Making women look dumb is a disturbing new podcast trend
For shame.
A podcast with hundreds of thousands of subscribers and followers across online platforms is stoking the flames of controversy — by belittling female guests and making them look dumb.
“Whatever,” hosted by Brian Atlas, masquerades as a dating talk show while delving into gender roles, body counts and the legitimacy of the patriarchy.
The podcast team uses social media to seek women panelists, only to later “roast” them online in snippets pandering to the virality of the inflammatory hot takes.
In other words, it’s perfect clickbait.
In one episode, the panelists, who are all women, rate themselves as “10s,” much to Atlas’ shock.
“Imma be honest, I’m not going to rate you guys, but none of you are a 10,” he says in response, prompting a chorus of agreement in the comments by users cruelly joking about the women’s weight and appearance.
In another, Atlas grills the panelists on their body counts — or how many people they’ve been intimate with — and is met with resistance.
“It doesn’t matter to me, but it matters to you guys,” one woman said, gesturing to the men sitting across the table. “So I’m not going to go and put myself out here and say my body count just for you two to ridicule me or something.”
While OnlyFans model Nicolette Nicole admitted that her appearance on the podcast was to bolster her own following, she told Vice that the clips were “definitely chosen to create controversy” and make her “look dumb” and “shame” her.
On Twitter and TikTok, the videos’ provocative one-line captions lure thousands to millions of views.
“OnlyFans girl gets ROASTED,” the podcast tweeted.
“They THINK they are 10s, what about with NO MAKEUP?!” reads another tweet.
On Twitter, “Whatever” often promotes videos from conservative commentator Ben Shapiro and champions disgraced internet personality Andrew Tate.
Tate has been accused of sexual assault and physical abuse after serving time in a Romanian prison on charges of rape, trafficking and organized crime. He has declared his innocence.
The podcast’s following has grown amid backlash, with aghast critics slamming the show for talking “down” to women while dubbing Atlas an “Andrew Tate wannabe.”
“Tell me you despise women without telling me you despise women…and don’t forget the condescension,” one Redditor snarked.
“Is it just me, or do all of those women look INCREDIBLY uncomfortable?” wrote another, in part.
The Post has reached out to Atlas for comment.
Content creator Drew Afualo — who counts 8 million TikTok followers, thanks to her zingy clap backs at misogynistic men — has expressed her displeasure for Atlas’ content.
In one clip, Afualo stitches a snippet of Atlas calling a female panelist “not a 10,” in reference to her looks, to which she says, “That’s just your opinion.”
In response, Atlas continues to reiterate his stance on her attractiveness because “it bothers him that it doesn’t bother her.”
In another, Afualo responds to a video of the “Whatever” podcast featuring Atlas’ claims that men are “more oppressed” than women.
“Why people continue to go on this podcast I just can’t even begin to understand,” Afualo said.
“F—k this podcast, for real.”
“Whatever” isn’t the first podcast of its kind to ignite frenzied fury online (or, as Vice put it, “fuel the gender culture war”).
TikTok and Twitter are flooded with snippets of talk shows — read: men in their living rooms with microphones — that are prompting women to mock them and beg to “stop giving men microphones.”
Essence’s Girls United writer Kenyatta Victoria this week pointed out that everyone seems to have a podcast these days.
“What was once a space where people could report and speak on specific topics (with experts) has become an opportunity for someone to project their emotions and opinions that don’t involve them,” Victoria wrote, urging viewers to “amplify those who approach the craft ethically and responsibly rather than constantly fueling the ego.”
