Photo courtesy of TMZ.

#Scandoval: A Lucrative Nightmare

A president was indicted? Who cares! We’re still in#Scandoval. As the biggest news in the nation, VPR is Bravo’s greatest success story, and its stars’ highly lucrative nightmare. Let’s dive into the business of a scandal; this is how gossip gets made. Sources:

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Courtesy of Justin Bieber’s “Seasons”

Child Star Hell: Justin Bieber’s Paradiso

In the fourth and final part to our series on Justin Bieber (catch “Justin Bieber’s Purgatorio” on our Patreon), we explore the singer’s relationship with God, his evolving public relations strategy, and Scooter Braun’s future prison sentence. Get into it! Links: 

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Courtesy of Ozempic

The Ozempic-ification of Hollywood

From ‘The Real Housewives’ to A-listers, controversial diabetes drug Ozempic is the talk of TikTok and Tinseltown med-spas. This week, we trace its origins, unpack its ubiquity, and link it to past weight loss drug disasters like fen-phen in the ’90s.  Sources: 

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Courtesy of New York Magazine

The Nepo Baby Wars (feat. Emily Alford)

[Link to episode] While the nepo baby panic rages on with no end in sight, everyone tip-toes around that rather obvious pile of class anxieties 🤔 So join us and special guest Emily Alford this week in search of an answer to the ancient question: What’s up with rich and famous people?! Featuring cameous from our favorite friends and enemies, like Allison Williams, Lena Dunham,…

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Courtesy of: Heather Gay

Jen Shah’s Worst Crime Was Making Andy Cohen Richer

[Link to episode] Jen Shah has faced many accusations for many crimes. But what of the cast members and producers in her orbit, who’ve hung around her like carrion vultures desperate for every last scrap of rotted flesh? This week, we look into all the ways people like Heather Gay, Meredith Marks, and Andy Cohen have desperately clung to her rapidly ascending…

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Courtesy of: Lightstorm Entertainmen, TSG Entertainment, Distributed by 20th Century Studios

Avatar: The Way of Making the Worst Movie Ever Made

[Link to part one] / [Link to part two] James Cameron’s Avatar series promises to haunt us for another decade, after disappearing into the jungles of Pandora since 2009. In our first series of the year, we look at the making of James Cameron’s $2 billion sex dream phantasmagoria nightmare horror fest featuring suburban heterosexual Americans cosplaying as blue people! Links: About:…

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Courtesy of Try Guys

Harry Styles Wore The Try Guys’ Balenciaga NFT To Lea Michele’s ‘Mr. Beast’ Broadway Performance

[Link to episode] 2022 was a monumentally horrible, terrible, no good, evil, despicable, heinous, apocalyptic year in pop culture history. Everything happening everywhere all at once all the time! Links: About: Hosted by journalists Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson, Eating For Free is a weekly podcast that explores gossip and power in the pop culture landscape: Where it comes from, who wields…

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Courtesy of GAC Media

Candace Cameron Bure’s War On Gay Christmas

[Link to part one] / [Link to part two] Once upon a time, a Hallmark CEO scandalously quit his job after pulling a wedding ad for a gay couple. Now he’s back (alongside Candace Cameron Bure) with a mission to save America…one Lori Loughlin Christian Christmas movie at a time! Over the next two weeks, we’ll dive deep into Great American Family,…

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Courtesy of Instagram

The Balenciaga Files

[Link to part one] / [Link to part two] In the final installment of our series on Balenciaga, we look past the right wing fundamentalist conspiracy theories and instead explore the haunting images of photographer Gabriele Galimberti. Through our investigation into his work and legacy, we ask: Where will all the good art go when Christian nationalists tighten their grip on the…

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Courtesy of Universal Studios

Brad Pitt and Emrata’s Troubling ‘Relationship’ Had More Twists Than Gone Girl

[Link to episode] Content warning for this episode: we talk about domestic violence, abuse, and harm to children. We will give verbal warnings in the episode before those segments.  Brad Pitt and Emily Ratajkowski have been in the headlines recently for their brief romantic outings, however the narrative Page Six and other tabloids report may not be the whole story. Violence and abuse…

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Rick Caruso Loves the Police Like Rich Celebrities Also Love the Police

[Link to episode] Which celebrities ate Rick Caruso’s assh*le during an extremely spooky L.A. mayoral race? We dive deep into Hollywood’s election meddling in the city of angels… and everywhere else! Most notably: Pennsylvania’s hotly debated Senate race between global eating disorder merchant Dr. Oz and local “guys being dudes” hero John Fetterman! As always, there’s a darker story hidden beneath the…

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Courtesy of Mr. Beast

Escaping Mr. Beast’s Willy Wonka Torture Dungeon

[Link to the show] Mr. Beast is a person who quickly transformed the Youtube industry with extreme acts of philanthropy and millions of dollars wasted on frivolous acts of torture on random people. Specifically those most desperate for money! But is he the generous Willy Wonka figure he’s made himself out to be, or is there more to the story? Mr. Beast…

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About These Menaces

The only podcast and blog transmitting live from the absolute edge of the internet!

Hosted by journalists Joan Summers and Matthew Lawson, Eating For Free is a weekly podcast that explores gossip and power in the pop culture landscape: Where it comes from, who wields it, and who suffers at the hands of it. Find out the stories behind the stories, as together they look beyond the headlines of troublesome YouTubers or scandal-ridden A-Listers, and delve deep into the inner workings of Hollywood’s favorite pastime. The truth, they’ve found, is definitely stranger than any gossip.


Join us for pop culture investigations, podcasts, guest essays, and so much more.

Meet the Team

Joan Summers / editor, writer, host / twitter
Matthew Lawson / writer, content producer, host / twitter
Ashlyn Thomas / writer, audio producer, social / twitter