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Deuxmoi: The Mystery Gossip Queen Exposing Celebs During the Pandemic
Leonardo DiCaprio loves having sex with his headphones on. A Real Housewife runs a NXIVM-style diet program. Jay Cutler is dating âWhite Power Barbie.â Vince Vaughn is quite rude to his fans. And Sen. Lindsey Graham goes maskless in airports. Or at least, thatâs the juicy gossip according to Deuxmoi, a highly addictive Instagram account thatâs become the go-to source for celebrity rumors during the coronavirus pandemic, providing a light tonic of sorts to our daily doomscroll.âPeople are home and looking for another entertainment outlet,â the anonymous young woman in New York City who runs Deuxmoi tells The Daily Beast. âIf there was no quarantine, it wouldnât have grown at all.âAnd grown it has. The account has swelled from 45,000 followers at the beginning of lockdown to around 234,000 and rising. Deuxmoi (âa made-up French wordâ) began in 2013 as a lifestyle account featuring interviews with local entrepreneurs, but things took a sharp turn on March 18, when the poster, who works a full-time job, fired off a message to her IG audience.âIt was the last day of work [in the office], and I said, âHey guysâsend me your celeb stories.â And it took off from there,â she recalls.Deuxmoi acts as a celeb-gossip repository of sorts, curating tips sent in via Instagram DM or its online submission portalâtypically a sneaky picture of a celeb in the wild or a spicy anecdoteâthat are then posted to Instagram Stories. Dozens of these items are shared on the Story a day (from approximately 200 submissions), creating a narrative effect. Typical posts include shots of celebs dining at NYC or L.A. restaurants; celeb couples walking the streets; stories of celebs being either nice or mean to their fans or coworkers; celeb hook-up tales; and of course, famous people partying. The result is a fascinating window into the pandemic lives of the rich and famous, at a time when the actual paparazzi have been sidelined. Charlotte McKinney Would Like to Be Taken SeriouslyThere is, of course, the question of accuracy, corroboration, fact-checking, and legality. Deuxmoiâs account regularly posts ass-covering disclaimers, and its Instagram bio reads, âStatements made on this account have not been independently confirmed. This account does not claim any information published is based in fact.âThus far, she hasnât received any legal threats from celebs.âI had one publicist, one reality star, and two people who dated offspring of celebrities reach out. Thatâs it,â she maintains.Deuxmoi says that she doesnât post the location photos in real time, because sheâs ânot trying to create mass hysteria or trying to put anyone in danger whatsoever,â and though she insists that the account is ânot trying to shame anyone,â there does appear to be a social-responsibility element to the IG tabloid proceedings. She typically notes whether a celeb was spotted going masklessâas in the case of Sen. Graham (R-SC), who was caught without a mask at an airport (âThe person said that he was asked to put a mask onâand refused,â notes Deuxmoi), or if theyâve been flouting any and all COVID-19 guidelines, like Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who was spotted multiple times partying maskless with groups of people in the Hamptons before (and after) he came down with the coronavirus, according to photographs sent in by tipsters.âHe was in Florida, he was in Nantucket, then he was in the Hamptons, and he was in the city, so who knows how many people he spread it to,â says Deuxmoi. âAnd he was definitely out in public before his âquarantineâ was over. And the mask was hanging off his face.âAccording to Deuxmoi, Adam Sandler, Hugh Jackman, Drew Barrymore, and Julianne Moore are known as the nicest celebs to their fans and coworkersâalthough the most angelic is none other than Harry Styles, who has been the subject of tons of positive stories and not a single negative oneâwhile Vince Vaughn and Anna Kendrick are alleged to be the most prickly by her anonymous tipsters. Certain celeb regulars are given nicknames, e.g. Leonardo DiCaprio is known as âHeadphones Dino Bones,â owing to two of his alleged favorite pastimes: sex and collecting dinosaur fossils.âItâs about having sex with the headphones onâand Iâve gotten so many DMs about that,â she offers about the longtime rumor, adding, âIâm just posting what people are sending in. I donât control what celebrities people see or interact with, and I donât think some people get that.âThe lionâs share of the celeb content on Deuxmoi is of the dining out and hand-holding variety. And yet, in addition to exposing celebs behaving badly during the pandemic, sheâs also shed light on a pair of famous celeb dietsâTanya Zuckerbrotâs F-Factor and ex-Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Teddi Mellencampâs ALL IN by Teddiâthat have been accused of endangering women, in a number of stories. At the start of the pandemic, Deuxmoi conducted an open call, asking her followers for stories about their lives.âThis community of women started reaching out to me,â she says, relaying horror stories about the F-Factor Diet. Then, another woman shared her terrible experience with ALL IN by Teddi, saying it restricted her to a 500-calorie-a-day regimen complete with an âaccountability coachâ who administered penalties for lapses. Deuxmoi published damning text messages between the woman and her âaccountability coachâ that went viral, aided by the signal boost of influencer Emily Gellis, who took up the mantle and crowdsourced many other peopleâs troubling episodes with F-Factor and ALL IN.âI got a lot of the same messages she did, and sheâs just taken it to the next level. But thatâs not my job,â says Deuxmoi. âI try to remind everyone that my account is âfor entertainment purposes only,â and if something good comes out of it, great, but Iâm not trying to crusade against anything.âIt hasnât been easy balancing a full-time job and her increasingly popular IG. Deuxmoi typically gets up around 8:30 a.m. to check her tips and feed; goes into the office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; works the account from 6:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., with small breaks for dinner or Real Housewives; and goes to bed at 2:30 a.m.âIâm exhausted right now,â she tells me. âItâs hard when people are constantly sending you informationâespecially information thatâs relevant to the news. You want to post that stuff right away.âAnd Deuxmoi is hoping all her posting will soon pay off.âIâd love to monetize it due to all the hours Iâve poured into it for free,â she explains. âIâm working on a premium platform that will have more information for my followers, and merch, which people ask for all the time. But who knows? This might all go away tomorrow.âRead more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.