OK, this one is fascinating (at least to us).
Last week, Glamour published an article titled “Inside the Blake Lively Hate Campaign Fueled by ‘Mommy Sleuths,’” a deep dive into a group of self-styled internet detectives on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube who’ve been hypercritical of Lively. These creators—mostly women, according to Glamour—have posted mean-spirited videos and spread misinformation about the actress in response to Lively’s allegations that her It Ends With Us co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, sexually harassed her and then attempted a PR smear campaign as retaliation for outing him. (We are now TMZ. Forgive us.)
The piece, written by Glamour’s Stephanie McNeal, didn’t land well with these so-called “mommy sleuths.” Shortly after publication, many of them descended onto her social accounts to complain. Things escalated when McNeal took to Instagram and TikTok to defend herself and the piece, doubling down on the criticism. In her video, she argues these creators are making anti-Lively content to build followers, game UGC algorithms, and, ultimately, make money.
And somehow… adtech caught a stray.
One of the creators McNeal called out responded with a YouTube video unpacking the article in question—and then flipped the script, as the kids would say (or used to?). If Glamour was accusing her of chasing views and cash, wasn’t Glamour doing the same thing with its “clickbaity” article? To illustrate that point, she screen-shared the piece, breaking down the page’s ad clutter, narrating a walk-through of ad units, explained CPMs, and offering a not-entirely-accurate but still, in our view, impressive adtech breakdown.
Here are a few of the more notable clips, including moments where she calls out Taboola and Outbrain (now Teads) by name. The video is approaching 200 comments, 700 likes, and 5,000 views. It’s not the only one—other creators are now posting similar videos dissecting Glamour’s ads and monetization as a form of retaliation for the article.
Why This Matters:
The Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni media storm is fascinating because it highlights just how many people feel legacy media isn’t doing its job. In that vacuum, “citizen journalism” is exploding across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Unfortunately, that also opens the door for wild conspiracy theories, misinformation, and just plain mean-spirited content.
What’s new is that this distrust of legacy media is bleeding into how people think about media monetization. Suddenly, everyday readers are critiquing ad clutter, calling out specific adtech players, and connecting the dots between content and revenue. Does it mean anything long-term? Probably not. But it’s rare—and kind of wild—to see consumers this tuned in to a publisher’s ad setup.
Also, fun twist—this whole saga has another adtech connection. Blake Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, happens to be the Chief Creative Officer (still, even after the Maximum Effort divestment) at CTV performance ad company MNTN.
Experts React:
Here’s the full video from the content creator in question, in which she says, “Glamour isn’t journalism… it’s just an ads business.” (Someone call DCN!)
Our Take:
Taboola, Teads (slash Outbrain)—no need to call Glamour in a panic. But hey, it would be interesting to know if the article’s ad revenue is getting a nice boost from all this drama-fueled traffic. Just… maybe don’t share that publicly. The mommy sleuths will find out.
