WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.720 welcome back to the deep dive you know i was 00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:04.900 staring at the research pile for today's session 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:07.360 and i realized we have a bit of a problem oh 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:10.039 yeah usually when we look at a celebrity career 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:12.980 there's a trajectory it's a pretty straight line 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:15.019 you have the rise you have the peak maybe the 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:17.859 fall and then you know the redemption it's neat 00:00:17.859 --> 00:00:20.579 it's a narrative it makes sense exactly it makes 00:00:20.579 --> 00:00:24.500 sense and today is not neat yeah not even close 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:27.300 no today we are looking at a file that looks 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:30.140 like someone took five different Puzzles like 00:00:30.140 --> 00:00:33.560 completely different genres and just jam the 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:35.939 pieces together until they somehow fit. We're 00:00:35.939 --> 00:00:38.460 talking about a woman who started as a stripper 00:00:38.460 --> 00:00:41.960 in South Philadelphia, became the face of high 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:44.920 fashion luxury for Louis Vuitton, wrote a book 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:48.600 on financial literacy, marched in the streets 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:51.359 for feminism, made seven figures a month on OnlyFans, 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:53.780 and then... and this is the plot twist that I 00:00:53.780 --> 00:00:56.399 think gave everyone whiplash, ended up on stage 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:59.600 at the 2024 Republican National Convention. It 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:01.700 really is the ultimate test case for this show, 00:01:01.740 --> 00:01:03.960 isn't it? You're talking about Amber Rose. And 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:05.299 you're right. If you just look at the headlines, 00:01:05.459 --> 00:01:09.280 it looks like chaos. It looks, well, it looks 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:11.180 like hypocrisy. That's the word that keeps popping 00:01:11.180 --> 00:01:14.459 up in all the op -eds. Hypocrisy. How does the 00:01:14.459 --> 00:01:17.000 slut walk organizer endorse the conservative 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:21.489 ticket? It doesn't compute. Right. And the easy 00:01:21.489 --> 00:01:24.269 thing to do, the lazy thing, is to just look 00:01:24.269 --> 00:01:26.469 at the buzz cut, the sunglasses, and the paparazzi 00:01:26.469 --> 00:01:28.890 photos and think you know the whole story. You 00:01:28.890 --> 00:01:31.609 know, oh, she's famous for being famous. But 00:01:31.609 --> 00:01:33.489 when you actually dig into the source material, 00:01:33.790 --> 00:01:36.689 her biography, her business moves, her own words 00:01:36.689 --> 00:01:39.750 from interviews and podcasts, you realize that 00:01:39.750 --> 00:01:43.370 looking past the image is the whole point. That 00:01:43.370 --> 00:01:45.530 is the mission for this deep dive. It has to 00:01:45.530 --> 00:01:48.549 be. We want to unpack the life of Amber Rose 00:01:48.549 --> 00:01:51.329 Levanchuk. We're going to trace that line from 00:01:51.329 --> 00:01:54.129 the struggles of South Philadelphia all the way 00:01:54.129 --> 00:01:56.650 to the stage of the RNC. And I think the aha 00:01:56.650 --> 00:01:58.950 moment we're looking for here isn't just about 00:01:58.950 --> 00:02:01.909 fame. It's about agency. Agency. Explain that. 00:02:02.069 --> 00:02:04.829 Yes. It's about how someone takes a deck of cards 00:02:04.829 --> 00:02:07.489 that was just stacked against them and learns 00:02:07.489 --> 00:02:09.430 to play the game better than the people who invented 00:02:09.430 --> 00:02:12.030 it. It's about someone who realized very, very 00:02:12.030 --> 00:02:14.979 early on. That in the economy of attention, you're 00:02:14.979 --> 00:02:18.259 either the player or you're the chips. And Amber 00:02:18.259 --> 00:02:20.400 Rose decided she was never, ever going to be 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:22.840 the chips. I love that analogy, player or the 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:25.419 chips. So let's see how she learned to play. 00:02:25.659 --> 00:02:27.419 We have to start at the very beginning, right? 00:02:27.870 --> 00:02:29.909 Before the fame, before the sunglasses. Way before. 00:02:30.189 --> 00:02:32.469 We're in South Philadelphia. And South Philly 00:02:32.469 --> 00:02:35.210 isn't just a geographical location. It's a specific 00:02:35.210 --> 00:02:37.810 vibe, isn't it? It is. It's a character in the 00:02:37.810 --> 00:02:39.990 story. We're talking early 80s. She was born 00:02:39.990 --> 00:02:43.090 in 1983. And South Philadelphia is this very 00:02:43.090 --> 00:02:46.509 distinct, gritty, working class environment. 00:02:46.750 --> 00:02:49.009 It's a melting pot for sure. But it can also 00:02:49.009 --> 00:02:51.270 be very tribal. And right away, we have to look 00:02:51.270 --> 00:02:52.990 at the demographics because they shape her entire 00:02:52.990 --> 00:02:56.650 identity. Amber has a very specific multi -ethnic 00:02:56.650 --> 00:02:59.520 background. Her father, Michael Levanchuk, is 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:02.419 of Irish and Italian descent. Her mother, Dorothy 00:03:02.419 --> 00:03:05.139 Rose, is of Cape Verdean descent. OK, so for 00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:07.120 those who might not know, Cape Verde is off the 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.520 coast of West Africa, but there's a heavy Portuguese 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:12.599 influence there historically. Correct. So she 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:15.259 grows up with this very specific look. And she 00:03:15.259 --> 00:03:17.539 often talks about not fitting into a clear box 00:03:17.539 --> 00:03:20.620 racially while she was growing up. I can imagine. 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:22.580 Yeah, she wasn't black enough for some, not white 00:03:22.580 --> 00:03:24.319 enough for others. She was sort of in this ambiguous 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:27.939 space. But the defining factor of her childhood 00:03:27.939 --> 00:03:32.520 wasn't just race. It was economics. OK. The sources 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:36.560 all point to one major turning point early on. 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:39.099 The divorce of her parents. This feels like a 00:03:39.099 --> 00:03:41.280 classic catalyst in a lot of these stories. You 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:43.080 know, the fracture in the home. It was a fracture, 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:45.280 but it was also an economic cliff. I mean, her 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:47.039 mother was quite young when she had Amber. She 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:49.520 was only 23 and her father was just 19. Wow. 00:03:49.659 --> 00:03:53.110 Kids. Basically kids. And when they split. Her 00:03:53.110 --> 00:03:56.110 mother ended up with a stepfather. Wow. And the 00:03:56.110 --> 00:03:57.930 descriptions of this period, they're heavy. We 00:03:57.930 --> 00:03:59.449 aren't just talking about, you know, a blended 00:03:59.449 --> 00:04:02.169 family. The sources describe the stepfather as 00:04:02.169 --> 00:04:06.469 an alcoholic. Oh. And suddenly the family's financial 00:04:06.469 --> 00:04:09.930 stability just, it evaporated. So they went from 00:04:09.930 --> 00:04:12.949 just getting by to pure survival mode. Precisely. 00:04:13.009 --> 00:04:16.269 And this is where we see the hustle start. I 00:04:16.269 --> 00:04:17.610 think a lot of people have this assumption that 00:04:17.610 --> 00:04:19.410 people enter the adult entertainment industry 00:04:19.410 --> 00:04:22.529 because they're wild or they're rebellious or 00:04:22.529 --> 00:04:25.110 they just want quick cash for luxury items. Right, 00:04:25.170 --> 00:04:28.029 for bags and shoes. Yeah, exactly. But for Rose, 00:04:28.269 --> 00:04:31.389 the source material makes it crystal clear. This 00:04:31.389 --> 00:04:33.230 was about keeping the lights on. It was about 00:04:33.230 --> 00:04:35.329 feeding her family. And she started stripping 00:04:35.329 --> 00:04:40.040 at age 15. She used the pseudonym Paris. I have 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:43.139 to pause there. 15. 15. That's a sophomore in 00:04:43.139 --> 00:04:45.480 high school. I mean, that's a child. It is a 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.579 child. But she became a primary provider while 00:04:48.579 --> 00:04:51.100 she was still essentially a child. And here's 00:04:51.100 --> 00:04:53.139 where we get a glimpse of that player versus 00:04:53.139 --> 00:04:56.310 chips mentality. really starting to form. Okay. 00:04:56.470 --> 00:04:58.790 There's a really intense detail that came up 00:04:58.790 --> 00:05:00.829 in our research from her appearances on podcasts 00:05:00.829 --> 00:05:04.149 like The Red Pill and Club Shay Shay. She admitted 00:05:04.149 --> 00:05:06.829 that before she fully committed to dancing, she 00:05:06.829 --> 00:05:09.129 actually attempted to sell crack cocaine. Whoa. 00:05:09.790 --> 00:05:13.529 Okay. That's a heavy admission. It's a startling 00:05:13.529 --> 00:05:16.870 admission. But listen to why she stopped. This 00:05:16.870 --> 00:05:19.350 is the crucial part. She didn't stop because 00:05:19.350 --> 00:05:21.550 a priest told her to. She didn't stop because 00:05:21.550 --> 00:05:24.240 she got caught. So what was it? She told the 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.379 interviewer she found it too risky. That's fascinating, 00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:30.680 because let's be honest, stripping at 15 is incredibly 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:33.579 risky. But in her mind, the drug trade was a 00:05:33.579 --> 00:05:36.120 bridge too far. It shows this very pragmatic, 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:39.959 almost cold risk assessment capability. At 15 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:42.620 years old, she looked at the drug trade, the 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:45.079 violence, the prison sentences, the total volatility, 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:47.639 and then she looked at the strip club. And did 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:50.279 the math. And she calculated that the club was 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:52.779 the safer bet to get the money her family needed 00:05:52.779 --> 00:05:55.939 to survive. She made a business decision. She 00:05:55.939 --> 00:05:58.060 was doing a cost -benefit analysis on her own 00:05:58.060 --> 00:06:00.860 survival at age 15. Exactly. And that hustle 00:06:00.860 --> 00:06:03.240 muscle, that ability to look at a dangerous or 00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:05.779 unstable situation and figure out how to extract 00:06:05.779 --> 00:06:08.339 value from it without getting destroyed, that 00:06:08.339 --> 00:06:11.089 defines her entire career. When you have to carry 00:06:11.089 --> 00:06:13.509 the weight of your family's economic survival 00:06:13.509 --> 00:06:15.889 on your shoulders before you can even legally 00:06:15.889 --> 00:06:19.800 drive a car, that shapes how you view money and 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:21.660 opportunity forever. It's a different kind of 00:06:21.660 --> 00:06:23.800 education. A very different kind. So she's working 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:25.879 under the name Paris, grinding it out in Philadelphia. 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:28.920 But let's be real. There are thousands of women 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:31.579 working in clubs in Philly, New York, Atlanta. 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:34.980 Most of them do not become global icons. Not 00:06:34.980 --> 00:06:37.740 even close. So how does she get from South Philly 00:06:37.740 --> 00:06:40.160 to being one of the most recognizable faces on 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:44.290 the planet? The Catalyst was a music video. But 00:06:44.290 --> 00:06:46.189 to understand why this video worked, we have 00:06:46.189 --> 00:06:48.990 to look at the cultural landscape of 2008. Okay, 00:06:49.050 --> 00:06:50.990 paint the picture for us. Where were we in 2008? 00:06:51.350 --> 00:06:54.250 So in 2008, hip -hop was just dominating the 00:06:54.250 --> 00:06:56.709 charts. It was the center of pop culture. And 00:06:56.709 --> 00:06:59.129 within that ecosystem, you had this very specific 00:06:59.129 --> 00:07:03.439 archetype, the video vixen. That term, it feels 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:05.939 a bit dated now, doesn't it? But it was a legitimate 00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:08.399 career path back then. Very much so. It was a 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:10.540 whole industry. You had women like Karrion Stephens 00:07:10.540 --> 00:07:14.079 or Melissa Ford who are famous, like truly famous, 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:16.540 strictly for being the it girl in music videos. 00:07:16.660 --> 00:07:19.860 But usually the vixen is a prop. Let's be honest. 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:22.959 She's window dressing. She's there to look beautiful, 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:25.180 usually with a very specific aesthetic, long 00:07:25.180 --> 00:07:28.300 weaves, big curls, you know, hyper feminine in 00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:29.899 a very traditional sense. She's there to make 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:32.759 the rapper look rich and desirable. Right. She's 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:34.579 the accessory. She's part of the set design. 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:38.240 Okay. Amber Rose enters this world in 2008. She 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:40.379 gets cast in the video for Young Jeezy's Put 00:07:40.379 --> 00:07:43.100 On, which was a huge song and it featured Kanye 00:07:43.100 --> 00:07:46.040 West. But she does something the other girls 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:49.819 weren't doing. She completely disrupts the aesthetic. 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:53.019 The buzz cut. The buzz cut. A bald woman in a 00:07:53.019 --> 00:07:56.160 hip -hop video in 2008. That was shocking. Yeah, 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:58.519 it really was. It was aggressive. Yeah, it looked 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:01.069 punk. It didn't fit. And it's hard to overstate 00:08:01.069 --> 00:08:04.990 how risky that was, right? If your entire income, 00:08:05.110 --> 00:08:07.709 your entire brand depends on your looks and you 00:08:07.709 --> 00:08:09.850 shave your head, you are essentially betting 00:08:09.850 --> 00:08:12.129 that your face structure is strong enough to 00:08:12.129 --> 00:08:14.589 carry the whole brand without the safety net 00:08:14.589 --> 00:08:17.370 of traditional hair. It was a massive bet, a 00:08:17.370 --> 00:08:21.189 huge gamble, and it paid off spectacularly because 00:08:21.189 --> 00:08:23.949 Kanye West, who we know loves to position himself 00:08:23.949 --> 00:08:27.790 as an art world disruptor, saw her. And didn't 00:08:27.790 --> 00:08:29.629 just see another pretty girl. He saw something 00:08:29.629 --> 00:08:32.149 different. He saw a muse. He saw a walking art 00:08:32.149 --> 00:08:34.750 piece. And this kicks off what we call the Kanye 00:08:34.750 --> 00:08:37.549 era from 2008 to 2010. Now, this is where the 00:08:37.549 --> 00:08:39.570 cynics will say, oh, she just dated Kanye. That's 00:08:39.570 --> 00:08:41.570 why she's famous. But that just completely ignores 00:08:41.570 --> 00:08:43.309 the work she did during that time. She wasn't 00:08:43.309 --> 00:08:45.190 just, you know, hiding in his house. That is 00:08:45.190 --> 00:08:48.409 such a lazy take. It's so reductive. Plenty of 00:08:48.409 --> 00:08:50.509 women date famous rappers and then they just 00:08:50.509 --> 00:08:52.970 disappear six months later. Right. Amber Rose 00:08:52.970 --> 00:08:57.029 didn't disappear. She leveraged. She built. And 00:08:57.029 --> 00:08:58.929 the key piece of evidence here, the thing that 00:08:58.929 --> 00:09:01.690 changed everything, is the Louis Vuitton print 00:09:01.690 --> 00:09:04.730 advertisement. This was for Kanye's sneaker line 00:09:04.730 --> 00:09:07.970 with LV, right? Yes, the Dawn sneakers. But think 00:09:07.970 --> 00:09:10.190 about what Louis Vuitton represents. That's blue 00:09:10.190 --> 00:09:14.289 chip luxury. That's Paris, Milan, old money establishment 00:09:14.289 --> 00:09:17.289 fashion. It's the pinnacle. It is. For a woman 00:09:17.289 --> 00:09:20.570 who started as Paris in a Philly strip club to 00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:23.710 be featured in a global campaign for Louis Vuitton. 00:09:24.920 --> 00:09:27.360 That legitimized her in the high fashion world 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:30.159 in a way that music videos alone generally do 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:32.720 not. It was a different kind of stamp. She crossed 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:35.379 over. She completely crossed over. She then walked 00:09:35.379 --> 00:09:38.039 the runway at New York Fashion Week for the brand 00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:41.299 Celestino. And she signed with Ford Models from 00:09:41.299 --> 00:09:44.740 2009 to 2010. Ford is a major agency. That's 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:47.179 not a small thing. That is a major legitimate 00:09:47.179 --> 00:09:50.480 legacy agency. She managed to be the video vixen 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.200 who was also the high fashion model. That duality 00:09:54.200 --> 00:09:57.059 is so rare. Usually the fashion world looks down 00:09:57.059 --> 00:09:59.039 on the urban modeling world. There's a snobbery 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:01.019 there. A huge snobbery. Amber forced them to 00:10:01.019 --> 00:10:03.700 coexist in the same person. She became a logo, 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:05.960 essentially. You could draw a stick figure with 00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:08.720 sunglasses and a bald head. And people would 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:11.159 know immediately it was Amber Rose. That is branding 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:14.039 101. It's a unique selling proposition. In a 00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:16.879 sea of long flowing hair, she was the silhouette 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:19.159 you couldn't miss. She was instantly iconic. 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:23.080 But fame is fleeting. And being the it girl has 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:25.940 an expiration date, right? And usually when that 00:10:25.940 --> 00:10:28.480 high profile relationship ends, the fame just 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:31.799 evaporates. Oof. Gone. Her relationship with 00:10:31.799 --> 00:10:34.580 Kanye ended in 2010, but she didn't go away. 00:10:34.740 --> 00:10:37.990 Not at all. No. And this brings us to the business 00:10:37.990 --> 00:10:40.210 of being Amber. She didn't just ride the wave. 00:10:40.250 --> 00:10:42.970 She built a boat. She diversified so aggressively. 00:10:43.110 --> 00:10:45.090 And this is where the person listening to this 00:10:45.090 --> 00:10:47.330 should really pay attention. She refused to be 00:10:47.330 --> 00:10:49.490 pigeonholed. OK, so let's run through the resume 00:10:49.490 --> 00:10:51.549 because it is all over the map. She pivots to 00:10:51.549 --> 00:10:55.190 television. Yes. reality TV, it acts as a kind 00:10:55.190 --> 00:10:57.330 of relevance engine. It just keeps your name 00:10:57.330 --> 00:10:59.389 in the press, keeps you in the public eye. She 00:10:59.389 --> 00:11:01.230 did Running Russell Simmons. She was a guest 00:11:01.230 --> 00:11:03.649 judge on RuPaul's Drag Race. She was a judge 00:11:03.649 --> 00:11:06.070 on a DJ show called Master of the Mix. And she 00:11:06.070 --> 00:11:08.029 actually competed on Dancing with the Stars in 00:11:08.029 --> 00:11:10.669 2016. Right. Partnered with Maxine Tremolkovsky. 00:11:10.750 --> 00:11:13.169 She finished ninth. Now, you might hear ninth 00:11:13.169 --> 00:11:14.950 place and think, who cares? Yeah, not a winner. 00:11:15.149 --> 00:11:17.970 But Dancing with the Stars is a very specific 00:11:17.970 --> 00:11:21.879 type of mainstream validation. It puts you in 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:24.500 living rooms with grandmothers in middle America 00:11:24.500 --> 00:11:28.500 who have never, ever seen a Young Jeezy video. 00:11:28.860 --> 00:11:31.480 It broadens the demographic immensely. It softens 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:33.559 the image. It makes you safe. Exactly. It makes 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:35.299 her a celebrity, not just a hip -hop personality. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:38.340 She also tried her hand at hosting. She had the 00:11:38.340 --> 00:11:41.940 Amber Rose Show on VH1, and maybe even more significantly, 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:44.620 she hosted the syndicated radio show Loveline. 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:47.740 Loveline is huge. That's a legacy franchise. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:51.519 Dr. Drew's show. Taking over that seat suggests 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:54.039 a real pivot toward advice, toward relationships 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:56.480 and sexuality, which, you know, becomes a major 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:59.320 theme for her later on. 100%. And we can't ignore 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:01.100 the endorsements. She wasn't just wearing clothes. 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:03.620 She was selling products. She was selling vodka. 00:12:03.879 --> 00:12:06.460 Oh, yes. Smirnoff. Smirnoff. Yeah. She was the 00:12:06.460 --> 00:12:08.320 spokesperson for their whipped cream and fluffed 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:11.299 marshmallow flavors back in 2011. Again, just 00:12:11.299 --> 00:12:13.440 maximizing the moment, turning visibility into 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:15.789 cash. But I think the most interesting business 00:12:15.789 --> 00:12:17.769 moves are the ones where she creates her own 00:12:17.769 --> 00:12:20.190 IP, her own intellectual property. You're talking 00:12:20.190 --> 00:12:22.990 about the tech stuff. The tech stuff. In 2016, 00:12:23.169 --> 00:12:26.450 she launched Move Emoji. Oh, I remember this 00:12:26.450 --> 00:12:28.909 era. It was right after Kim Kardashian had the 00:12:28.909 --> 00:12:31.750 Emoji app, and suddenly every celebrity needed 00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:33.889 an Emoji app. Exactly. It was a gold rush, a 00:12:33.889 --> 00:12:37.870 digital gold rush. And Move Emoji had 900 curated 00:12:37.870 --> 00:12:42.220 icons. 900? 900. It sounds trivial now, maybe. 00:12:42.379 --> 00:12:44.679 Yeah. But celebrity emoji apps were a massive 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:47.000 revenue stream at that time. It shows she was 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:49.039 watching the tech trends. She wasn't just waiting 00:12:49.039 --> 00:12:51.120 for the phone to ring for a modeling gig. She 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:53.399 was building digital assets. And she also became 00:12:53.399 --> 00:12:55.879 an author. Simon & Schuster published How to 00:12:55.879 --> 00:12:58.639 Be a Bad Bitch. And I love that title because 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.899 it's so provocative. But the content was actually 00:13:01.899 --> 00:13:04.419 like practical advice. And look at the cover. 00:13:04.460 --> 00:13:07.320 It was shot by David LaChapelle. No way. Yes. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:09.960 That's high art. Meeting Self -Help. The book 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:12.820 covered finances, career, love, fashion. It was 00:13:12.820 --> 00:13:14.940 her claiming the role of mentor. She was saying, 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:16.840 look, I made it out of the struggle and here 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:19.220 is the blueprint. But the biggest financial pivot, 00:13:19.259 --> 00:13:21.039 and this is the one where we really need to dig 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:23.740 into the numbers, came later. In 2020, she joined 00:13:23.740 --> 00:13:26.440 OnlyFans. This is, without a doubt, the most 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:28.440 critical business chapter in her modern career. 00:13:29.100 --> 00:13:31.200 We have to understand the shift here, the power 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:35.000 dynamic. For years, the model was Amber poses 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:37.759 for a magazine. The magazine sells ads. The magazine 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:40.379 keeps most of the profit. And Amber gets a flat 00:13:40.379 --> 00:13:43.740 fee. Or Amber posts on Instagram. Instagram gets 00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:45.980 the data and all the ad revenue. And Amber gets 00:13:45.980 --> 00:13:48.960 likes. OnlyFans changed the entire equation. 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:51.679 It's that the creator economy in its purest form. 00:13:51.860 --> 00:13:54.519 It's direct to consumer. It's a paywall for intimacy. 00:13:54.860 --> 00:13:57.360 And for someone like Amber, whose brand has always 00:13:57.360 --> 00:13:59.360 been about hypersexuality and body ownership, 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:02.399 it was a no -brainer. It felt inevitable. It 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:05.279 did. But the numbers. The numbers are just staggering. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:08.899 Okay, we have data from October 2024. What are 00:14:08.899 --> 00:14:11.059 we looking at? In that single month, sources 00:14:11.059 --> 00:14:14.539 indicate she earned over $1 .1 million. $1 .1 00:14:14.539 --> 00:14:18.440 million in 30 days. In one month. That is more 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:21.220 than most A -list actors make for a generic endorsement 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:23.360 deal that takes months to negotiate with lawyers 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.620 and agents and everyone else. And here is the 00:14:26.620 --> 00:14:29.600 genius of it. It's a recurring revenue model. 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:33.730 It's a subscription. So it stabilizes the inquiry 00:14:33.730 --> 00:14:36.889 volatility that is just inherent to being a celebrity. 00:14:37.149 --> 00:14:39.169 That's a great point. If you're an actor, you 00:14:39.169 --> 00:14:41.070 don't know when your next movie is. If you have 00:14:41.070 --> 00:14:43.210 100 ,000 subscribers paying you a monthly fee, 00:14:43.350 --> 00:14:45.649 you can predict your cash flow. You can build 00:14:45.649 --> 00:14:47.750 a real sustainable business on that foundation. 00:14:48.070 --> 00:14:50.250 It connects right back to that survival instinct 00:14:50.250 --> 00:14:51.929 in Philly, doesn't it? It's almost full circle. 00:14:52.090 --> 00:14:55.340 How so? Well, she started as Paris in the club, 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.139 dancing for individual tips from individual people. 00:14:58.379 --> 00:15:00.700 Now she's doing it digitally at a global scale, 00:15:00.899 --> 00:15:03.899 keeping nearly 80 % of the revenue. And she never 00:15:03.899 --> 00:15:06.019 has to leave her house. It's the ultimate efficiency. 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:08.419 She cut out the middleman, the club owner, the 00:15:08.419 --> 00:15:10.909 magazine editor, the TV producer. They're all 00:15:10.909 --> 00:15:13.090 gone. It's just Amber and the audience. It is 00:15:13.090 --> 00:15:15.230 financial independence through body autonomy. 00:15:15.450 --> 00:15:18.230 Speaking of body autonomy, that is the perfect 00:15:18.230 --> 00:15:20.590 bridge to her activism, because while she was 00:15:20.590 --> 00:15:23.909 building this business empire, she was also becoming 00:15:23.909 --> 00:15:27.190 a very loud, very public voice for feminism, 00:15:27.289 --> 00:15:30.889 but not the corporate lean in kind of feminism. 00:15:31.029 --> 00:15:34.179 This was something grittier. This is the chapter 00:15:34.179 --> 00:15:36.580 that usually surprises people who only know the 00:15:36.580 --> 00:15:40.740 headlines, who only know the Kanye stuff. In 00:15:40.740 --> 00:15:44.519 2015, she founded the Los Angeles chapter of 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:47.539 the Slut Walk. Unpack that for us. For the listener 00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:50.039 who might just hear that name, Slut Walk, and 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:53.600 just recoil, what is it? It's a movement that 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:57.700 actually began in Toronto, but Amber really amplified 00:15:57.700 --> 00:15:59.480 it and brought it to the mainstream in L .A. 00:15:59.879 --> 00:16:02.539 The mission is to honor women who have been judged, 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:05.299 demeaned or assaulted for their sexual behavior 00:16:05.299 --> 00:16:08.080 or for how they dress. So it's a protest against 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:10.980 victim blaming. Exactly. The core idea is my 00:16:10.980 --> 00:16:13.480 clothes are not my consent. It's that simple 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:16.419 and that radical. She promoted it with this viral 00:16:16.419 --> 00:16:18.620 video from Funny or Die called The Walk of No 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:20.519 Shame. I remember it was actually really clever. 00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:22.139 She's walking down the street the morning after. 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:23.980 But instead of judging her, everyone is high 00:16:23.980 --> 00:16:25.720 fiving her and cheering. Right. It flips the 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:27.769 script. But the motivation behind this wasn't 00:16:27.769 --> 00:16:29.590 just a sketch comedy bit. It wasn't just for 00:16:29.590 --> 00:16:32.269 laughs. No. And this is where the story gets 00:16:32.269 --> 00:16:34.690 very dark. But it's so important to understand 00:16:34.690 --> 00:16:38.230 the why. During the first slut walk and in interviews 00:16:38.230 --> 00:16:40.809 after, she opened up about a traumatic incident 00:16:40.809 --> 00:16:44.190 from her own childhood. This wasn't PR. This 00:16:44.190 --> 00:16:46.730 was deeply personal. This is the seven minutes 00:16:46.730 --> 00:16:49.210 in heaven story. It's really difficult to hear. 00:16:49.409 --> 00:16:52.870 It is. She spoke about being 14 years old. Just 00:16:52.870 --> 00:16:55.340 a kid. She was playing that game with... a male 00:16:55.340 --> 00:16:58.820 classmate. They go into a closet. And she says 00:16:58.820 --> 00:17:01.539 he exposed himself, tricked her into kneeling 00:17:01.539 --> 00:17:03.639 down, and then threw the door open to the whole 00:17:03.639 --> 00:17:05.779 party. To imply that she was performing oral 00:17:05.779 --> 00:17:09.890 sex on him? Yes. To frame her. to humiliate her 00:17:09.890 --> 00:17:12.470 in front of everyone. That is just horrific at 00:17:12.470 --> 00:17:15.630 14, to be set up like that. It is. And the aftermath 00:17:15.630 --> 00:17:18.089 was relentless bullying. She was branded with 00:17:18.089 --> 00:17:19.690 these derogatory labels in her neighborhood, 00:17:19.849 --> 00:17:22.990 slut, whore. She said she carried that trauma 00:17:22.990 --> 00:17:24.890 into her adulthood. So the slut walk was her 00:17:24.890 --> 00:17:27.670 way of taking those words back. Precisely. It 00:17:27.670 --> 00:17:30.470 is reclaiming the slur. It's the ultimate act 00:17:30.470 --> 00:17:33.299 of defiance. If you call me a slut to hurt me, 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:35.420 I'm gonna take that word, I'm gonna put it on 00:17:35.420 --> 00:17:37.359 a banner, and I'm gonna march down the street 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:39.259 with thousands of other women to strip it of 00:17:39.259 --> 00:17:42.640 its power. It connects her past trauma directly 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:45.440 to her present advocacy. It creates this fascinating 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.140 friction, though, doesn't it? You have a woman 00:17:48.140 --> 00:17:52.279 who is a former stripper who is actively monetizing 00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:54.980 her sexuality on OnlyFans, leading a feminist 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:57.839 march. A lot of traditional feminists didn't 00:17:57.839 --> 00:17:59.559 know what to do with her. There was definitely 00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:02.220 friction, a lot of debate, but Amber's argument 00:18:02.220 --> 00:18:05.680 was always about choice. Feminism, to her, isn't 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:08.480 about covering up or acting a certain way. It's 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:10.099 about the right to do whatever you want with 00:18:10.099 --> 00:18:12.140 your body without being assaulted or judged for 00:18:12.140 --> 00:18:14.799 it. It's very modern. sex -positive feminism 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:18.180 that challenges a lot of older ideas. No, we 00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:19.900 can't talk about Amber Rose without talking about 00:18:19.900 --> 00:18:21.599 the relationships. Her romantic life has been 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:23.779 very public, and often it's the thing that drives 00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:26.059 the news cycle about her. But I want to look 00:18:26.059 --> 00:18:27.920 at this through the lens of how she manages that 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:30.779 narrative. It's true. Her relationships are a 00:18:30.779 --> 00:18:33.440 huge part of her public story. We mentioned Kanye 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:35.859 West. That was the breakout relationship that 00:18:35.859 --> 00:18:38.440 put her on the map. But her history is extensive 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:41.200 and very high profile. She married the rapper 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:44.539 Wiz Khalifa in 2013. Right. They had a son together, 00:18:44.700 --> 00:18:47.400 Sebastian, and they filed for divorce in 2014. 00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:49.240 That seemed like a real public heartbreak for 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:51.880 her at the time. It did appear so. And initially 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:53.680 she sought full custody, but they eventually 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:56.420 settled on joint custody. And what's interesting 00:18:56.420 --> 00:18:59.059 is they also collaborated artistically. She released 00:18:59.059 --> 00:19:01.440 singles with him. She rapped on his album. And 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:03.480 look at how they interact now. It's remarkable. 00:19:03.579 --> 00:19:06.559 They have maintained this very visible, very 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.799 mature. co -parenting relationship. You see them 00:19:09.799 --> 00:19:12.160 at games together, on social media. It's a very 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:14.700 modern family structure. Then after Wiz, there 00:19:14.700 --> 00:19:17.259 was 21 Savage. Yeah, they dated from 2017 to 00:19:17.259 --> 00:19:20.220 2018. And then Alexander A .E. Edwards. That 00:19:20.220 --> 00:19:22.819 relationship started in 2018. They share a son 00:19:22.819 --> 00:19:26.019 named Slash, who was born in 2019. But her dating 00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:28.539 history isn't just a list of famous rappers. 00:19:28.839 --> 00:19:31.500 I mean, she has dated Machine Gun Kelly, the 00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:34.819 NBA player Terrence Ross. And she's been very, 00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:36.819 very open about the fact that her attraction 00:19:36.819 --> 00:19:39.920 isn't limited by gender. This is such a crucial 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.819 part of her identity that often gets erased because 00:19:42.819 --> 00:19:45.519 her most famous partners have been men. Right. 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:48.339 But she has been open about her fluid sexuality 00:19:48.339 --> 00:19:52.369 since at least 2009. There's a quote where she 00:19:52.369 --> 00:19:54.269 says, I can be in love with a woman, I can be 00:19:54.269 --> 00:19:56.980 in love with a man. It was very direct, very 00:19:56.980 --> 00:19:59.079 early in her career. And on her podcast, she 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:01.259 even mentioned dating a trans man. Which again, 00:20:01.299 --> 00:20:03.180 just challenges the box people constantly try 00:20:03.180 --> 00:20:06.140 to put her in. She is so often framed as the 00:20:06.140 --> 00:20:08.220 rapper's girlfriend, which implies this very 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:11.299 heteronormative, almost subservient role. Yeah, 00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:13.619 the assessor. The accessory again. But her actual 00:20:13.619 --> 00:20:15.819 lived experience is so much more fluid and complex. 00:20:16.059 --> 00:20:18.740 She refuses to be defined solely by the men she 00:20:18.740 --> 00:20:20.980 dates, even though those men are often the catalyst 00:20:20.980 --> 00:20:23.099 for the media attention she receives. It seems 00:20:23.099 --> 00:20:25.119 like she uses the spotlight from their relationship. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:28.339 to illuminate her own projects. It's symbiotic. 00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:31.440 It is. She enters the orbit of a star, absorbs 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.920 some of that gravity and light, and then spins 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:36.660 off into her own solar system with her own planets. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:39.079 Okay, now we have to get to the twist. The big 00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:41.059 one. The plot twist that I don't think anyone, 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:43.480 and I mean anyone, saw coming. I know where you're 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:45.599 going. We need to talk about the political pivot. 00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:48.579 The 2024 election cycle. But before we get to 00:20:48.579 --> 00:20:51.410 the RNC stage... We have to establish the baseline 00:20:51.410 --> 00:20:54.170 because everything we just discussed, the feminist 00:20:54.170 --> 00:20:57.470 slut walk, the LGBTQ advocacy, the fluid sexuality, 00:20:57.750 --> 00:21:00.490 being a woman of color, it all points to a very 00:21:00.490 --> 00:21:03.450 specific political demographic. It points squarely 00:21:03.450 --> 00:21:07.789 to the left, progressive, liberal Democrat. And 00:21:07.789 --> 00:21:10.529 in 2016, that's exactly where she was. She is 00:21:10.529 --> 00:21:13.130 on record calling Donald Trump an idiot. Not 00:21:13.130 --> 00:21:15.250 subtle. Not subtle at all. She said, quote, I 00:21:15.250 --> 00:21:17.869 really hope he's not president. It was unequivocal. 00:21:17.930 --> 00:21:20.509 There was no ambiguity. She is a feminist, an 00:21:20.509 --> 00:21:23.410 LGBTQ advocate, and she identifies as an atheist. 00:21:23.690 --> 00:21:25.910 It all seemed to align perfectly with the anti 00:21:25.910 --> 00:21:28.029 -Trump resistance. It was a perfect fit. And 00:21:28.029 --> 00:21:30.509 then you fast forward eight years to 2024, and 00:21:30.509 --> 00:21:33.069 it's a complete 180 degree turn. A hard right 00:21:33.069 --> 00:21:36.369 turn. In May 2024, she endorses Donald Trump. 00:21:36.789 --> 00:21:38.589 But she doesn't just tweet about it from her 00:21:38.589 --> 00:21:43.490 couch. In July 2024, she speaks on stage at the 00:21:43.490 --> 00:21:45.680 Republican National Convention. I remember seeing 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:48.039 the clips. It was surreal. The crowd was cheering 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:50.900 for her. And this is the same crowd that, in 00:21:50.900 --> 00:21:53.799 theory, opposes a lot of what her entire career 00:21:53.799 --> 00:21:56.680 stands for. How does that happen? This is the 00:21:56.680 --> 00:21:58.200 part that breaks people's brains. It creates 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:00.759 this huge cognitive dissonance. But if you listen 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:02.920 to her explanation, the one she's given in interviews, 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:06.559 she uses a very specific phrase. She says, I 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:09.480 realized the media lied to me. That's a classic 00:22:09.480 --> 00:22:11.380 red pill talking point. That's the language. 00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:14.460 It is. And to understand the mechanism of this 00:22:14.460 --> 00:22:16.700 shift, we need to look at who she was talking 00:22:16.700 --> 00:22:18.440 to and hanging out with in the years leading 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:20.880 up to this. She started doing the rounds on the 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:24.099 so -called Manosphere podcast. Oh, okay. Shows 00:22:24.099 --> 00:22:26.240 like The Red Pill, Fresh and Fit, Club Shay. 00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:28.940 So she entered an information ecosystem that 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:31.259 is, by its nature, very critical of mainstream 00:22:31.259 --> 00:22:34.240 media, very critical of modern feminism, and 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:37.039 very open to Trump's messaging. Exactly. It wasn't 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:39.720 an overnight switch. You can trace it. It was 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:42.259 a gradual absorption of a new information ecosystem. 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:45.779 She was engaging with these creators, listening 00:22:45.779 --> 00:22:48.059 to their arguments and finding resonance there. 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:50.000 She felt they were being more honest with her. 00:22:50.119 --> 00:22:52.359 But there's also a contrarian streak in her. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:55.440 Right. A rebellious nature. Oh, a huge one. Amber 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:58.420 Rose hates being told what to do. It might be 00:22:58.420 --> 00:23:00.779 her defining characteristic. So if the liberal 00:23:00.779 --> 00:23:03.660 Hollywood establishment tells her, you must vote 00:23:03.660 --> 00:23:05.680 this way because you are a woman of color and 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:08.529 you are a feminist and this is your team. Her 00:23:08.529 --> 00:23:10.970 instinct is to do the opposite. Her instinct, 00:23:11.049 --> 00:23:12.890 going all the way back to shaving her head when 00:23:12.890 --> 00:23:15.549 everyone said she needed long hair, is to say, 00:23:15.670 --> 00:23:17.890 don't tell me what to do. Don't put me in your 00:23:17.890 --> 00:23:21.089 box. It's the ultimate punk move, in a way, to 00:23:21.089 --> 00:23:23.329 be the one person nobody expects you to be, even 00:23:23.329 --> 00:23:25.910 if it alienates your original fan base. She traded 00:23:25.910 --> 00:23:28.450 one audience for another. And remember our player 00:23:28.450 --> 00:23:31.089 versus chips analogy. By speaking at the RNC, 00:23:31.210 --> 00:23:34.130 she was the headline for a week. She dominated 00:23:34.130 --> 00:23:37.339 the news cycle. She was trending globally. In 00:23:37.339 --> 00:23:40.059 the attention economy, that is a win, regardless 00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:43.039 of the political fallout or the criticism. She 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:44.799 made herself the center of the conversation. 00:23:45.059 --> 00:23:47.759 It just highlights that she really, truly refuses 00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:51.079 to fit into any single box. An atheist, former 00:23:51.079 --> 00:23:53.440 stripper, feminist, activist, OnlyFans creator 00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:55.160 speaking at the Republican National Convention. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:59.519 It breaks every single stereotype of political 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:01.359 demographic. It does. It just shatters them. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:03.890 But if we look at her history. From Paris the 00:24:03.890 --> 00:24:05.829 stripper to the buzz cut in the Louis Vuitton 00:24:05.829 --> 00:24:08.650 ad, she has always zigged when people expected 00:24:08.650 --> 00:24:11.509 her to zag. She seems to thrive on being the 00:24:11.509 --> 00:24:13.970 anomaly. So where does this leave us? We've walked 00:24:13.970 --> 00:24:16.329 through South Philly, the high fashion runways, 00:24:16.369 --> 00:24:18.849 the tech world, the slut walks, and now the political 00:24:18.849 --> 00:24:21.589 stage. What's the final picture? I think we're 00:24:21.589 --> 00:24:24.410 left with a portrait of a woman who is, above 00:24:24.410 --> 00:24:28.349 all else, a survivor and a master of adaptation. 00:24:29.099 --> 00:24:31.400 She converts visibility into opportunity. That 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:33.279 seems to be the golden thread that runs through 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:35.920 everything. It is. Whether she is being praised 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:39.559 or criticized, she is being seen. And she knows, 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:41.779 better than almost anyone, how to monetize that 00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:44.880 site. She controls her narrative, even when that 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:46.640 narrative shifts so drastically it gives you 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:49.099 whiplash. It really challenges this modern idea 00:24:49.099 --> 00:24:51.890 that a personal brand has to be consistent. We're 00:24:51.890 --> 00:24:53.569 taught that brands must be on message, right? 00:24:53.630 --> 00:24:56.230 They have to be predictable. Exactly. We're taught 00:24:56.230 --> 00:24:58.410 that brands must be consistent to build trust. 00:24:58.829 --> 00:25:01.650 Amber Rose proves that a brand can be messy, 00:25:01.789 --> 00:25:03.809 it can be contradictory, it can be radically 00:25:03.809 --> 00:25:05.950 volatile and still be incredibly successful. 00:25:06.490 --> 00:25:08.529 So here's the provocative thought to leave you 00:25:08.529 --> 00:25:11.190 with today. In a world where most celebrities 00:25:11.190 --> 00:25:14.609 hire teams of PR consultants to curate this perfect, 00:25:14.829 --> 00:25:18.190 polished, safe image, is Amber Rose's willingness 00:25:18.190 --> 00:25:21.250 to be messy, to pivot from calling someone an 00:25:21.250 --> 00:25:24.250 idiot to endorsing them, to be a mother and an 00:25:24.250 --> 00:25:27.250 OnlyFans creator, is that, in a weird way, the 00:25:27.250 --> 00:25:29.970 most authentic brand of all? And regarding her 00:25:29.970 --> 00:25:32.289 recent shifts, the politics, the business moves, 00:25:32.390 --> 00:25:35.450 is this the final form of Amber Rose? Or are 00:25:35.450 --> 00:25:37.650 we just watching the season finale of this current 00:25:37.650 --> 00:25:39.890 era with a whole new reinvention coming in the 00:25:39.890 --> 00:25:42.849 next one? Knowing her history and that deep -seated 00:25:42.849 --> 00:25:46.269 survival instinct, I would not bet against another 00:25:46.269 --> 00:25:48.849 reinvention. I wouldn't either. Not for a second. 00:25:49.109 --> 00:25:51.390 That's it for this deep dive. Thanks for listening, 00:25:51.430 --> 00:25:52.809 and we will catch you on the next one.