41: Blocked, Threatened, Deplatformed: The Huffer AI Scandal With Elijah Timmins-Scanlon

41: Blocked, Threatened, Deplatformed: The Huffer AI Scandal With Elijah Timmins-Scanlon

This week I sit down with Elijah Timmins-Scanlon, the Auckland model (signed to Red Eleven) who called out New Zealand streetwear brand Huffer of using AI to generate campaign images that looked suspiciously like him. Or like him and his brother, also a model, blended into one person. He tells me how he found it, what he did next, and how aggressively the brand moved once he said something out loud. (Getting blocked by a brand's own Instagram is not the move that makes you look innocent.) We get into Huffer's official line that "computer-assisted design has been used in the industry for 30 years," the other model who clocked AI figures wearing his exact garments from a past shoot, and the quietly terrifying fact that New Zealand has almost no rights... the legal right to control how your own face and identity get used to sell things. Then Elijah shares where he thinks all of this is heading, for models, photographers, and every creative whose work just became very easy to fake. → Why blocking Elijah Timmins-Scanlon did more damage to Huffer than the original AI ad ever could  → The scary reason NZ law can't protect a face that's been AI-cloned  → How the same garments turning up on "new" models turns a hunch into receipts  → Why "computer-assisted design" became the corporate non-answer of the year  → What AI really means for working creatives right now, from someone living through it  Follow Elijah on IG HERE [https://www.instagram.com/elijah.majorr/], Tiktok HERE [https://www.tiktok.com/@elijah.majorr] I'm Marisa Twentyman, podcast host of Dirty Chats, and founder of Dirty Copy. Find me on Instagram HERE [https://www.instagram.com/dirty.copy/]

40: How to go Viral in 2026 (my experience) + Taylor Swift Gets Sued

I unpack the 4 ways accounts are blowing up in 2026, and the common thread between my viral posts (that translates to reels, YAP videos and carousels). Also, Taylor Swift gets sued and the title of her new song is suspicious.  On Dirty Dish this week I get into: * Taylor's Toy Story 5 song, "I Knew It, I Knew You"... and the Gracie Abrams of it all * The Maren Wade lawsuit over The Life of a Showgirl Then we get into Dirty Business. This week I'm answering the thing everyone wants answered and almost no one can pull off... how do you actually go viral in 2026? I break down the four ways I'm watching people blow up right now, and the fourth one is the exact technique behind two of my recent carousels that did 370,000 and 113,000 views. → Why hyper-specific relatable pain points still print views (and why "pain points are dead" is a lie people keep telling me)  → How one creator added 70,000 followers from a single post about... styling a bed  → Why controversial, quirky, non-neutral content is the only thing that stops the scroll  → My most repeatable viral strategy: mining real emotion as engagement bait across carousels, Reels, emails and Substack  → How the Belle Burden "Strangers" carousel tapped a deep emotional reservoir and pulled 13,000 likes and 700+ comments Get the Viral Carousel Course HERE [https://dirtycopy.co/viral-carousels-course] Visit my website HERE [https://dirtycopy.co/] Follow me on IG HERE [https://www.instagram.com/dirty.copy/] Follow me on TikTok HERE [https://www.tiktok.com/@dirtycopy]

39: Meghan Trainor gets trolled online (PR plan inside) + Anne Hathaway lies about her facelift

There's a new most-trolled Meghan in town... and I have a full PR plan to save her. In Dirty Dish I cover: * The Anne Hathaway "I swear it's just two tight braids" facelift saga * Marciano and Jessi from Love Is Blind and how they pulled off the redemption arc of the century Then in Dirty Business... I break down why Meghan Trainor's latest album Toy With Me debuted at #198 on the Billboard 200, why she cancelled her Get In Girl tour, and why the TikTok comments under her single tease have become a competitive sport for trolls.  Spoiler: this is not actually a music problem. It's a brand identity problem. And naturally, I break it down.  I also pitch Meghan a full PR plan, including a bonus track concept... Still waiting for my cheque 😏 → Why Meghan Trainor's brand identity broke when her body changed, and what that means for any business going through a rebrand → The Taylor Swift principle of brand evolution vs. brand 180, and why one works and the other gets you cancelled → How to rebuild emotional connection with an audience that feels betrayed by your pivot → Why "marketing is mining for feelings" is the only sentence you need to memorise this week → The exact PR move that turns trolls into your highest-performing content Follow me on Insta HERE [https://www.instagram.com/dirty.copy/] Check out my website HERE [https://dirtycopy.co/]

38: Will Spencer Pratt Be LA's Next Mayor? Alex Cooper is pregnant + the weird Ozempic economy

Spencer Pratt is running for Mayor of LA and I have become genuinely, unironically invested. This week on Dirty Chats, I'm covering the marketing masterclass nobody saw coming, plus the unhinged economic ripple effects of one in eight Americans being on Ozempic. In Dirty Dish I'm covering: * Alex Cooper's pregnancy announcement and why my PR prediction from three weeks ago has officially COME TRUE.  * Amanda Frances, her Abundance Timeline challenge, and the viral post that made me $4.5K USD in three days (please check out my friend Dr Sienna Olson if you want GLP-1 support https://www.instagram.com/dr.siennaolson/ [https://www.instagram.com/dr.siennaolson/]) * The financial winners and losers of the Ozempic and GLP-1 boom... * Shocking news about Aqua Then in Dirty Business I'm breaking down Spencer Pratt's mayoral campaign and why it's a positioning and messaging masterclass for 2026. From the Palisades fires to Karen Bass's Ghana trip, to Heidi Montag's Superficial finally hitting number one, to the AI billboards, the dog interviews with Amanda Bekant, the Hollywood endorsements...this campaign is doing what every great marketer does. I also explain why Karen Bass's attack ad on Spencer accidentally became his best marketing asset. → How Spencer Pratt positioned himself as the "anti-politician" and why that frame is the entire campaign  → The two specific pain points he zeroed in on (and why specificity always beats broad messaging)  → Why authenticity plus a sad story is the most powerful combo in marketing right now  → How Karen Bass's attack ad accidentally became Spencer's best marketing asset → The exact 2026 marketing playbook: AI, influencers, raw content, and refusing to be polished  → Why listening to your audience changes your messaging (and why the opposition isn't doing it) Check out my website HERE [https://dirtycopy.co/]

37: Blake Lively Settles With Wayfarer Studios + Whitney Leavitt Quits Mom Tok + Why I Postponed My Launch

In a move no one saw coming, Blake Lively has settled with Wayfarer Studios... and I am in mourning. That courtroom trial was the only way I was emotionally getting through May 2026. (We're devastated. We're inconsolable. We're rewatching the Met Gala interview for forensic evidence.) This week on Dirty Dish, I'm breaking down the settlement no one wanted: what Blake Lively actually agreed to, what Justin Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman is saying about it, and why I think the real war isn't over...it's just moved to the box office. I also unpack Whitney Leavitt leaving The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and why this is a full Geri Halliwell-leaving-the-Spice-Girls moment for Mom Tok. Plus...I have a brand new PR plan for Blake. It involves a baking blog, and that's all I'm giving you.  Then yes, I talk about marketing as well. In Dirty Business, I'm getting honest about why I postponed a launch by a month. We're talking about the self-imposed deadlines that quietly wreck your business, the moment I caught myself comparing my business to other women's, and the very specific thing my husband had to bully me into admitting. It's not a tidy lesson. It's the actual conversation. → Why Blake Lively's Met Gala 2026 appearance hours after settling with Wayfarer Studios was a calculated PR move, not a coincidence  → What Justin Baldoni's strategic silence tells you about owning the narrative when the internet wants a statement  → The Whitney Leavitt and Secret Lives of Mormon Wives lesson on when to detach your brand from a group identity  → The exact moment a self-imposed deadline stops serving your business and starts costing you  → Why I started getting jealous of other woman Dirty Chats is hosted by Marisa Twentyman, website copywriter and founder of Dirty Copy. New episodes drop weekly. Check out my website HERE [https://dirtycopy.co/]