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TOGETHER WITH |
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It's Wednesday and TikTok has a secret. The platform has surreptitiously added a hidden emoji game to one-on-one DMs and group chats. |
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Today's News |
✉️ Cameo comes to TikTok 🗽 Mamdani brings TikTok back to NYC 🎭 Alex Cooper launches a reality show 💸 Bent Pixels makes a $23M acquisition 👀 John Green drops a big announcement
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PLATFORM PARTNERS |
 | TikTok talent were big on TikTok in 2025. Cameo wants to make them bigger. |
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Cameo is trying for a comeback with its new TikTok integration |
The context: At the height of COVID, Cameo was a celebrity hotspot worth $1 billion. Stars like Snoop Dogg, Mike Tyson, Lindsay Lohan, the late Gilbert Gottfried, and even Tiger King's Carole Baskin all congregated there to offer custom-made videos to fans. |
That's no longer the case. While users can still scoop up a Snoop Dogg video for $5,500 or cough up $180 for a BIG BOOM from the Costco Guys, Cameo hasn't been able to retain a steady contingent of Hollywood A-listers for a while now. |
Back in late 2024, The Guardian reported that the platform couldn't afford to pay a $600,000 FTC settlement for breaching rules on celebrity endorsements. Instead, it managed to hand over just $100,000. |
A year and a half later, Cameo has a new comeback strategy. The platform is partnering directly with TikTok and the millions of creators who post there. |
The details: Thanks to that collab, U.S.-based creators will be able to sign up for Cameo and offer videos for sale directly from TikTok. Viewers will then be able to buy said videos without ever leaving the short-form video hub. |
"TikTok talent delivered its strongest year yet on Cameo in 2025, and by integrating directly into TikTok and making onboarding even easier, we are giving creators a simpler way to grow their business…" | | | | - Steven Galanis, Cameo CEO |
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To encourage sales, TikTok is giving creators custom call-to-action buttons they can add to their videos. Viewers can also use TikTok's search function to find a roster of all creators offering Cameos through the platform. |
It's not clear whether TikTokers will have to give up a deeper revenue cut than the 25% Cameo already takes from bookings. Either way, we can see this becoming a handy monetization stream for creators looking to offer fans a more personalized experience. |
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Audacy drove 1B+ views by taking a tech-forward approach to radio with OpusClip |
IRadio has traditionally been viewed as legacy media: powerful in reach but slow to adapt to modern trends. The winners in today's digital age are radio broadcasters who know how to translate that reach into new platforms at scale. |
Audacy is one of those broadcasters. |
As one of the largest audio content creators in the United States, Audacy recognized the opportunity to extend the reach of its on-air moments by taking a creator-forward approach to radio with OpusClip. |
By leveraging OpusClip, Audacy was able to tap into the creator playbook and… |
Clip and publish content across 20 stations to all major social platforms Accelerate time from live programming to social distribution Scale output without exponentially increasing expenses Focus on content outcomes, not just stream management
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As the world's #1 AI video clipping platform, OpusClip has helped millions of creators and brands create and distribute viral content in record time. |
While other broadcasters over-indexed on one or two platforms, OpusClip allowed Audacy to expand its content output and generate 1B+ views by posting at scale across all major platforms. |
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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰 |
 | Zohran Mamdani is bringing TikTok back to NYC. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) |
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GAME ON |
 | Alex Cooper is bringing the drama. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images.) |
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Alex Cooper's reality competition series is The Traitors for YouTube |
The reality show: What happens when reality TV stars, creators, and socialites compete for internet glory at a luxe Rocky Mountain chalet? Alex Cooper's new YouTube reality competition show, Unwell Winter Games, will answer that question. |
The upcoming series, which is set to premiere on April 6, will be one of the biggest productions to come out of Cooper's two-year-old Unwell Network. The creator and podcast host has assembled a star-studded lineup with celebs like scam artist Anna Delvey, Love Island vet Ekin Su Cülcüloğlu, WWE star Saraya Bevis, and social media standouts Alyssa Violet and Hannah Stocking. |
Those competitors will travel to Park City, Utah, where they will be split into two teams for a series of physical and mental challenges. |
The context: Though the reality competition landscape is already quite saturated, the arrival of the Unwell Winter Games is well-timed. Producers of major reality franchises are doing whatever they can to incorporate digital creators into their shows. That's how we got MrBeast in Survivor and Charli D'Amelio in Dancing with the Stars. |
If showrunners aren't careful, however, overtures to the creator world can go disastrously wrong. ABC recently put itself in a multi-million-dollar hole after pulling a Bachelorette season starring controversial MomTok influencer Taylor Frankie Paul. |
Now, Alex Cooper is showing that there's a better way to merge reality TV with the creator economy. Through its team-based challenges (reminiscent of CBS' Survivor), luxurious setting (à la Peacock's The Traitors), and cast of antiheroes (very House of Villains), Cooper's project is leaving no reality TV stone unturned. |
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BIG ACQUISITIONS |
 | Bent Pixels, led by CEO Mike Pusateri (left) has acquired Sunny State Agency, led by CEO Shady Dnaf (right) |
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Bent Pixels has acquired Sunny State Agency for "over $23M" |
The acquisition: With its latest move, Bent Pixels is setting its sights on short-form hubs like Snapchat. The creator-facing business has acquired Sunny State Agency—a company that specializes in publishing and content syndication—in a deal valued at "over $23 million" (per a press release). |
All SSA employees will join the combined company, which will be led by Bent Pixels Founder and CEO Mike Pusateri. SSA Founder and CEO Shady Dnaf will join the Bent Pixels Board of Directors. |
"SSA has built real scale in short-form distribution, especially on Snapchat. We've built the sales engine, data layer, and brand relationships to monetize that scale…This positions us to lead creator media across platforms, and we couldn't be more excited." | | | | - Mike Pusateri, Bent Pixels Founder & CEO |
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The context: Bent Pixels, which was founded in 2009, has a long track record when it comes to advancing creator careers. The Culver City-based firm has built a roster that covers more than 800 creator channels (including standouts like Topper Guild, Matthew Beem, and Ninja) and provides services ranging from ad sales to infrastructure to data solutions. |
Now, SSA's monetization and distribution capabilities will allow Bent Pixels to expand its reach on hubs like Facebook, TikTok, MSN, and—most notably—Snapchat. That last platform is where SSA's creator roster (which includes NikkieTutorials, WhistlinDiesel, and Steve-O) hauls in over three billion monthly views. With more than 80 Snapchat Shows under its umbrella, SSA ranks as one of Snapchat's top five global publishers. |
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WATCH THIS 👀 |
 | John Green's latest novel is for the adults in the room. |
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John Green is publishing a new book after almost 10 years |
The film adaptation: John Green has "been keeping a little secret." In a video posted yesterday, the older half of the Vlogbrothers revealed the upcoming release of his "first novel ever for adults." |
That book, titled Hollywood, Ending, is "a behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story that brilliantly confronts the private cost of a public life" (per a description from the book's official webpage). Check out Green's announcement video here for more info. |
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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Drew Baldwin, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. |
