a video recently posted<\/a> on Dr. Drew Pinsky\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\nIn the video, the doctor stands before a crowd at Dodger Stadium reverently holding a microphone to his heart. After a few moments, he opens his mouth and begins singing in a voice one could describe as, uh, startlingly<\/i> baritone: \u201cOoh say can you seeee by the daawn\u2019s early light, what so proou\u2014 <\/i>.\u201d Caroline paused the video there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m crying. And<\/i> I\u2019m also wet!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s really good,\u201d Snow offered.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he\u2019s dying?\u201d proposed Delahaye.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m loving his mythmaking,\u201d Caroline said. \u201cThe caption here: \u2019Dr. Drew takes the mic at a Dodgers game \u2026 and you won\u2019t believe what his voice sounds like!<\/i>\u2019 Posted by Dr. Drew, tagging himself in the caption.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every part of the story \u2014 the fact that Dr. Drew is singing the national anthem (for the second time at a major league event in 2016), his shockingly low singing voice, the idea that he references himself in the third person on his own Facebook page \u2014 is directly in line with the type of \u201cbizarre celebrity gossip\u201d Caroline and Sarah say they\u2019re obsessed with. But the term \u201cbizarre celebrity gossip,\u201d they clarify, is used only for lack of a better one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sucks that we have to use the phrase \u2018bizarre celebrity gossip,\u2019\u201d Caroline told me over nachos and wet salsa. \u201cI wish there were a better word for it than gossip, because it\u2019s such a \u2018dirty\u2019 word.\u201d<\/p>\n
She says the \u201cgossip\u201d tag \u2014 which, she\u2019s right, doesn\u2019t seem quite<\/i> correct \u2014 has been a stumbling block on more than one occasion, when pitching the show both to potential guests and larger outlets. \u201cJust going places and having people tell you, gossip is just too small, it\u2019s too niche, it rubs us the wrong way. Especially if you\u2019re going to a group of suits who are men, they\u2019re just like, \u2018I don\u2019t get this, I don\u2019t understand what you are.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t denounce straight-up gossip (\u201cPeople will say, \u2018gossip\u2019s not really my thing,\u201d Sarah said, \u201cAnd I\u2019m like, gossip is like a human thing! I don\u2019t believe you at all.\u201d), but they do stand slightly to the side of it. Rather than dish on the private lives of the publicly known, they shine a light on the absurdity of modern celebrity culture, and the way it\u2019s covered by media and consumed by the public. And it isn\u2019t mean. Their coverage is reflective and honest rather than fawning, so there are casualties along the way, but the point is never to hurt feelings; the point is to appreciate the extraordinary. Like Oscar-winner Adrien Brody\u2019s fish-themed art show. Or Dr. Drew singing the national anthem. Or Ashley Benson\u2019s Crocs campaign, which encouraged teens to wear the Croslite\u2122-constructed clogs to prom.<\/p>\n
They have pissed off at least one major celebrity, however:<\/p>\n
James Wilkie Broderick.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo,\u201d Caroline begins, \u201cSarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick\u2019s 13-year-old son has a very active Insta lifestyle; he follows a lot of meme accounts, I guess. And he was leaving hate on my Instagram. Being like, \u2018You\u2019re not funny anymore!\u2019 \u2018This used to be funny!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich we obviously thought was really hilarious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t realize it was him until someone brought it to my attention, and you click on his OPEN <\/i>profile, and it\u2019s blurry selfies of him and Matthew Broderick, and you\u2019re like, holy shit, this is literally<\/i> James Wilkie Broderick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe heir.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite herself, and although she saw the humor in it, Caroline said his cyber-bashing hurt. \u201cI\u2019m like, damn, if SJP\u2019s 13-year-old kid thinks I\u2019m doing something wrong, am I doing something wrong? He\u2019s probably a pretty cultured kid.\u201d So she brought it up on an episode of the podcast, where her guest, comedian Esther Povitsky, suggested she \u201cactively get this shit going\u201d and start a beef with the admittedly very young teen. \u201cSo I said some pretty vile shit. Just being like \u2014\u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cTalking trash on his parents,\u201d Sarah interrupted. \u201cSpecifics need not be repeated.\u201d<\/p>\n
James Wilkie sent her a direct message not 24 hours later. \u201cI think I remember it by heart. He was like, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m a huge fan, I heard you shouted me out on the podcast. Yeah, I just want to reiterate I\u2019m a big fan, I just felt like talking shit on the internet that day.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was, \u2018Writing dumb shit on the internet,\u2019\u201d added Sarah, \u201cBecause I really related to that. He really articulated a sense of our generation. \u2018I felt like writing dumb shit on the internet.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
From there, the duo requested he record a voice note to play on the podcast, which he did. \u201cHe was so down,\u201d said Caroline, \u201che was like, \u2018I love the podcast, I\u2019ll do anything.\u2019 And he sent this beautiful voice note.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was so mature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the other thing. Throughout this whole experience he was one of the most mature people I\u2019ve ever dealt with. He was raised well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMore mature than any guy we\u2019ve ever dated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though the story ended with a beautiful and mature voice-note, Sarah says she almost nixed the trash talk that prompted it, for fear it was too mean. (\u201cAnd then we got the biggest \u2026 celebrity \u2026 in the world, James Broderick, to respond to us!\u201d) The podcast just had its tenth episode, and they\u2019re still trying to nail down what works and what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike, remember when I did the \u2018Victoria Beckham only eats steamed spinach\u2019 story?\u201d Caroline asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s funny, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, but remember the guests were like \u2014 they didn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, it\u2019s kind of hard also when you get straight men on the podcast. They\u2019ll be like, \u2018I don\u2019t wanna be mean to Matthew McConaughey!\u2019 And we\u2019re like, we\u2019re not being mean, ugh!<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\nThey\u2019re also toying with folding in some more traditional podcast elements. \u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about people like Marc Maron and Pete Holmes,\u201d Sarah conceded, \u201chow they open their podcasts by just talking about \u2026 the most boring shit I have ever heard. And you\u2019re like, literally, how are you talking about this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Agree. And, well, yeah, they\u2019re trying to do something like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re starting to have openings with Caroline, because we want to give the people what they want, which is more of Caroline.\u201d Caroline bristled at the thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just confused,\u201d Sarah continued. \u201cI\u2019m like, Caroline, you have a podcast, don\u2019t you want all your monomaniacal needs to be heard and validated?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot even,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to talk about pasta sauce.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n