What’s Going On With @DeuxMoi?

Instagram’s celebrity gossip ecosystem has been shaken by the newest page to take the spotlight, @deuxmoi with 503K followers and counting. This account uses a mix of niche memes and crowdsourced gossip to get the most relevant and immediate celebrity news possible. 

While much of their coverage may seem mundane, from celebrity dinner reservations to celebrity encounters from years ago, they have also been known to dabble in unverifiable investigative work. After actor Lukas Gage posted a video where an unnamed British director tore into his modest living conditions, DeuxMoi was on the case taking any and all tips on who may be the owner of the voice. They also created controversy within Bachelor Nation after claiming to have proof that Dale Moss was cheating on Clare Crawley just weeks after they were engaged on the show.

DeuxMoi was by no means the starting point of celebrity gossip on Instagram. If anything, they represent a second wave. One of the most infamous celebrity gossip pages is @theshaderoom, with 21.5 million followers. Known for their mostly black coverage and follower-base, The Shaderoom was known to participate in “baiting,” or posting coverage to spark outrage and controversy. One of the main instances of this was their insistence on continuing to cover Dwayne Wade and his transgender daughter Zaya, despite encountering continued abuse towards them on every post. However, The Shaderoom’s posts have been intrinsic to black celebrity gossip.

Reality TV, specifically “The Bachelor” and Bravo shows, have also added to the social media celebrity gossip conversation with almost obsessive coverage on all of the members of their shows. YouTuber gossip also experienced its heyday with the introduction of “drama channels” which would make daily videos explaining any and every YouTuber controversy of the day, which there were a lot of. 

What separates DeuxMoi from the rest is their reliance on crowdsourced news or information, specifically from their many fans. Much of this coverage is rather dull, such as opinions on a celebrity that someone met at a red carpet event in 2009 or spotting a longstanding celebrity couple at their neighborhood coffee shop. However, due to DeuxMoi’s frequent use of anonymous tips, many of the news comes from “assistants” or “PAs” with info like, “A-list actor was a creep,” or, “member of beloved celebrity couple has been consistently cheating on their spouse with multiple people.” While people can take or leave this information and DeuxMoi’s bio says, “This account does not claim any information published is based in fact,” it still sets a worrying precedent. 

Celebrity gossip has been long seen as a seedy industry, especially with the largest examples of it, TMZ and Gawker, openly using shady or outright harrowing methods to get their news. TMZ normalized dumpster diving as a way to find out information on famous celebrities and has been criticized for their use of police and ambulance informants. They revealed the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna before his wife or any of the families involved were informed.

Gawker, which was disbanded in 2016 used more respectable forms of investigative journalism but was still known to engage in outing members of the LGBT+ community and take part in generally misogynist coverage. Publications such as these bring up an interesting conversation on what is and aren’t news in a celebrity gossip ecosystem. While it may be “news” that a teen pop star is pregnant, is it TMZ’s job to expose that and is it still relevant if a used pregnancy test found in a dumpster is proof? While many people may find it interesting to hear about a sexual encounter with a conservative female politician, is it okay for Gawker to post a full expose on their preferences in bed?

DeuxMoi, and other Instagram accounts like it, are nowhere near the peak of their relevance. However, their insistence on reporting the minute details of celebrity life may create a sort of prison for the rich famous. This forces celebrities to never be cold towards a valet driver or leave a less than stellar tip in fear that this insignificant interaction will be the news of the day.

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