Derrick Levasseur Picks Fight With Respected Journalist | The Reality Flash

[00:00:00] Breaking News are happening now! Hi everybody and welcome to the Reality Flash. My name is Mike Bloom and I am here to bring you the flashiest breaking news in the wild world of reality TV. And, well...

[00:00:20] So, a rather infamous fellow Michael in the world of reality TV once said, you either watch the news or you make the news. And, of course, here on the Reality Flash I'm here to report to you on all the latest stuff that pops up in the world of reality TV including any major social media drama.

[00:00:46] But, never in my wildest dreams would I ever think that, no less on our third episode ever, I would go from merely reporting on the news to becoming the center of it. It has been a wild 18 hours to say the least. So, um, for the uninitiated let me give you the timeline of how a lot of stuff has gone down.

[00:01:13] What has sort of prompted the title of the very podcast you're listening to right now. So, whether you want to call it Twitter or X, it's become a bit of a breeding ground for some drama on Sunday afternoon. For context, just overall, really setting the stage for the chaos that's about to occur.

[00:01:35] If you know how I usually talk about reality TV on social media, especially live tweeting, I like to sometimes pull video clips of some of the best or most outrageous moments and then post about it. The way I look at it, it serves as both a way for people who have already seen those moments to rally around how good it was or how wild the shows we watch are.

[00:01:59] But sometimes it also serves as a really nice way to get people interested in watching a show based on a viral moment like, oh my God, you have to check this out because of this one particular thing. Such is the case here. On January 9th, the first three episodes of The Traitors Season 3 aired. It was so much fun. We had the titular traitors being an absolutely delightful mess.

[00:02:26] Unfortunately, the housewives are becoming an endangered species. It is a fantastic time if you haven't seen it yet in Peacock. But one of the final moments of the first batch of episodes had a traitor, Bob the Drag Queen, under fire at the round table.

[00:02:43] And the one pointing the finger happens to be none other than Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron, a behind-the-scenes staple, a producer, and a social media influencer who just so happens to have been born 1,572 days after his brother, Zac Efron, who's been in like, I don't know, a couple movies or something.

[00:03:12] Objectively, this is a ridiculous situation. And it proves how, to me, the traitors U.S. is like the Super Smash Brothers of reality TV. Because here we have Bob the Drag Queen, one of the most dominant winners in Drag Race herstory, going toe-to-toe with Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron. Someone that he would, like, pass on the street and do a double take like that distracted guy meme because, you know, he is quite a handsome man. But then move on with the rest of his day.

[00:03:42] Again, a very rare instance where these two would ever interact. So, listen, I have some screenshots here. I have the receipts. Can I read it for some visuals, folks? So, I had tweeted the night of, on January 9th, the clip. And I wrote, quote,

[00:04:10] Suffice it to say, the tweet took off. At the time of recording this, it has over 20,000 likes. And actually, there's a good amount of people in the quotes and replies of this saying that this is actually encouraging them to catch up on the traitors to get into the show, which is awesome. As it should. I mean, welcome to the stage.

[00:04:30] Missguided is an absolutely incredible response, especially given the fact that, essentially, at its core, Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron is right about targeting Bob the Drag Queen. He hasn't even gone so forward as to change his Instagram bio over the weekend to put Missguided in there. Absolutely fantastic.

[00:04:50] Seriously, Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron is far and away the biggest surprise for me of the season so far as we are approaching, you know, the one-third mark of it. So, while this was picking up some steam after Thursday night, I was happy to see people loving it. People saying they were excited to get into the show. So, suffice it to say, I did not expect it to be used as a shot against me.

[00:05:16] But considering that it came from one of the hitmen, I guess I should say the clues were there all along, Mr. Policeman. So, Sunday afternoon, I'm minding my own business. I'm watching the Packers get pounded by the Eagles. And then I get a text from a friend of the podcast, Matt Liguori, that just reads, Derek? With three question marks. And this felt like the metaphoric bat signal that something was happening on social media.

[00:05:44] I just did not realize what. And so, I go over to Twitter. And lo and behold, this moment that I had captured had been quote tweeted by the one, the only, Derek LaVassar. So, for those of you who don't know, Derek is considered one of the best Big Brother winners of all time. He led this absolute masterclass of a game in season 16. He forever changed the prevailing strategy of this summer reality show.

[00:06:11] And this past week, he made his return to reality TV with the traders. He came in as a late arrival alongside two other winners and reality TV legends in their own right. Wes Bergman from the challenge and Boston Robb, who went from like the Grandpa Simpson in and out meme to the Barney and Moe try to toss him out and he comes back meme.

[00:06:35] And suffice it to say, Derek was, for lack of a better term, a little uncaged returning to reality TV Twitter here. So, he quote tweeted me and in the process, he ended up saying, his name is Dylan. He's a really good person and actually playing a pretty good game so far. So, let's at least respect him enough to call him by his name when you're fishing for likes.

[00:07:02] Now, look, let me just say right here before we proceed any further with what's about to happen that I hold absolutely no ill will towards Derek or what he posted. I think it's very clear at this point that he's defensive of Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron.

[00:07:20] Maybe part of that is due to the fact that actually Big Brother out of context reminded me of Cody being so obsessed with Zac Efron and Big Brother 16 to the point where he was the Efronator as his BB comic name. So, again, all the dominoes lining up in such calamitous fashion.

[00:07:36] But because Derek has been through the reality TV ringer, he knows that while the fandom out there can be absolutely passionate, it also can sometimes dimensionalize people into characters. Right? Reducing them from three-dimensional living, breathing, complicated individuals to mere taglines, nicknames, and then dogpiling on them.

[00:08:00] I absolutely understand his desire to protect one of his own cast members, especially someone who's relatively new to the world of reality TV, from a post that he feels is minimizing him as a person down to who he might be sharing the same blood type as.

[00:08:18] Now, do I personally think that my, I would say at least from my perspective, relatively lighthearted joke about how fantastically ludicrous it is that Bob the Drag Queen has started a feud with Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron should be some sort of example to prove that point? Not really?

[00:09:17] That's kind of what the best day has been like. So, to say Derek's tweet kicked reality TV social media into high gear would probably be an understatement. He lit the fuse and an entire community of Bomb Squad members came in response. Now, to start off, I wanted to respond just to like clear the air a little bit. So, I actually responded to Derek's tweet and I wrote,

[00:09:45] Safe to say I know way too much about Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron laugh crying emoji. And I think he's the surprise of the season so far. And then I posted a link to the video that I was so grateful to do with Puya and Josh Wigler where we broke down how Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron and Lord Ivar Mountbatten would do preseason.

[00:10:09] And the traders actually came out the day of, did a lot of wild research into, again, ironically enough, Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron in particular. Really encourage people to check that out, especially in hindsight. But, you know, I was far from the only one to do this. At the time I am recording this, the tweet in question has looks like a little over 250 responses. It has over 300 quote tweets and retweets.

[00:10:36] For the brevity of this podcast, I wanted to focus specifically on the responses that came from other members of the reality TV community. Even though there was so, so much out there. Again, in only an 18-hour period. But suffice it to say, it has already evolved. So just to hit some quick highlights, one of the first responses to the tweet came from Dan Giesling, who has a couple of connections with Derek here.

[00:11:04] Not only a fellow Big Brother winner, not only another player considered one of the best to do it, but also a veteran of the traders himself. He posted this John Cena gif of him kind of making like an oop face. What's also interesting is there is a little bit of follow-up.

[00:11:21] So Dan actually had posted something on Twitter about a day or so previous to this in response to some of the absolutely grievous personal attacks that's been happening on the platform against players like Daniel Reyes and Bob the Drag Queen. Basically criticizing those who take lighthearted games like this too far, too personally, taking things way too seriously. Again, very ironic in this perspective.

[00:11:46] And when someone responded to this gif saying that Derek was arguably doing that right now, Dan then followed up by responding, Nah, just looks like someone is trying to look out for one of their castmates. It's different when you're on the show with someone rather than a fan chirping. And Dan, I love you, but let's make one thing clear. You see this beak? Bitch don't chirp. I flat out squawk.

[00:12:16] So screw the traders. We have actually our own reality TV crossover happening online just due to all of this going on. Let's go to Survivor for a hot second. Let's talk about Teeny Chirichio, of course, most recently seen on Survivor 47. And they are more fired up in response to this than they were on day 25 of their season.

[00:12:39] They replied, imagine bending over backwards to completely misread this tweet made by the most hardworking, passionate heart of reality TV commentary. Mike, don't worry. We all get you. And Teeny, I absolutely adore you. Let me say that first and foremost. I should also mention as well, before we move on, Teeny also did post in response saying, tell me who Derek Barry and Plain Jane are. Quickly.

[00:13:05] A fantastic reference to Bianca Taco Del Trio, which I feel like this point unfortunately gets lost in all of this because I would have loved nothing more than for Derek LaVassar to just randomly get this opportunity to announce that he is this massive drag race stan. Like, imagine if he was one of these guys who did this running tally of numerical scores for all of the queens in the show's history based on how they play throughout the season.

[00:13:33] That would bring me so, so much joy. But moving on from this particular response, Derek, quote, tweeted this one, said, Teeny, if I'm being honest, even though we don't agree, you were my favorite player this year. I thought you played great and your game was underappreciated. You know how hard it is to do these shows. I saw some of the terrible things people said about you on here. It's not right.

[00:13:56] I just think people who are putting themselves out there deserve to be called by their name, especially if they're the punchline of a joke. And then Teeny ends up responding. I truly appreciate your acknowledgement of my game slash the backlash. Mike Bloom has been so supportive of me throughout everything, and I know his heart slash humor is in the right place. So I felt compelled to pop in because I think it was harmless, and we all stan Dylan so much. Let's go to another big brother player here.

[00:14:25] Corey Wernberger ends up quote tweeting the quote tweet, a little bit of a quote deception here, simply saying, this energy, but on the show, please. But we're talking about the responses. Let's talk about when the next step in all of this occurred. Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. And we'll talk about the metaphoric Zuko here in the form of the one, the only Rob Sesternino. So a little bit of context.

[00:14:54] Once again, back now a year and a half ago at this point, I had posted again the video of the claim to fame season two premiere where, spoiler alert, Carly, which was the name of Rita Wilson's niece and Tom Hanks' niece by proxy, ends up getting booted first. There's a lot of clues pointing in her direction. She throws this massive fit where she ends up, you know, insulting a couple players on the way out, storms off, complains that she didn't get enough camera time. It was excellent TV.

[00:15:24] And so I ended up tweeting about it in the moment saying I have to post the full quote claim to fame first boot because I'm obsessed with it. Watching Tom Hanks' niece throw a shit fit about not getting enough camera time after getting eliminated first in a reality show feels so fitting for the simulation that is 2023. Rob quote tweets it looks all the way back to when we felt like different people and decides to post basically Derek's tweet word for word with a couple of tweaks.

[00:15:53] Her name is Carly. She's a really good person and was almost playing a pretty good game so far. So let's at least respect her enough to call her by her name when you're fishing for likes. Suffice it to say, the format took off from there and still is to this day. Here is one from the RHAP account, which was plugging a recent traders feedback show with Claire Refuse, which you should absolutely check out. But it says her name is Claire.

[00:16:21] She's a really good person and actually the winner of RHAP Traders Season 2. So let's at least respect her enough to call her by her name when you're fishing for likes, which is absolutely ridiculous. I mean, I'm just searching for the phrase now and I've seen a litany of fans use this copy pasta.

[00:16:41] They're writing it about people like Cam from Big Brother for ironically enough, Cody Calafiore about survivor legends like Genevieve and Emily Flippen about Thomas Featherington from Bridgerton. And even from fellow traders, Season 3 contestant Lord Ivar Mountbatten. Someone actually I even saw responded to one of Bob the Drag Queen's tweets about getting rid of the randomly a little controversial with a copy pasta about it.

[00:17:07] And some have even gone into sub tweets that have been made about Derek or the situation itself saying, quote, his name is Derek. He's a really good person and actually playing a pretty good game so far. So let's at least respect him enough to call him by his name when you're fishing for likes.

[00:17:24] Even just this morning, literally, as I was getting ready to record this, I saw something from Tyson Apostle and this is not a copy pasta, but like it's a little bit of like an if you know, you know type of tweet where it just says Dylan Efron's brother and a gif of Zac Efron. And like, honestly, this image kind of represents how I'm feeling all about this in the moment. Thank you, Zephron, which is a little bit of like, I have no idea why this is happening, but okay.

[00:17:53] All right. Let's go for it. So suffice it to say there is a lot of discussion even still happening with this. And people have been talking about using blue skies, a Twitter alternative for the past several months. And that includes having the means carry over there as well. If you do research on that phrase, there's plenty of other copypastas happening over there. Even Stephen Fishback.

[00:18:19] I saw a post this morning about the iconic Wentworth will not count Andrew Savage blindside in Survivor Cambodia. Her name is Kelly. She's a really good person and actually played a pretty good game so far. So let's at least respect her enough to call her by her name when you're fishing for votes, fishbacking, if you will. And that's how you know something has permeated the cultural barrier. When Stephen freaking fishback is making a copypasta about it.

[00:18:48] And to show that we're not mistaking coincidence for fate here, Teeny actually posted a text exchange they had this very morning from a friend of theirs that said, quote, caught up on traitors, love Zac Efron's brother. Teeny responds in all quotes, ah, you do not even know how perfect it is you just said that. Holy shit. Several crying face emojis. Perhaps all of this hoopla should have prepared me for what came next.

[00:19:17] But sincerely, I was gobsmacked by this. Because last night, my best friend, Shannon Gus, sent me this. Yeah, I apparently was trending yesterday on Twitter, which is absolutely bananas to me. I am still expecting a phone call from one of my relatives who found that and thinks that apparently I had died or something.

[00:19:44] But let me just use this opportunity as a culmination of all this stuff to stay sincerely. I have seen throughout all of this so many incredible and kind words. And it brings me, God, so much joy. Those who know me, who have followed my work, who especially, you know, follow the stuff when I talk about myself,

[00:20:10] know my history with depression and anxiety and low self-worth and crippling self-esteem issues. And for, of all the things, an errant quote tweet from a Big Brother winner to bring out so many lighthearted jokes and memes and positive comments, it makes me so overwhelmingly happy.

[00:20:34] It has been an absolute honor, a Jervis, and just a dream to get to cover and talk about reality TV in the way that I get to do. A genre that I have been obsessed with since it basically began. That I wake up every morning, I go to bed every night counting all the lucky stars that I get the chance to not only watch these shows, but talk about them with any modicum of a following.

[00:20:58] And to hear so many people show their appreciation for the work that I do, it just gives me so much appreciation for this community that has made all of these shows into the viral sensations they are. Now look, said community, we're not without our problems. And as Derek meant with the intention of his original tweet, that passion can cut both ways. And let me say again, I harbor absolutely no ill will towards Derek in tweeting this.

[00:21:28] And I do apologize if this in any way came across like I was denigrating Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron as a person in and of himself. He is his own person outside of his brother. If that was the case, then call me misguided for what I did. But to be frank, there's a there's a lot of shit going on in the world right now.

[00:21:51] And I know personally it has left me in a space where it is really tough, honestly, to see through the quite literal smoke. And that's what makes me so grateful for these shows, for this this medium, this genre, the opportunity to escape one reality for another.

[00:22:10] Where one of the biggest drag queens in the world who just spent months opening for Madonna is sparring with Nicholas Dylan Harrison Efron. Where an entire fan community can take one person's words and meme-ify them, giving this whole thing a tale that might actually end up being longer than the body.

[00:22:35] This is truly wild, but it is absolutely wonderful. Thank you all sincerely, those who have reached out, who have posted in response. It truly means the world to me. Put this right here on my gravestone. Right next to not Orlando Bloom's brother. But here's the thing, folks. While Derek's heart may be in the right place,

[00:23:04] Ultimately, he was incorrect. I'm not fishing for likes. What I am fishing for are tips and subs. Make sure you subscribe at therealityflash.com To make sure you don't miss any news coming out of the world in reality TV. Including random bouts of social media drama like this. And while you're there, make sure to leave a rating and review. That would be greatly appreciated.

[00:23:32] Hell, if you want to continue to flex those copypasta muscles and throw that into a review, I would absolutely adore that. You can post it in the comments of the YouTube video as well. And if you see something, say something. If you spot any reality TV news that you want me to cover, no matter who might be at the center of it, No spam, no solicitations, just tips at therealityflash.com Again, that's just tips at therealityflash.com

[00:24:03] That's going to do it for what turned out to be a very unconventional episode of the reality flash. This is absolutely ridiculous. I love you all. I love that I get to do this. And we'll see if this is any indication. Reality TV news can absolutely pop out of nowhere. And if and when it does, I'll return in your eyes and ears with more reality TV news you need to know as it breaks. Until then, I hope you like what you saw.