A Guy Who Said A Dinner With Jay-Z Is Worth More Than $500K, And More Of This Week's 'One Main Character'
Every day somebody says or does something that earns them the scorn of the internet. Here at Digg, as part of our mission to curate what the internet is talking about right now, we rounded up the main characters on Twitter from this past week and held them accountable for their actions.
This week's characters include a guy with ill-advised financial advice, an Atlantic staff writer who claims rural Americans take animal medicine all the time, a Congressman who claimed "real Americans" are already over the pandemic and the producers who came up with the worst game show idea ever.
Friday
Side Hustle King
The character: Side Hustle King, entrepreneur, get-rich-quick galaxy-brain take-giver, previous main character who said people would be smarter to take $50 every month for the rest of their life than $1,000,000 immediately.
The plot: On Friday, Side Hustle King asserted that getting dinner with Jay-Z was a "better option" than taking a $500k lump sum. "He'll give you the blueprint on being wealthy and successful," he claimed. "His knowledge will be worth more long term than the short term $500K."
The repercussion: The Side Hustle King's curious financial advice was roasted across the Twittersphere and buried under an avalanche of quote-tweets with images of Jay-Z and incredulous questions about Side Hustle King's logic.
But the coup de grâce of Twitter responses came from Tidal's Twitter account, which quipped simply, "Take the $500K."
Monday
Conor Friedersdorf
The character: Conor Friedersdorf, a staff writer at The Atlantic, possibly a "Green Acres" fan.
The plot: On Monday, Friedersdorf said that we shouldn't make fun of people for trying to ingest ivermectin to treat COVID-19 because, he claimed, rural Americans take veterinary versions of drugs all the time. "Disdainful mockery of that practice by urban elites is alienating, not persuasive," he tweeted. "It is also utterly at odds with how urban elites respond to [sic]."
The repercussion: Friedersdorf's claim was met with widespread derision, with many people incredulously asking where the journalist was getting his information.
Netizens also proceeded to roast Friedersdorf by cheekily editing his Wikipedia page, making hay of his "rural" upbringing in Orange County, California.
Tuesday
Jim Jordan
The character: Jim Jordan, Republican Congressman from Ohio, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, mask mandate foe.
The plot: On Tuesday, despite the fact that COVID cases were surging across the United States, Jordan tweeted out a video of a packed stadium of University of Wisconsin fans jumping around to House of Pain's signature song "Jump Around" and quipped, "Real America is done with #COVID19. God bless!"
The repercussion: Jordan's assertion that "real America" was over COVID was, of course, ratioed, with many people pointing out that the Congressman's politicization of the situation was glib while thousands of sick Americans continue to fill ICUs around the country.
Dr. Anthony Fauci reacted to Jordan's comment on MSNBC, saying that while some people wanted to say America is done with COVID, COVID is not, in fact, done with us.
Thursday
'The Activist'
The character: "The Activist," a new competition reality show hosted by Usher, Priyanka Chopra and Juliana Hough.
The plot: On Thursday, CBS announced a new competition show where "activists go head-to-head in challenges to promote their causes, with their success measured via online engagement, social metrics, and hosts' input."
The repercussion: The news of the competition series was not a hit on Twitter, where users slammed the concept of the show, decrying it as a cynical cash grab.
Read the previous edition of our One Main Character column, which includes James Corden blocking traffic with his obscene dancing in a flash mob and more.
Did we miss a main character from this week? Please send tips to [email protected].
