TALK ABOUT ME

The yearlong lawsuit between Josie Jean and Lawny Day has been dropped, but questions are still rising. What began as a heated dispute between the two podcast moguls has simmered down into lukewarm, over steeped tea – bitter, musty and maybe, brewed on purpose.

Let’s rewind. It all started on Episode 91 on the podcast TALK ABOUT ME, which aired on February 21, 2020. For the first time, the duo that has always given the impression that they are nothing short of best friends, gave us a glimpse at a crack in their relationship. A weak point. A socket of animosity.

At minute 12:15 of the episode, Josie made a cold and sharp comment to Lawny that, “Some of us check our work before signing off on things.” And it wasn’t so much the comment that was the red flag – it was Lawny’s response. Or, for a better picture, her lack of response.

Lawny sat silent for a very long fifteen seconds before the show cut to commercial. Listeners could feel the tension through whatever platform they were listening on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or directly on the podcast’s website – and I assure you, it was not an editing glitch.

Here’s the context: Just before Josie’s comment and the awkward silence, they were discussing the influential artist Beyonce and how on her latest album “Renaissance” she included an ableist slur. When the album was released and Queen B received backlash for the use of the word, she and her team immediately issued an apology and changed the lyrics, replacing the offensive lines. She said she didn’t intend to be offensive, obviously. But professionals must check our work thoroughly before releasing it to the public, right? Shame on the Queen.

If you’re a fan of the show, you likely came to the conclusion that Josie’s comment after that discussion was more than just a finishing line on the topic. It was a dagger towards Lawny referring to an episode earlier in the month when Lawny had a hot mic moment. The kicker is that Lawny is the one who has definitive sign off on all the final edits, but somehow, she “accidentally” left in the episode’s recording a clip of her saying how she was, and I quote, “carrying the team.”

Josie was obviously furious at Lawny for saying it in the first place, but it seems her emotions stem more so for Lawny’s lack of attention to the final edit and signing off on the approval to release the episode. Lawny should have caught the mistake. Now they both look bad, and image is important when you’re in the limelight. Lawny shouldn’t have said it in the first place, but especially when she was still wearing her mic.

Now the fans know there’s tension brewing in their relationship and one thing the duo doesn’t want is people thinking they are anything less than BFFS. They don’t want to air dirty laundry. You attract more flies (or fans) with honey, right? Their schtick is how funny and happy they are together – they’re partners – it should always be positive and fun.

The day the episode of Josie’s passive aggressive comment hit the air, Twitter went nuts. Fans started speculating, probing into previous episodes looking for additional clues that could feed the narrative that Josie and Lawny might not be the best friends they claim to be. Or at least, maybe not anymore.

A few days after the episode went live, Lawny tweeted: SOME PEOPLE NEED TO LEARN TO LET IT GO.

No tag, no context. Sure, she could have been talking about anyone, anything, or just saying something general. But she probably wasn’t.

An hour after that, Josie hit the fans with a tweet of her own: SOME PEOPLE CAN’T LET IT GO!!!

And it was then that we all knew they were obviously talking about each other. Suspicions circled the tabloids that something bigger was brewing. Something serious. Fans started Facebook groups to discuss their conspiracies about the podcast duo: What happened; what could happen in the future for the team; who was involved; to what extent; was it all more than just the editing oopsie?

Before long, People Magazine and TIME picked up the story. And when the lawsuit hit, it was all over the news. There was no longer denying or hiding that the two were in a heated situation.

As the lawsuit made way to the top of the media and news, and more and more people heard about it, the show’s ratings went up. Their views went up. Every single episode went from having an average of a few hundred listens to over 100k plays.

Listeners were inspecting every single episode for clues of when it started. Looking for the cracks in their relationship, latching onto any little awkward silence and giving those moments more meaning and explanations that what we just saw on the surface. Did it go deeper than just the editing betrayal? Did Lawny leave that hot mic moment in the episode on purpose, as a dig to Josie?

Fans obviously started to take sides, standing up for the one they connected with the most. Memes flooded the internet of the two girls in a boxing ring, obviously generated by AI. “Team Josie” and “Team Lawny” shirts are still available on Etsy for anyone who wants to show their commitment to one or the other. I saw one girl on Instagram even got a tattoo that said, “Check Yourself #TeamJosie.”

And just as quickly as it seemed to have begun, it’s now ended. Whatever the reason for the reconciliation, the two were seen together at Brew HaHa Café just one day after the lawsuit was dropped. Coincidence? Please. More likely they wrote the ultimate storyline, the ultimate attention grabber. Did they intentionally put red herrings in their dialogue this whole time to throw fans off? To give fans clues and eggs to hunt for? Was it all staged? Or was it all just a mix up, perhaps a miscommunication between the two that led to a lawsuit and was blown out of proportion? Were we all manipulated in a Blair Witch Movie type way? Maybe we’ll never know, but until then, drink up my friends.