Taylor Lorenz: A Dark Money Group (Arabella Advisors) Is Secretly Funding Democrat Influencers, on Condition That They Lie to Their Followers About Who's Paying Them

The madwoman has an interesting story for once in her miserable life.

A Dark Money Group Is Secretly Funding High-Profile Democratic Influencers An initiative aimed at boosting Democrats online offers influencers up to $8,000 a month to push the party line. All they have to do is keep it secret--and agree to restrictions on their content.

Are any of these the "liberal Joe Rogan?"

I don't think Trump is paying off Joe Rogan, so these must not be the liberal Joe Rogan.

In a private group chat in June, dozens of Democratic political influencers discussed whether to take advantage of an enticing opportunity. They were being offered $8,000 per month to take part in a secretive program aimed at bolstering Democratic messaging on the internet.

But the contract sent to them from Chorus, the nonprofit arm of a liberal influencer marketing platform, came with some strings. Among other issues, it mandated extensive secrecy about disclosing their payments and had restrictions on what sort of political content the creators could produce.

In their group chat, influencers debated the details.

"Should we send a joint email (with all of our email addresses) ... or, are we just going to send things separately and hope they change everything for everyone?" Laurenzo, a nonbinary creator in Columbus, Ohio, with over 884,000 TikTok followers, asked the group. Some joked about collective bargaining. "Any Newsies fans here?" Eliza Orlins, a public defender and reality TV star known for her appearances on Survivor, posted in the group. "'We're a union just by sayin' so!'"

The influencers in the chat collectively had at least 13 million followers across social platforms. They represented some of the most well-known voices online posting in support of Democrats, and they're key to wherever the party moves next. But ultimately, the group didn't make much progress.

In other words: The dark money group would not budge on the key point of lying to followers.

The article recounts various progfluencers debating whether or not to accept the King's Gilt. I think the reason for this article is that they knew the scheme was about to be revealed, so people who'd taken the dirty deal went to Taylor Lorenz to show chats where they expressed some minor reservations about taking money to lie to their followers.

It's pre-spin for a story they knew would make them look bad. "But we didn't want to lie!"

We just did, for the money.

...

"I believe we are in Stage 5: Acceptance," Pari responded. Creators began signing on to the deal.

...

After the Democrats lost in November, they faced a reckoning. It was clear that the party had failed to successfully navigate the new media landscape. While Republicans spent decades building a powerful and robust independent media infrastructure, maximizing controversy to drive attention and maintaining tight relationships with creators despite their small disagreements with Trump, the Democrats have largely relied on outdated strategies and traditional media to get their message out.

Now, Democrats hope that the secretive Chorus Creator Incubator Program, funded by a powerful liberal dark money group called The Sixteen Thirty Fund, might tip the scales.

The Sixteen Thirty Fund is one of the cut-out groups funded by Arabella Advisors, which is in turn funded by George and Alex Soros. It used to be funded by Zuckerberg and Bill Gates as well, but both of those lefties have stopped funding them.

Why am I telling you this? I just told you this yesterday, and I know you all read the posts and not just the comments.

The program kicked off last month, and creators involved were told by Chorus that over 90 influencers were set to take part. Creators told WIRED that the contract stipulated they'd be kicked out and essentially cut off financially if they even so much as acknowledged that they were part of the program. Some creators also raised concerns about a slew of restrictive clauses in the contract.

Influencers included in communication about the program, and in some cases an onboarding session for those receiving payments from The Sixteen Thirty Fund, include Olivia Julianna, the centrist Gen Z influencer who spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention; Loren Piretra, a former Playboy executive turned political influencer who hosts a podcast for Occupy Democrats; Barrett Adair, a content creator who runs an American Girl Doll--themed pro-DNC meme account; Suzanne Lambert, who has called herself a "Regina George liberal;" Arielle Fodor, an education creator with 1.4 million followers on TikTok; Sander Jennings, a former TLC reality star and older brother of trans influencer Jazz Jennings; David Pakman, who hosts an independent progressive show on YouTube covering news and politics; Leigh McGowan, who goes by the online moniker "Politics Girl"; and dozens of others. (The first two declined to comment; the rest did not respond to requests for comment.)

According to copies of the contract viewed by WIRED that creators signed, the influencers are not allowed to disclose their relationship with Chorus or The Sixteen Thirty Fund--or functionally, that they're being paid at all.

...

"If I want to work with another politician, I have to fully collaborate with [Chorus/Sixteeen Thirty]," said one creator who was offered the contract but ultimately declined to take it and asked not to be named. "If I get Zohran and he wants to [do an] interview with me, I don't want to give that to them."

Creators in the program are not allowed to use any funds or resources that they receive as part of the program to make content that supports or opposes any political candidate or campaign without express authorization from Chorus in advance and in writing, per the contract.

So what they mean is: We control your interactions with Democrats, and we don't want you asking a liberal but Jewish politician like Josh Shapiro if he denounces Israel or not. We want you to be a pure shill and never ask any questions which might divide the party or stir up controversies about any Democrat in any office, ever.

...

"There are some real great advantages to ... housing this program in a nonprofit," Graham Wilson, a lawyer working with Chorus, said to creators on a Zoom call reviewed by WIRED. "It gives us the ability to raise money from donors. It also, with this structure, it avoids a lot of the public disclosure or public disclaimers--you know, 'Paid for by blah blah blah blah'--that you see on political ads. We don't need to deal with any of that. Your names aren't showing up on, like, reports filed with the FEC." (Wilson did not reply to a request for comment.)

The Federal Election Commission declined to comment.

I think we'll be hearing from them soon, though.

The Party of the People, everyone. The Party That Fights Oligarchy.

#NoKings, y'all!

Update: Lornez is on the take from Democrat billionaire Pierre Omidyar, and wrote her story without disclosing that Omidyar, one of the biggest funders of Sixteen Thirty, is also paying her right now as a "journalist in residence."

posted by Ace at 02:23 PM

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