without any of the context around Shelby's business, I just thought it was kind of funny because we've all been in that situation where we've thought something is cheaper than it is, and a't that moment where you're like you go to the register and you think, shit, do I just pay for this construment? Faris look one hundred and twenty five dollars. It did take me back, but I didn't know the full story behind the pottery. I do think it's interesting, though, when you consider how much influencers sell their fast fashion products for. Sophia has her own business called All for Mimi, and she recently did a drop of Valentine's Day products, and a lot of people were commenting that those products were particularly expensive, considering she was selling bottoms and tops separately for around seventy dollars. I think a lot of people would just assume, like influences like Sophia Beg has a lot of money, so they're willing to just go, oh, yeah, one hundred and twenty five dollars, that's nothing. Because I saw in a recent vlog that Sophie Jane Miller did. She said she went to get fresh flowers for her house, and she thought the tulips were going to cost like fifteen bucks or something, and they ended up costing like eighty dollars, costs fifteen dollars, I can't remember. It was something she thought they'd be a lot cheaper than they were, and she said she just felt kind of shamed into buying them as well. But I think we've all been there. Yeah, I don't think you have to be influenced to be shamed into purchasing stuff, but I think it took it that step further to actually say it on a TikTok video, and I think that the comments kind of sounded derogatory towards the actual product itself. Getting back to Shelby's video, she did then discuss her interaction with Sophia, and I want to point out that both of their versions of events are very different. I think that's what makes it so awkward, because you're like, well, who is not telling the truth in this situation. It's quite sad because Shelby said that she and the other stall owners are really excited to have Sophia at the marketplace and they thought that she might shout out the event, and when she arrived, Shelby said that she recognized her immediately because she'd just been nominated for a TikTok award, So she said that she congratulated Sofia on the nomination and explained to her that all of the prices were placed on the bottom of the of the pieces so she could pick up and handle whatever she wanted, and Shelby said that she reiterated that there was no pressure to purchase. Now Shelby then went on to claim that she saw Sophia pick up things and look at the prices. She also said she showed her other pieces from the Strawberry collection as she didn't have many left because it had been so popular that day. Now Shelby says she told her the price of the piece in question, and Sophia handed her the mug that she wanted to go with. She said she didn't wrap the mug up until she knew that Sophia was happy to go ahead with it, and then gave her the FPOs machine. It was rather awkward because Shelby finished off the video by offering Sophia a full refund and said that they can find a new home for someone who would actually appreciate the mug. Now. You'll recall in Sophia's original video that she was confused and referred to the mug as a sippy cut because she said she thought it was for children because it had two handles. Now Shelby has actually clarified that that mug is a part of her Dignity range and it has two handles so it can help people who have different needs or disabilities. I think this is such a good pr move by Shelby because they spoke about how they wanted Sofa dofor to shout out the business. Well, this bad publicity has really turned out to be such good publicity for Shelby, I think, and I think that's why a lot of people originally were like Jesus is so strategic for her, particularly because of the timing. You know, it didn't happen straight after the Christmas whole. I do think that she was taken off guard though, because I feel like there was a lot of passion and emotion in the video, particularly because she has gone and deleted it since well, there was really an outpouring of support for Shelby. One follower wrote under the video, the hurt and sadness in your voice is poppable. This breaks my heart for you, and that comment got over eight thousand likes, and Shelby replied saying it would be totally understandable if we stuffed up, but she lied about the whole interaction. Someone even went as far as describing Shelby as the Taylor Swift of the pottery world, and it's so clear that she's so respected for her work and is incredibly popular. Her work sells out within hours. What makes me feel really uncomfortable about this whole thing is just how much hate is being directed at Sophia, though, because I don't think she intentionally went out there to bad mouth Shelby's brand. I think it was a small section of her hall. She kind of didn't think much about the mug other than the fact that she was shocked that it costs so much money, and it's kind of been blown up into this big thing and everyone's being told you've got to pick a side. I don't think anyone's particularly wrong. It's a misunderstanding. If anything. There were so many hate comments directed at her. One follower wrote, Sophia is so entitled. I can't with her. With the cost of living these days, small businesses have no choice but prices and cover costs. I have noticed this rhetoric at the moment that Sofi dofa is a mean girl, and I think it really gained momentum off the back of that really embarrassing TikTok Awards interview that went down. I do feel sorry for Sophia, but then again, she is the queen of TikTok. She knows how this platform works, she knows how to go viral. And I would have thought that if she understood that Shelby is also another big creator on the platform, that bagging out a product in a hole would actually create some beef between them. I think she had no idea how big Shelby's following actually is. No because she definitely thought that Shelby was doing it to get some sort of relevance, because she said, I'm so sick of people dropping my name. Because she did put out a response video saying that she was so confused by Shelby's video, And in the video, she said that she swears in her mum's life that she did not touch any of the items and she's not even convinced that she was served by Shelby. She said that she remembers being served by a girl with long, dark hair. Let's throw to a snippet of what she said.
And I remember seeing the mug and thinking it was really cute. When I looked at the mug, I couldn't see that had two handles. I wouldn't have bought it, but I thought I had one handle. If like she's claiming in the video, which I don't even know if it's if it is if it even is her business in the video, because I don't remember her looking like that. She is now making this video saying that I was picking it up. I looked at the price from the bottom. I looked at the price of a few things. She's telling me that she talks me through the price and that she talks me through the whole strawberry collection. This did not happen. I don't know why people feel like they can make videos saying my name and just throwing absolute lies in there to get views. Because the video has so many views. Of video has so many likes, the video has so many comments slamming me. Of course, all my hater is gonna run at that and just take that like people just take things, like take things with a grain of salt. This did not happen. Even if it did in the video, I didn't even say anything bad. All I said was that I did not have two handles, and I was shocked because I didn't expected to be that expensive.
It is funny when you hear each of these TikTokers recount their version of events because they are so different. The thing is Shelby was talking about what a big event it was to have Sofi dofa there, and then she was excited. She obviously knew who she was, So I am leaning more towards maybe believing her side of events, because you would think that that would stick more clearly in your mind, whereas with Sophia, she was just at a random market. Does she really remember everything that happens? Well, people have even taken it a step further and they've gone back to look through event photos and someone has found a photo of the stall to try and point out, so they're like, oh, well, there's all of these strawberry collection that are behind the workers, so maybe she couldn't have touched them. And I did actually notice that one of the stall owners did have dark hair, but that's not to say that she didn't speak to both of them. This was like months ago. I mean, surely each of them doesn't exactly remember the specifics of everything that went down. All I see now online, though, is strawberry related stuff. Like even Sophia a Beg brought out strawberry pajamas. Well, I did put that out because I thought that was part of her Valentine's Day drop but she did let us know that that was part of her drop from a few months ago, so to lead to no confusion that was from a few months before. I don't like how people have been asked to take sides in this because there are so many video circulating saying are you team Sofa or Team Shelby. One video that did crack me up is someone wrote the way I have just woken up, watched fifty videos made about this mug mystery. Watch both Sofa and Shelby's responses. I've never been so invested in the Ceramic Cup world, and I fear I never will again. Are we team Sofa or Shelby? I've got to know. I just think it shows how bored everyone is and how thirsty we are for drama. Because at the end of the day, I think Shelby probably looks back on this with some gratch. He probably thinks hmm. Probably wasn't the best thing for me to post about. Probably copped a lot of abusive messages from Sofa DOPHA fans did call out a twenty year old girl, and even though I think that she kind of was within her rights too, because when a big influencer like Sofa Dofer speaks poorly about your products. I would be the first one jumping on TikTok with a clapback. I think that if she had thought more rationally rather than emotionally, we would have had a completely different scenario. I don't think we would have heard about this at all. The videos would have been creeped. So we think that this could have just been resolved with a DM because personally, I think that that would have been the bettert strategic move because if anything, Shelby's clapback it doesn't really suit her brand because her brand is about positivity and inclusivity, and she slammed this twenty year old girl who really didn't say that much about the mug, and doing so, she's now ostracized herself from Sophia's large audience. At the end of the day, though, I do want one of those mugs, so maybe it has worked on some level. I'm sorry. The best thing that Shelby could have done is exactly what she did. Well, why does she delete the video then, because she's probably copying so much. Well, she's copy hate for a but everyone knows about her mugs. And even though Sofa Dofa has a large following, a lot of people who follow her might not necessarily be die hard fans. A lot of conversation I've seen online is about people saying I want one of those mugs, yeah, but also a lot of people saying one hundred and twenty five dollars for remark they were never going to buy the mug regardless, as we predicted several weeks back, Tammy Hembro and Vera Wang are working together. So despite Tammy revealing on her fiance Matt Sukowski's podcast that she's already chosen her wedding dress, the finness influencer filmed her experience at Vera Wang over the weekend. Now Tammy shared a come try on Wedding Dresses with Me at Vera Wang video to her Instagram feed, and at the time of the recording, the video has over two million views. She captioned the video felt like a real princess. Thank you Vera Wang. I noticed that all her sisters were wearing black outfits in the reel, so I wonder if this is a bit of insight into what's to come for the bridesmaid's dresses. Can you imagine when we were looking for my bridal gown or yours if you were like, you must wear the color of the bride dress, Like it's so funny, but I definitely think it is a clue that the bridesmaid dresses will be black. Yeah, but this is their whole life, like content making is their career, so exactly. Well, Tammy was also wearing a black robe as she tried the gowns on, so there definitely is a theme there. Now. She did change the content up for TikTok. She filmed a video where she showed off the wedding dresses her mum and sisters chose her to try on. And I thought this was a really clever move because it would be really hard to showcase the gowns without showing the one that you've picked, and obviously Tammy would want to keep that a secret, And I thought it was really a clever way to drive engagement because then people are commenting on which one they like the most, what's kind of dresses? Like, what was her style? They were very puffy and very princessy, which surprised me. But I wonder if this is a ploy to get us off the scent of what her dress actually looks like. Because I would assume her style would be more of a sleek, slim, fitter dress to show off her body. I reckon she'll be one of the brides that wear their hair up often. That's what you find with these really sort of stunning influences, is they'll kind of pair it back a bit with the hair and makeup. They'll go super sleep See. I don't think so, because her hair is quite short at the moment, so I think that she could wear it down. But I suppose we'll have to wait and see. I wasn't surprised to see that this series of videos copped a lot of negative commentary, and I do feel for Tammy and Matt in this scenario because every time she shares something exciting or knew about her relationship, the comments are just so mean. Yeah, it is sad to see, but I think it's part and parcel of being a big influencer these days, especially on TikTok, because in order for a video to go viral, you do kind of have to have those hate comments as well. See the commentary was meaner actually on Instagram, so someone wrote, why does it feel like so much of this relationship is for the Graham another person said, isn't it a bit weird that you've picked out wedding dresses when you and your fier they haven't even lived in the same city together yet. Like, as much as I do think it is valid commentary, sometimes I think if there's nothing nice to say, don't say it. Well, Vera Wang seems to be killing it in the influencer market because a few weeks ago we spoke about how m Davies was also invited by the brand to try on dresses, and on Sunday, Em revealed that she and Lily Brown are about to finally say yes to her reception dress. I love that it's yes to the reception dress. It's like, of course I'm having more than one dress. So they've both booked flights to Melbourne so Em can try on the dress. She wrote, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it post New York bride or Week in October, and that's a huge sign for me, just a little bit of a flex from the New York bride a week. She also revealed that she is yet to even try on the dress because it hasn't been released yet and it's not going to be released for a while, so she said she'll be trying on a sample. I'm very intrigued as to what brand this is, because I don't think it's Vera Wang. There's been a nough day in the Andre Rebello murder trial. The former boyfriend and baby daddy of Perth influencer Grace Episcopo is currently awaiting trial accused of murdering his mother, Colleen Rebello. What's really interesting is we got an insight into how the trial is going to play out in October. So prosecutors have revealed that finances will play a key part in evidence against Rebello. So in court on Thursday, prosecutors claimed Rebello was very poor at the time of the alleged murder, and they also alleged his motive for killing his mum was to gain access to her life insurance. I think what's most interesting about this is it's clear that they can't rely on forensic evidence because at the time of Colleen's death in May twenty twenty, it was not actually treated as suspicious and it was only two years later that homicide detectors actually reopened this case and began investigating off the back of fraud claims and allegations that Colleen's body was cremated against her wishes. Well, prosecutors also revealed that they are in the process of gathering evidence about Rebello's financial situation for the October trial. They said they're compiling iPhone records, mobile phone data, and they also have a financial analyst preparing a report for the trial. So it sounds like there's going to be a lot coming out in October. It just surprises me how long this whole process has taken because he was arrested back in twenty twenty two, and it is interesting to see how the reporting has changed in regards to Graciepiscopo, so she was at the center of a lot of the news articles. However, I did find it interesting because the ABC were the only publication to blur her face in a recent photo. I wonder how she feels about being front and center, particularly now that she's moved on with a new relationship. Well, unfortunately, she's going to continue to be attached to Andre Rebello because of the fact they share a sun Now. It is important noting that Andre Rebello has continued to deny he had anything to do with his mother's death and falsifying documents. Interestingly, he appeared in court via a video link from prison. It'll be interesting to see if he actually faces questioning during this trial. I feel like you have to surely, I think what everyone is wondering, if Gracie Piscopo is going to show up. I'm guessing not now that she has a new partner and has been public with him. Well, I think that's all we've got time for today. Thank you for listening to another episode of Outspoken. If you did enjoy the show, please leave us a five star review. This podcast was recorded on the traditional land of the Ghana people of the Adelaide Plains. We pay respect to elders past and present.