Under The Influence podcast tried to publicly diss Drew Afualo and instantly regretted it
If there were a TikTok royal court, you best believe that Drew Afualo would be the people’s queen (with Brittany Broski coming in a close second). Known internationally as a tour de force in the influencing world, a New York Times bestselling author, and a certified boss, Afualo’s unapologetic boldness and charisma have arguably had a lasting impact on an entire generation of women. So, the question is: what prompted a group of podcast boys to brazenly bash and drag the content creator?
Welcome back to Explained By a Blonde. As all of you probably know by now, I consider defending the girlies very seriously. As a 25-year-old girly who’s spent most of her life being told to quieten down, being able to exist in the same universe as Afualo—a woman who’s built a career off of being loud—is an indescribable privilege. So, let’s just say that when I saw a group of little boys using their five minutes of fame to shame her, I got a teensy bit furious. And so did the rest of my FYP.
Don’t worry boys, I’ll make sure to take my calmest, most demure approach to this topic, so you don’t have to label me as some hysterical, hormonal, female… Kisses!
What is the ‘Under The Influence’ podcast?
The Under The Influence podcast has been around for over two years now, with the first episode airing back in December 2021, and is hosted by a group of four friends, who each week have conversations about life, relationships, and family.
Most of their conversations revolve around the romantic lives of each member of the group, with teaser clips providing classic podcast juicy soundbites. And while I’d never heard of this show until a few days ago, what I’ve seen so far hasn’t exactly turned me into a fan. Their YouTube channel has just over 280,000 subscribers and the podcast’s Instagram page has approximately 250,000 followers.
What did the ‘Under The Influence’ boys say about Drew Afualo?
A recent Under The Influence podcast clip went viral after netizens spotted the group make some seriously derogatory comments about TikToker Drew Afualo. First, one of the members mispronounced the creator’s last name, referring to her as Drew Afloofalo. To say that this was inappropriate and disrespectful is an understatement.
Afualo is a very proud Samoan woman and has spoken about her heritage multiple times before. Watching the clip felt a lot like how it feels to still see commentators, reporters, and politicians mispronounce Kamala Harris’ name. Learning a few syllables really shouldn’t be this tricky boys.
And it’s fair to say that netizens didn’t respond well to this cringe attempt at a diss:
@hshcvh04 greenscreen im tired of these asian podcasts yall are setting us back asian asianamerican aapi drewafualo podcast podcastclips podcasts women men korean influencer content contentcreator ~
♬ original sound - Hshcvh
@amelia.nguy3n #duet with @Anita #drewafualo this podcast setting asians back yet another 50 years #undertheinfluence #asian #asianrepresentation
♬ original sound - Anita
Oh and just wait, it gets worse.
@capnkenknuckles Under the influence do yall know yall have 30 minutes???? #fypage #blackgirltiktok #blacktiktokcommunity #fyp #blacktiktok #undertheinfluencepodcast #jknews #drewafualo #podcasts #podcastsoftiktok #blackwomenoftiktok
♬ original sound - 🖤Princesskendoll🖤
Let’s be clear girlies, not every podcast is going to appeal to every listener—this, I can accept. What I can’t accept is a group of boys disrespecting a woman who they’ve never met by not only purposely mispronouncing her last name but then also going on to insinuate that she is the female version of a “red pill man.”
For context, the origins of a “red pill man” come from Keanu Reeves’ film The Matrix. In the film, Laurence Fishburne offers Reeves a choice: “You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Now, the rabbit hole, in this scenario is the manosphere, a place where men go to feed on toxic and hateful rhetoric about their supposed plight and the evil nature of women.
What the Under The Influence boys were trying to do here is claim that because Afualo has built an empire off of calling out weak men, she has subsequently taught an entire generation of women to “hate all men.” Indeed, the podcasters found it ironic that the influencer herself was engaged, considering she naturally dissuades all girls from wanting to get married themselves.
Afualo doesn’t hate all men—but I mean, if she did, could you blame her? What she does in her videos is ruthlessly roast sexists and encourage young girls and women to embrace who they truly are, without fear of how their character might be perceived by a man. Screw killing them with kindness, Drew just straight up kills them.
@drewafualo hahahahahahahahahaha 🤞🏽
♬ original sound - Game of Thrones - Game of Thrones
None of us of course should’ve worried that the podcasters’ comments would phase Afualo. As per usual, she took it in her stride:
@drewafualo yeah unfortunately, i didnt see ur podcast that gets no views!!!! my b!!!!! LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO
♬ original sound - 𝔑𝔬𝔟𝔩𝔢 𝔖𝔱𝔬𝔦𝔠®
@drewafualo I appreciate your patience, team 🤞🏽 LMFAOOOOOOOOOOO
♬ original sound - Drew Afualo
So, this is both a reminder and a warning. Do not even try to come for Miss Afualo because if you do, you’re going to end up seriously regretting it.
