Are Nice Guys OK?
Friday Thoughts
Obviously no. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s discuss the worst ‘nice guys’ of the week.
This week, I traced the origin of the now very true rumor of Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner’s divorce to an obviously planted post on a gossip forum. The post had all the markings of the tell-tale PR breadcrumb, with a very specific goal to poke fans into asking the question: why is Joe not wearing his wedding ring?
The post, of course, became the framework for a TMZ “exclusive” 24 hours later announcing the divorce. Like clockwork, a joint statement from the couple followed 48 hours later.
As this is happening, a Pro-Joe story is slowly churning on the backend. He is already a member of the most uncontroversial Christian pop band to ever cross into the mainstream. His kids are on tour with him. He carries his children in public. Both make him not just a “doting dad,” but per the current spin, the most doting dad to ever dote. A narrative that social media picks up on and quickly shuts down, as press painting Sophie as a bad mother simultaneously begins to move into play. Photos of her drinking at a wrap party years ago fail to help Team Joe build their case. News of possibly damaging Ring doorbell footage comes to light as the root cause of their divorce, subtly implying Joe caught Sophie cheating, drinking, blasting Harry Styles, or just not doting enough.
Despite both asking for “privacy” in their statements, Joe scheduled some obviously staged photos with Backgrid. The photos showed him, a man, who fathered a daughter, holding his daughter. Remember back when a man would, like, do a load of their own laundry or ‘baby sit’ their own child and be praised for it?! I single handedly credit TikTok with leading the war on ‘weaponized incompetence,’ a movement that’s at very the root of the reason why Joe’s attempt to weaponize his parenting as divorce leverage has backfired.
It’s turned him into a villain. Not a real villain, just the nice guy version of one. Still, however, not enough villainess to make him remotely exciting.
Enter Josh, the Tabi Swiper.
I won’t explain this one to you, you’ll just need to watch. When you do, come back.
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Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.
The most outrageous part of his plan was his ghosting strategy — convincing Lex to let him search for a Spotify playlist on her phone. A playlist he couldn’t actually find …. because it didn’t actually exist and his goal with her phone was to simply delete his own number from it.
The insanity of Josh’s nice guy-ness really shows up once Lex tracks the thief down. In the confrontation, coming after this man deployed an hours-long scheme to fuck her, rob her, and ghost her, Josh smiles and passively jokes his way through what is considered Grand Larceny in most states.
The only way I can describe the chokehold this story has put me in is…you know that scene in Euphoria after Fez beats Nate up? Where the camera cuts to a bloodied and bandaged Nate in the hospital? And his face slowly creeps to a smile? That is how I felt after the Tabi Swiper journey. I enjoyed the chokehold. I still yearn for it.
