Happy Monday!

I got some weird freak internet stuff in here for you. Don’t you miss that? I live for it. It’s been a heavy few weeks, so it’s kind of nice to be morbidly curious instead of horrified for a change. 

In today’s newsletter, Facebook Marketplace eggs, new levels of delusion at lookalike contests, Ticketmaster woes, and a girl group playlist celebrating WOMEN! 

I’ve recently become obsessed with this TikTok creator named Josiah (@joclearedyou) that reviews food he finds and buys on Facebook Marketplace. It sounds gnarly and it is (kind of). 

I had become aware of the concept of Facebook Marketplace food a few months ago after I found out that people bought seafood boils on there. I suppose the concept isn’t new, but it feels like we’re testing the limits of what our cottage food laws will allow. 

Anyways, back to Josiah. He’s been trying a lot of different food from Facebook and some of it has been pretty good. However, the video that really got people talking was his review of spicy pickled eggs from a business called Eggs By Toya. In his TikTok, which got 4 million views, he gave Eggs By Toya a 2/10 rating because what else would you expect from hard boiled eggs you found on Facebook Marketplace? Eggs By Toya has been hassling him for a redo, which he agreed to yesterday. 

The re-review was… off-putting to say the least. Eggs By Toya’s partner pulled up to deliver the new food, which looked like some sort of spicy chicken bowl with pasta. The delivery man, who was filming, asked Josiah to eat the bowl and said “You better say it’s good.” So, Josiah said it was good, which made viewers very skeptical. As you might imagine, this made things worse for Eggs By Toya.

Perhaps there is a lesson here somewhere. Maybe it’s that we shouldn’t buy certain food from Facebook Marketplace? Or maybe it’s that small business owners have to learn how to withstand criticism if they want to grow online? It’s probably both. In regard to the former, I don’t know why anyone would roll the dice on high-risk foods from some random person online (I, for one, am not taking any chances on botulism!). As for the latter, we all know that the internet loves dogpiling and it happens often with small businesses. (I spoke to experts on how to manage that kind of negative attention almost three years ago.) Eggs By Toya should not have reengaged and her partner should not have put so much pressure on the second taste test. Now, people are just going to criticize her harder for longer than they probably would have. 

When Anthpo gave us our first viral celebrity lookalike contest in late 2024, I never imagined these events would persist in 2026. In the past 18 months, we’ve seen levels of audacity never before seen — which brings us to this weekend’s JFK Jr. contest.

Listen… great hats, beautiful hats. But a backwards newsboy cap does not a JFK Jr. make. We’re talking about a Kennedy here. It’s hard to stack up to that, but c’mon. The winner from the NYC event does not look like that man! Don’t even get me started on DC.

Frankly, no one in those line ups really looks like him, but as some TikTok spectators pointed out, it’s also about the energy. There’s a major swag gap between JFK Jr. and his imitators. The winner’s post-contest interviews did not emulate that charisma that JFK Jr. had. Perhaps it’s asking a lot, but if you’re gonna win without looking like him, can’t you share some of his vibe?

If you’ve been following my work since NBC News, you might know that I’d often cover Ticketmaster and the live events industry. It has been a harrowing few years for fans, many of whom have endured skyrocketing prices, predatory scalpers, and even complete shutouts. It’s almost expected to pay hundreds of dollars for nosebleeds just to see your favorite artists. Some Americans opt for international shows because the cost of a trip is often equivalent to a single floor ticket in the States.

This has been a hot button issue since the Eras Tour sale fiasco in late 2022. The Justice Department, under the Biden administration, sued Live Nation, parent company of Ticketmaster, in May 2024. The DOJ alleged that the company had violated antitrust laws by managing more than hundreds of artists, controlling 60% of concert promotions at major venues and controlling 80% of ticketing at these venues. The lawsuit sought to break up Live Nation, effectively undoing its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster. Live Nation has denied these claims and called the allegations "baseless."

Today, it was announced that Trump’s Justice Department, led by attorney general Pam Bondi, had settled with Live Nation. It still requires a judge’s sign-off, but the agreement will not break up the company. Instead, if the settlement goes through, Live Nation would pay damages to the 39 states that had joined the lawsuit, allow venues to use different ticket vendors, and let artists use different promoters. There is still hope for a different outcome, as the settlement appeared to be made with little transparency and the states involved are seeking a mistrial. 

If the Justice Department settles, it’s a blow to those who have been advocating for a better, fairer ticketing environment. Live music shouldn’t be exclusive to the rich and it shouldn't put people into debt either. Yet, it’s only getting more expensive to go to concerts — and the Live Nation CEO just recently said that these events are underpriced. This is not a very comforting moment for the future of live events!

Every Monday letter gets a playlist. Here is a girl group playlist to belatedly celebrate International Women’s Day.

In this week’s playlist:

Other things I want to share with you.