Good morning. After three months of silence, Haliey Welch, aka Hawk Tuah Girl, has emerged to announce a documentary (or as she calls it, a “doc-tuah”) profiling her rise to fame, The Truth is Actually More Bizarre Than You Think. It hasn’t even been a full year since she went viral, but between her podcast, dating app, crypto fiasco, and subsequent radio silence, there’s plenty of material for a movie. The internet moves fast, but Welch moves faster.

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

Inside Will Smith’s Creator-First Album Rollout

Will Smith hosted a listening party for his forthcoming album, Based On A True Story, on Monday night at The Lighthouse, Whalar’s LA creator campus (and our new office).

There we saw around a dozen creators prepping to film with Smith as part of Smith’s creator “car wash,” a media term for when talent stops at a network office like NBC and films with its various shows. The Lighthouse was the office, and creators were the shows.

We spoke with Lukas Kaiser, SVP of content at Smith’s media company, Westbrook, about how it all came together → 

• Kaiser arranged for Smith to film with 13 creators. Each got 5–20 minutes with Smith to make up to two videos.

• The creators ranged across niches, from shoe shiner Kenny Brooks to comedians Adam W, Dax Flame, and Jordan Howlett to The Botez Sisters and Brooke Monk. 

Kaiser said they selected creators based on their target audience. 

“The way the algorithms are working, if you want to be everywhere at once you don’t actually have to go to 100 places, you just need to be on 100 pages and I think that’s the shift in a press tour,” Kaiser told us. “Creators from different places and different walks of life are showing up and tapping into their different worlds and I think that’s a way to do world-building around a project.”

Big picture: Though Smith has hosted creator car washes in the past to promote movies like Bad Boys: Ride or Die, his team is trying to target music-listening audiences with his first album launch in 20 years. Kaiser said creators are a key part of that. 

“Will’s audience is not a music audience. He’s mostly done movies…So who of his audience listens to music? And where are the people who are within our reach? That’s going to be through creator partnerships,” he said.

Meet the Creator Running for Congress

The race to represent Illinois's ninth Congressional district has a new candidate: Gen Z political creator Kat Abughazaleh, running against an incumbent who has been in office since before she was born.

Context: Abughazaleh started as a political commentator for left-leaning news outlets such as Mother Jones and Zeteo in 2023, simultaneously building her own following on TikTok, Instagram, and X. On Monday she launched her Congressional campaign to breathe new life into the Democratic party, which she says is “work[ing] from an outdated playbook.” 

In the first 24 hours of her campaign, Abghazaleh received over $200K in donations from grassroots donors. Abughazaleh promises to use content for civic purposes, posting regular videos about the campaign and staying transparent about the cost of running for office.

Big picture: Abughazaleh is one of many political creators making waves in elected offices. Prank creator Fidias Panayiotou began serving as a member of European Parliament last June, and Indonesia’s 2024 elections resulted in over 20 content creators winning seats in parliament.

Sponsored by CTB

How Marc Maron Secures Untouchable A-List Guests

As a podcast host, Marc Maron has a rare ability: getting celebrities to actually open up. With over 500-million downloads since 2009, his approach clearly works.

But getting celebrities to talk is one thing. Getting them to show up is another.

That’s why, for over a decade now, Marc’s partnered with Central Talent Booking. From Al Pacino to Ariana Grande, their industry expertise has secured big names that consistently drive WTF’s 1.5-million weekly downloads.

Want to start landing guests your competition can’t get? Then explore how CTB’s 25+ years of industry connections can open doors for your show today.

Creator TV Takeover: Speed’s China Tour, Ludwig’s Lofi Roadtrip

Deloitte released its annual digital media trends survey, which found approximately 50% of Gen Z and Millennial respondents feel stronger connections to content creators than actors. 

With traditional media taking the backseat for younger generations, here’s a spotlight on a few creator-led series:

Speed kicked off his China livestream tour on Monday, reaching 37 million YouTube subscribers within 24 hours.

Ludwig Aghren and Michael Reeves are traveling Japan “tip to tip” on motorcycles, challenging themselves to make it across the country without phones, maps, or highways. They’re vlogging their 2,000-mile journey daily on Ludwig’s YouTube channel, and so far have gained over 4 million views across five episodes.

Good Good embarked on a nationwide “$10,000 vs $100 Golf Match” challenge. In each episode of the series, six players compete in a 3v3 golf match—the winning team earning a $10,000 vacation in the next destination of the tour. By the end of the series, Good Good will hit all 50 states. See their latest episode in Georgia here.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Alan Chikin Chow's series “Alan’s Universe” is now available to stream on the Roku Channel.

• Mythical Chef Josh appears on First We Feast’s Hot Kitchen. 

• Win a trip to hang with Colin and Samir at the Spotter Studio Ideas Summit—just brainstorm 10 video ideas in Idea Bank and submit your best by 3/31 to win.*

• LTK is hosting its own upfronts.

• A Reddit post is being turned into a movie starring Sydney Sweeney.

• YouTube is planning to test dynamic ad reads, according to Semafor.

• Amelia Dimoldenberg competes on The Great British Bakeoff.

_{*This is sponsored advertising content.}