I used to believe every magazine cover story back in 2003

Back in high school, I'd read People and US Weekly like they were holy texts, thinking every quote and photo was 100% true. Then around 2010 I caught a fabricated PR plant about a sitcom feud that was completely fake after I saw the stars having lunch together. How do you separate real gossip from the planted stories these days?

4 comments

4 Comments

mileslane17d ago

Dude colethomas you hit it on the head with "assume everything has an angle" because that's pretty much my whole philosophy now too. Back in 2003 I was the kid who thought Britney and Justin's breakup was a real tragedy I needed to mourn, and now I laugh at how naive I was. I fell for that sitcom feud PR plant you mentioned too actually, it was one of those "they hate each other" stories that turned out to be total BS when I saw the stars grabbing coffee together. These days I just look at who's posting the gossip and what they might get out of it, like if it's a random Twitter account with no history I'm probably not buying it. My track record for spotting real tea is still pretty bad though, like I thought that whole "Brad and Jen are getting back together" rumor last year was legit for way too long.

colethomas1mo ago

Oh man, I feel you on that one because I fell for the same stuff back then, especially with all the reality TV drama that turned out to be scripted. It's rough when you realize how much of that entertainment was just manufactured to keep us hooked and buying magazines. These days I just assume everything has an angle until proven otherwise, which is kind of exhausting but saves me from getting duped again.

sean_barnes241mo ago

Wait, you mean that reality TV drama from like 2007 was scripted too?

angela_morgan1mo ago

My friend Jess was absolutely convinced that the drama on one of those dating shows was real. She even bought the tabloid magazine to read about the 'scandal' that happened between two contestants.