Good morning. The Florida Gators won the NCAA men’s basketball championship in a nail-biter, just after UConn cut down the net (again) in the women’s tournament. While everyone else was counting the score this March Madness, we were tallying how many times IShowSpeed’s Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial played (we lost count at 47).

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

Last week, President Donald Trump announced tariffs of at least 10% on all imports from many countries, and domestic businesses across sectors—including the creator industry—are already feeling the repercussions.

Here’s what creators have to say →

QTCinderella said tariffs will impact her customizable accessory brand, Deco Deco, which imports most materials. “Some of my suppliers have already pulled out of the US, and some of my suppliers have tripled or quadrupled their price,” she said.

Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson said it’s now “way cheaper” to manufacture his Feastables chocolate brand outside the US, since other countries aren’t imposing the same aggressive tariffs. “We’ll figure it out,” he shared on X. “I feel for small businesses though. Could really be a nail in the coffin for them.”

As the full scale of tariff impacts only begins to emerge, creators across genres have used the tumultuous news cycle as a chance to educate their audiences:

Welcome to AI slop: a bizarre picture of Jesus with shrimp arms or babies flowing out of a semitruck. 

Surreal, nonsensical, and AI-generated, this kind of content is increasingly showing up on feeds across platforms. And because this AI slop is cheap and easy to produce, it’s inspired a whole subset of businesses across Meta, Pinterest, YouTube, and X that aim to monetize on views and engagement.

What creators are saying: 

Big picture: Platforms have issued policies and tags designed to better identify AI, but that hasn’t stopped AI-generated content from exploding on social platforms—for example, over 54% of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn are likely AI-generated.

Sponsored by beehiiv

A great newsletter requires both style and substance to stand out.

You’ve got the substance. Let beehiiv handle the style part—no coding required.

As an all-in-one publishing suite, beehiiv’s website and newsletter builders make it easy to create content that feels like you. Enjoy pixel-perfect customization that provides:

Oh, and if you like our brand new website, now you know who to thank: beehiiv.

Use code PUBLISH20 for 20% off your first 3 months today.

Haliey Welch’s Talk Tuah podcast has returned after a four-month hiatus with KSI as the show’s first guest back. Jake Paul’s sports betting company, Betr, produced the first run of episodes, but Welch’s 16 Minutes production company will take over. Like clockwork, Talking Talk Tuah had an emergency recap episode out within a day of Welch’s return.

Patreon has launched a podcast network initiative, starting with exclusive shows from Wondery and Sony Music debuting on Patreon. The new program is part of Patreon’s larger push into podcasting—the platform said that, in the last year, podcasters have earned over $472 million on Patreon, making podcasting its highest-earning content category.

Former Bachelor star Nick Viall has signed a deal valued between $20 million and $30 million with podcast platform Libsyn to keep his podcast, The Viall Files, and shows from his Envy Media network on the platform. Since its inception in 2019, The Viall Files has notched over 250 million downloads.

ICYMI: The Publish Press has a brand new website, designed with our readers in mind. It’s an accurate representation of who we are as a publication…and it’s a lot easier for you, our readers, to navigate. 

None of this would be possible without our amazing partners, Rare Days and beehiiv, who helped us bring this project to life. Check it out right here.