Thanks to the global popularity of @deuxmoi, today we have our very own real-life ‘Gossip Girl.’ If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you have probably been living under a rock for the past two years, so let me give you an insight into our newest celebrity gossip!
Describing themselves as the ‘curators of pop culture,’ @deuxmoi is an Instagram account run by its mystery creator, who shares with her devoted followers the latest reader-submitted gossip on your favourite (and of course your least favourite) Hollywood stars.
Going viral at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, the account has completely transformed the celebrity news industry. Just 2 years after its establishment as an outlet for celebrity tea, the @deuxmoi Instagram account has accumulated over 1.4 million followers and over 2 million followers across all of its social media platforms.
Of course, DeuxMoi did not acquire this worldwide fame overnight, so let’s go back to where it all started!
The DeuxMoi Instagram account was initially launched in 2013, linking itself to its fashion and lifestyle blog. Here it featured gift guides to ‘interviews with interesting people.’ At first, the Instagram and blog featured two administrators.
Today it operates as a one-woman show!
How exactly did this one-woman show become our main source of celebrity tea you may ask? Well, just like many of us, boredom overtook our lives as a result of the pandemic. Luckily for DeuxMoi, that pandemic boredom had worldwide fame as its consequence! One day, DeuxMoi had very innocently decided to ask her followers to, “Send in any experiences you’ve had with a celebrity” and just like that, she says
DeuxMoi describes her rise to popularity as, “purely by accident,”
Being a completely anonymous gossip account, @deuxmoi gets hundreds of tips daily from individuals claiming to be Hollywood assistants, friends, publicists, drivers, stylists, even celebrities themselves! These submissions are usually shared with her via her Instagram DMs or through her submission form. Despite these submissions rarely being fact-checked, they are almost always confirmed to be true just days later. From Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde dating to Kim and Kanye’s separation, DeuxMoi has become everyone’s main source of Hollywood tea.
Of course, along with fame, criticism follows. With regards to the unverified submissions that DeuxMoi shares, one writer declared,
DeuxMoi is reviving invasive news culture and proving that fiction sells better than fact.
Despite its huge success, it cannot go without saying that DeuxMoi does feed into the intrusive nature of celebrity gossip. Although it lacks the physical invasiveness of the paparazzi, the account does indirectly encourage individuals to invade celebrities’ personal lives. By snapping unwanted shots of celebrities, interrupting their dinners, or even fabricating submissions just to cancel a celebrity they may not like, platforms like DeuxMoi mimic the intrusive nature of the paparazzi. As a result, DeuxMoi, and platforms like it (@theshaderoom,@rap) have celebrities on the lookout 24/7.
In its Instagram bio, DeuxMoi explicitly states that;
However, this fact does not stand in the way of our obsession with famous people. We still consume and engage with any celebrity gossip we see on social media, rarely pausing to verify whether or not it is actually truthful. Let’s be honest, when we hear things like Leonardo DiCaprio allegedly wearing headphones during sex, the sincerity of that submission is not really at the forefront of our minds. One reader of DeuxMoi says,
I don’t care at all if it’s untrue. It’s still so fun.
Today the phrase, “I saw it on DeuxMoi!” has become commonplace in many people’s conversations. For many it’s the first thing they check when they wake up in the morning and the last thing they check before going to bed!
Evidently, the privacy of celebrities is not our biggest concern in today’s technological age, meaning that accounts like DeuxMoi have a tight grasp on our attention at all times.
And to think that this global fame was all an accident for the mysterious creator behind DeuxMoi!