Deadline’s Crew Call continues its spotlight on the revolutionaries of social media who are impacting the film and TV industry with Gen-Z mom vlogger-turned-absurdist online talk show host Bobbi Althoff.
Similar to our previous social media guests — actor/comedic performer Adam Rose and teen K-drama series Alan’s Universe architect and star Alan Chikin Chow — Althoff is burning a trail for herself in the entertainment industry and leading her own burgeoning empire of brand endorsements and more at a time when the film and TV spheres are undergoing contraction and confusion about what consumers crave.
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For Althoff, host and creator of The Really Good Podcast, pop culture is still the rage for many; it’s just how you harness it. Her deadpan talk show style, unprepared host styling and fearless demeanor to call guests out on their sh*t has lassoed her 13 million followers across social media, regularly topping the podcast charts, while her interview clips with the likes of Drake, Bobby Flay, Scarlett Johansson, Shaquille O’Neal, Mark Cuban, Michael Cera, Rainn Wilson and SZA have clocked north of 1 billion views and over 250 million likes. When it comes to Althoff, think Between Two Ferns Zach Galifianakis meets Dick Cavett.
While her interview with Drake last year — in bed — put her on the map (a sit-down that she secured on her own), rumors swirled that Althoff was a “nepo baby” or industry plant.
Hardly. Althoff has done it her way, securing her own guests and most of all remaining her own boss. She shares with us a list of career and life goals that she made — a majority of them which have already been met.
She tells Deadline’s Crew Call, “I signed with the studio that bought my ad space. I still am in charge of everything. I still decide everything. No one in the room is going to talk over me. It’s me and my guest alone that matter at that moment, no one is going to tell us to cut.”
“I always wanted to keep it just mine, because that’s the most natural and I get the best interviews just by sitting in a place and talking to a guest for two hours.”
The spoils of becoming a social media sensation remain in branding, and Althoff was part of a clever, slight-of-hand campaign re-launch of L’Oreal’s CeraVe beauty line: During her interview with Cera earlier this year, she called him out as the founder of the skincare brand. The gag, which doubled as a serious advertising stunt, built toward an ultimate Super Bowl ad starring Cera.
Althoff varies on how press-shy she can be, and that’s due to her newfound success. We dove in and learned all sorts of fun facts: She never did drama in high school, rather track. She doesn’t eat pizza. She doesn’t go to the movies (movie executives worried about losing the Gen-Z and Millennial audience — don’t let that keep you up at night, Althoff’s toddlers love movies). And she hasn’t watched The Bear (though she’s seen a few episodes of Married at First Sight). Above all, Althoff isn’t a Swiftie.
While she has a vision to build out her brand in the near future, and hopefully get into acting, if her 15 minutes of fame ever expired, she’s got a backup plan to never, ever stop.
“I just wanted to be successful,” says Althoff. “I was never ever satisfied not doing anything. Just being a married housewife with nothing … I always wanted more than that.”
“If this fails and I become irrelevant, then you can catch me taking classes at USC.”
To listen to the full interview click above, or listen and subscribe on Spotify, iHeart or Apple podcasts.