If you recognize the word “Deuxmoi,” you either know French … or keep up with celebrity gossip religiously. Deuxmoi is the pseudonym of the person behind an anonymous gossip account on Instagram.
With its user-submitted blind items and celebrity sightings, the account exploded in popularity over the pandemic, acting like a democratized forum for celebrity gossip. You no longer had to read a magazine — you just had to open Instagram Stories.
In a new novel, Deuxmoi is showing what it’s really like to be the first person to know everything. “Anon Pls” was co-written with Jessica Goodman and was inspired by the creator’s life. The title references the tag that some users include when submitting stories via DM.
The novel follows Cricket Lopez, a New York assistant trying to survive the demands of her boss, a high profile celebrity stylist. When a brush with a rude TikTok personality almost gets her fired, Lopez revisits — and reworks — what used to be her old fashion Instagram account, Deuxmoi, into a gossip forum.
After posting about her negative encounter, the account’s inbox is flooded with messages from followers sharing their own scandalous sightings. The account’s new popularity creates numerous challenges for Cricket as she tries to remain anonymous online, land her dream job and explore a romantic relationship.
While there are obvious similarities in the book’s premise, the real Deuxmoi opens the book by saying the plot has no relation to her real life — sorry, sleuths. Over the years, people have tried guessing the identity of Deuxmoi, our real-life Lady Whistledown, but no confirmation has ever been made. (There are clues, though. She had a career in fashion, once upon a time.)
“While this book definitely draws inspo from events in my actual life, this story is obvi a work of fiction,” the author writes. “Any mention to real people (celebs or normies), events, or establishments are intended only to give the book a sense of authenticity— and FUN.”
Deuxmoi, French for “two me,” joined the world of social media in 2014 as a fashion and lifestyle account. Six years later, with the world on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and people eager for conversations of any form, Deuxmoi revamped its content by asking its 45k followers to share the latest pop culture insight — and the premise took off. Today, the account has 1.6 million followers.
While Deuxmoi publishes submissions, the account creator cautions followers not to believe everything they read. The disclaimer in the bio reads, “Some statements made on this account have not been independently confirmed. This account does not claim any information published is based in fact.”
Similarly to Deuxmoi in real life, Cricket tries to navigate the fine line of protecting her identity and reputation while giving the people what they want — which to her, is conversation.
“When I post their responses, it starts to feel like a conversation, like we’re all on the hunt for the truth together,” Cricket narrates. “A few people thank me for my transparency, and I know I made the right call.”
The character faces backlash similar to Deuxmoi’s own controversy in the real world, as people question the morality of posting anonymous gossip. Cricket dismisses these opinions just like Deuxmoi did during an interview with Vanity Fair in 2021.
“A lot of people like to criticize what’s posted, and that takes the fun out of it! I don’t want to be criticized for reposting something that somebody sent me,” Deuxmoi said. “The account is just about sharing stories. Sharing information. The fact that there has been information that has been newsworthy, or current, is just by chance.”
According to Deadline, HBO Max and WBTV have secured the rights to the book for WBTV-based Berlanti Productions to develop the book into a drama series.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.today.com ’
