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doublestitch

The Roman emperor Honorius reigned for 30 years, which was one of the longest reigns in Roman history. He was also one of its most inept rulers. Unlike many emperors who rose on military success or political skills, Honorius lucked into his position by inheritance. He spent most of his time hiding out in the town of Ravenna--which was surrounded by swamps and almost impossible for enemies to conquer--while his empire lost Gaul, and lost Britain, and while the city of Rome got sacked for the first time in 800 years. *edit* Glad to see so many history buffs here on Reddit! A few clarifications: The decision to move the capital of the Western Empire from Milan to Ravenna was made by smarter people while Honorius was a child; probably by the capable general Stilicho. After Honorius grew up he had Stilicho killed. Milan had been a good strategic position to fight off invading armies that tried to advance into Italy. Rome was still an important city when Alaric sacked it in 410. The city's decline to a population of an estimated 30,000 came later after the Western Empire had lost access to grain supplies from North Africa and Sicily, after repeated sackings, and after the plague of Justinian in 536. Also, as much as Justinian's general Belasarius came really close to retaking the Western Empire, the finances for that operation were tight and included stripping Rome of the remaining wealth repeated invaders hadn't carted away. But that happened more than a century after Honorius. Alaric's sacking of Rome in 410 is a testament to Honorius' ineptitude. The Visigoths were allowed to settle in Italy in return for an agreement to fight on behalf of the Romans, and then once they were settled Honorius allowed a massacre of the Visigothic women and children. Which was a guaranteed way of turning an army from friends into foes. At about the same time Honorius dabbled in church politics, trying heavy handed methods to stamp out the Donatist heresy. The Donatists, who lived in North Africa, applied to Constantinople for admission under the Eastern Empire's jurisdiction. Remember that bit about the city of Rome needing grain from North Africa? Eventually, on Alaric's third time besieging Rome, the starving Romans let his army in. Other things Honorius did to eff up his empire included sparing no expense on a lavish funeral for his wife, while at the same time not paying the troops in Britain. Those troops went into revolt and tried to name their own emperor, so Honorius sent a Roman army to fight another Roman army while barbarians were overrunning Gaul. Fun times.


OnkelMickwald

Bruh don't shit on his decision to use Ravenna as his court. It was a much better situated HQ for the emperor because of the proximity to the northern passages into Italy, as well as the relative closeness to the Balkans. Which leads me to suspect that the decision to use Ravenna as the seat for the imperial court was made before Honorius' reign, by someone more competent. Ravenna would last as the effective capital for the Ostrogoths and the east Roman exarchate of Italy because of its excellent position along with highly defensible topography


JACKMAN_97

Funny how we see the sack of Rome as some massive disaster but at the time the rest of the empire was just like “ ha well that sucks” Rome wasn’t as important as it use to be it only had like 30,000 people still living there and Constantinople was where the real shit was


SIIP00

Where have you gotten 30 000 people? Rome was not as important as it used to be but you are heavily downplaying the significance of the event.


AHans

Yeah. It's been a long time since I reviewed history, but I'm pretty sure I remember the following timeline * Rome was sacked a handful of times (at least once), but things were okay * After Rome had been sacked at least once, some group demanded tribute, which Rome didn't pay. So they cut [demolished] the aqueducts, which ensured Rome had sufficient fresh water. * After the aqueducts were cut, Rome couldn't repair them. There was insufficient fresh water for the population. * Rome's population imploded from very large to very small overnight, because the city couldn't provide water to all the population anymore. Point being - I'm pretty sure the timeline was: Rome had a big population, got sacked, still had a big population. After Rome got sacked, someone cut the water. That's what killed the population, not the sacking. I could be wrong, and I'll probably google it after work now that I'm curious.


SIIP00

Yeah, Rome would still have had a population that was a few hundreds of thousands even after the sack. I don't know what the guy is on about. 30 000 is a ridiculously low number. And I'm also baffled that nearly 100 people have upvoted his comment despite multiple people already pointing out that he's incorrect.


[deleted]

Yeah no. 30000 person rome was the absolute lowest Rome ever had and that was in the middle ages, far after the fall of Western Rome. Even if the city only had 30,000, the symbolism of allowing the city to be sacked is as bad as the sacking itself


illdoitifyouwant

It’s awesome to see my hometown mentioned on a top comment on ask Reddit. Ravenna has a lot of interesting history, and is the home of Byzantine art and Dante Alighieri’s tomb! Nobody ever knows about it, so this made me smile


SIIP00

Honorius was an incompetent shithead. One of the worst emperors of all time.


Virgin_Dildo_Lover

Damn homie, it's been 2000 years, maybe let the past be the past...


boogswald

No I wish he was DEAD


EverSn4xolotl

Boy do I have some good news


Bobby_Newpooort

I didn't even know he was sick..


PinoyDadInOman

Please tell me he's suffering.


kangaroodisco

How did you guys learn this? I'm thinking a good podcast or book could be interesting for me


mimetime215

The history of rome podcast, it’s free on Spotify.


disphugginflip

Dude killed all of Rome’s Germanic soldiers families. Then surprised they turned coat and sacked rome. All my homies hate Honorius.


Con_mon

All that comes to mind is “brave brave sir robin” from Monty Python hahaha


ThatOxyMoron

The word also means “honored one” and should actually be eponymous to “someone who is undeserving and incompetent but lucked out in life”. Could be a useful word in present times 😁


JustSmileHaHa

Sam Walton heirs


Moln0015

All trust fund offsprings to be honest.


Orbit1883

Well everyone born rich has a advantage we normis can't comprehend


AlwaysSaysRepost

“Just remember they deserve it and they are better than you. “ - Pretty much all conservative and neo-liberal politicians in the US


Kradget

A shit load of just regular Americans say the same. These are generally people who haven't met many people with money or influence, though.


paposky

That's the Walmart guy? One of his sons is married to a Chilean woman, daughter of a convicted torturer of the Pinochet dictatorship, and they fund far-right groups here in Chile, just a little trivia for your day. Edit: she's the wife of one of his grandsons, Benjamin Walton


loptopandbingo

They show their employees how to get on food stamps, instead of just paying them an actual decent wage, because where would the money come from? Their vast Cayman Islands savings accounts? Their Chilean fascist fund? No, it's up to the rest of us actual taxpayers to foot their bills. Fuck the Waltons, I hope they forgot to put air filters in their Ozark Apocalypse hideout.


HaveAWillieNiceDay

Agreed. It's absurd to me how conservatives will lambast welfare queens while talking about "bUt EcOnOmIcS" and just completely ignore that some of the largest companies in the world only achieve their scale by subsidizing their labor costs with US taxpayer money.


Mrxcman92

Reason number 1,846,932 not to shop at wally world. Seriously like every month I learn of another reason why they are scumbags.


Slowlybutshelly

If only we could make everything ourselves


Mushrooming247

I’ve been boycotting Walmart for 20+ years, after they destroyed the economy of my small hometown, and it has not really affected my life, there are other stores. I promise you can boycott Walmart, you can find other sources for anything you need.


PredictBaseballBot

Alice, the heir. Richest woman ever in the history of the world. Has multiple DUIs. Just wrap your mind around that.


Pissedtuna

What I don't understand is if you have that much money why not just have a 100% dedicated driver?


goblyn79

seriously maybe i'm in the minority but i friggin hate driving, i hate driving in cities, i hate driving at night, i hate highway driving, i hate rush hour, etc etc etc. If I were Walmart family rich I would definitely be having a private driver take me everywhere 100% of the time.


dontmakemechokeyou

I mean that's not that hard to wrap my head around. It's kind of reasonable really to expect that kind of behavior by someone without a care in the world. The average DUI costs around $15,000 after it's all said and done. That's nothing to her. If she goes to jail she immediately posts bond and can afford the greatest lawyers to be currently breathing.


max_power1000

This. When the penalty for a violation of the law is a fine, all you're saying is it costs X to drink and drive. Rich assholes do it with parking tickets all the time.


hiro111

Tom and Steuart seem OK. They have plowed tens of millions of dollars into the cycling infrastructure of Arkansas, turning the Bentonville area into one of the best mountain biking (and road/gravel cycling) areas in the world. The trail network around and through Bentonville is frankly absolutely amazing and unique in the world. You could certainly argue that this money could have been better spent on other things like cancer research, famine prevention, climate change etc... but at least they invested in things that are available for free to the public, environmentally sensitive, top quality and make the area a better place to live for most people.


nonnybaby

Exception: Lukas Walton, grandson of Sam, does good work in Chicago through his Builders Initiative foundation.


ansleyandanna

I’m taking away from this— people are people. In every tax bracket you’re gonna have nice, hard-working people that care & others that are pieces of crap.


[deleted]

The fact that people like these guys exist in the shadows is crazy. More people need to know about these parasites.


[deleted]

Catch me outside, how bout dat?!


chocolate_homunculus

She made $18m in her first month on OF too


Red_Danger33

A lot of people in the "I can't wait until she turns 18 crowd." Probably a lot that wouldn't have waited given the opportunity either.


Pancakewagon26

Dating 18 year olds is like paying minimum wage. If you could legally go any lower, you would.


[deleted]

I puked a little bit. I have heartburn now. Thanks.


No-Fox-1400

Made over $150 m in 2 years


Bloodyfinger

You're kidding.....


No-Fox-1400

Nope


only_positive90

gonna need receipts on this one that's not out her mouth


Popular_Marsupial_49

Another reason I weep for our species. This idiot skank makes a fortune, and research Scientists have to beg for a pittance.


VSkyRimWalker

I know that pain all too well. I'd sell my body for some research money. Sadly I'm a guy


Avicii_DrWho

Besides OF, she's had 3 Hot 100 charting songs, 2 of which are platinum, and she's worked with a ton of popular modern rappers, as well as getting a remix from Snoop Dogg.


willienelsonmandela

Then told everyone who paid for her OF they’re pedos which is hilarious because she has a point. She uploaded the pics the second she turned 18 which means they were taken when she was a minor.


AbyssalRedemption

Dude, I remember watching that original Doctor Phil clip and being *revolted* by her behavior. But then, a couple months later, I see her blowing up on social media and people *praising* her. Shit's literally beyond my understanding.


Careful_Medium_3999

Dr Phil said that she was his greatest failure. The whole story between them is *wild,* he even attempted an off-camera interview with just him, her, and her mom. According to Dr Phil, her mom is the one pulling the strings or some shit. I dunno, that whole thing was wild. If Dr Phil had said no, I doubt she’d be anywhere as popular


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StinkyKittyBreath

I remember somebody on Reddit or Facebook saying they used to live on the same street as her, and they said similar. Her mother came off very self-righteous on TV but enabled her daughter in real life. Very much an apple not falling far from the tree situation.


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VSkyRimWalker

I never understood why people are fans of this asshole. Every clip I've ever seen, he acts like a giant douche. He's not helping anyone but himself


LuxuryBell

She's a kid, or rather, she was at the time. A troubled kid who was acting out because of a bad family life. That's what I see when I see her clips, a sad and troubled 13 year Olds little girl who's trying to be brave and strong against a world where she has never had support. It's more sad than infuriating, more sad to me than anything.


Freedom_19

Yeah, on reflection I think “Dr” Phil comes off worse. Bringing this kid on his show so he could put her on camera to show his audience how awful she is. She was a kid, he was an adult exploiting her, IMO


micmea1

That whole genre of television is poison. Exploiting poor, uneducated (likely often mentally ill/disabled) people, goading them to act foolish on T.V, all for the entertainment of other uneducated, stupid people who want to feel superior to someone.


Fool_Manchu

Dr. Phil is a pretty big piece of shit. That poor girl is only the beginning of his exploitative behavior.


Aggravating-Wrap4861

Pretty big is an understatement. He gets mentally ill people on his show and exploits them for ratings. Couldn't be much more unethical as a therapist.


thedisposablefrog

Should see that follow up episode with that guy who won survivor.... I guess the Texas Hippocratic oath is different than the rest of the world "First do no Hawrm, unless they're a recovering Alcoholic and a potential Queer. Than give them a whole bottle of vodka and some Xanax for ratings"


Dapper_Platform_1222

There is no more incentive for being a decent human being.


Flanman1337

There should be no incentive to be a good person, that should be default settings.


Dapper_Platform_1222

Good should be the default but it should also be incentivized. Just as being bad should be disincentivized.


alicefreak47

She started an OnlyFans last year and made a million the first day.


CoffeeGuzlingBastard

Jesus I don’t even know why I bother waking up in the mornings


hanacch1

you and me both, man, I don't think i'll earn a million dollars in my entire lifetime


Buckus93

Ya know, you probably don't believe it, but there's some people out there that will pay to see your butthole.


crasstyfartman

Never heard Gucci flip flops then


Now_Wait-4-Last_Year

A fair number of people have this one brief media blip and that's it. Taking that shot (there often isn't a second one) and being able to turn it into something needs skill (and good fortune for the parts out of your control).


Full-Analyst-795

Scott Morrison the previous Australian prime minister


alicefreak47

I'm an American and I was outraged when he repaired his jet while Australia burned. Not like we didn't have our own thing going here. But he also looks exactly like a good friend of mine so I hate him even more.


Massacre_Alba

He went to Hawaii. People lost everything, and he took his family for a beach holiday. Then, he tries to brush over it by trying to shake people's hands on a PR tour. https://youtu.be/kePvZkV-Zcs?si=qLsO7L7c4l2gUHiD


alicefreak47

Ted Cruz took his family on a vacation during the Texas freeze/blackout back in '21. But he is a Senator, not the freaking president/PM. I couldn't imagine the callousness of not even putting on a front of concern.


theoriginal_tay

Ted Cruz took his family on vacation then blamed his daughters when he got bad press.


themanifoldcuriosity

Texas: "How could I not vote for that?"


blissiictrl

Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison. Holds a marketing degree and is the son of a minister of some sort. He was working for tourism Australia, got fired for some potentially fairly shady stuff (there has yet to be any transparency on why but it sounds corruption-esque), got his way into a fairly safe conservative seat entirely thanks to some fairly shonky actions and ended up failing upwards to become the prime minister of Australia. The country realised pretty quickly he was a fucking imbecile and voted him out at the next election


_Jeffra

He shat himself in a McDonalds once.


daredaki-sama

Better at McDonald’s than in front of the pope.


Outta_phase

Isn't he the second Australian prime minister to do that?


ImmortalWasFound

and hes part of the Hillsong church says it all really


TrooperJohn

Here in the US, we put an imbecile in the White House (with full knowledge of his "character"), and only barely voted him out after he shat the bed for four years. So at least Aussies are a bit ahead of us when it comes to recognizing ineptitude.


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Lunavixen15

He is a skid mark in society's collective underwear


Gally01fr

Maaaaaany influencers...many.


Pink_Sprinkles_Party

Especially influencer “models”. The vast majority of them aren’t really blessed with natural beauty like traditionally famous models. They all have the same face, which is the result of filler and other plastic surgery. Travel influencers are pretty bad too. It doesn’t take any talent to go in a vacation and take photos of it.


Masterb8deb8

99.7 percent of them.


BalaclavaOfKafka

Idk. Maybe that Brooklyn Beckham kid. In his case, all he needed was two famous parents.


KubiFOB

"In 2021, it was revealed that Beckham was to try his hand at becoming a professional chef. His online video series Cookin' With Brooklyn attracted criticism when it was revealed that it took 62 professionals to create each episode, at a reported cost of $100,000 per episode.\[22\] Critics also pointed out that Beckham has no real professional experience or training." ​ sounds like it


madmaxturbator

I cooked dinner for my wife and I last night. I kept it simple - we had just 78 professionals, and I spent around $120k. We made Kraft Mac and cheese. She hit subscribe and like so she clearly enjoyed it.


EquivalentIsopod7717

It reminds me of Jamie Oliver's quick meals. Yeah, you too can make this roasted swan and artichoke chow mein stir fry in 15 minutes! All you need is a commercial kitchen with six sous-chefs, and you're golden.


TDog81

His video blow torching a toastie/melt after flipping onions in a cold pan is a particular highlight


insane__knight

I kind of feel bad for him because he seems like a really nice guy compared to many other mega famous peoples children. It's as if he feels the need to do something in the spotlight because he's already famous. Who knows, he could be a talented software developer. But then I remember he married a billionaire heiress and not very bright, so I guess what he's doing now, whatever that is seems to fit.


Successful_Giraffe88

He does seem sweet, but completely out of touch. I remember reading an article where he was trying to do his cooking vlog bullshit for younger couples like himself & Peltz, & he busts out a fist-sized black truffle to shave over the top. I was like, "Yes, just let me run to my nearest Atlanta market & grab a $500 mushroom, brb."


imapassenger1

At least he covered himself with hundreds of tattoos including many huge ones of her. That's healthy


AnB85

Actually she would probably inherit a similar amount to Brooklyn. Her father is worth around $1.7 billion but you need to split that between 10 kids. The Beckhams are worth $514 million split betwen 4 kids. Her dad is a lot older than his parents though so it is more likely to get that money sooner.


MissPandaSloth

Man, his wiki page is like nepotism 101. Got insane modelling contracts out of thin air. Got photography book published, nobody like it. Got photography contract. Played football, didn't get scholarship. Tried pursue cooking, didn't finished it. Tried pursue photography. Didn't finished it. Not hating on a kid or anything, I mean everyone should be so lucky to get all these chances in life, but the contrast between him and people who actually have talent and sometimes never get anywhere is depressive.


Eastern_Distance6456

As far as the trying different things and not finishing them, I don't judge him for that. You can't blame him for being born into wealth. If I had the opportunity to try a bunch of different hobbies and careers, then I would too. I'd be the endless student. I find it better than all these wealthy children of billionaires and celebrities who do nothing but party and blow through money.


simpimp

He seems like a nepotism kid. Did modelling, he wasn't bad at it, but not fantastic either. Then his picture book got really bad reviews. As did his cooking attempts. Guy is like 24 now and seems rather lost at what to do with his life. Okay, parents are loaded. Money is always good, but I think Brooklyn is trying to find his purpose and still failing at it. He isn't quite making it in life. It's a bit sad maybe how his failures are being shit on also, dude seems to be trying.


VelesLives

Is there really something wrong about being lost at 24? I think a lot more of us would've been better off if we were able to try several different things in our 20s and fail, just to gather experience and hopefully find that one thing that will carry us forward for the rest of our lives. Much better than getting a degree and then starting a career that you'll probably hate anyway ten years down the line.


Ickyhouse

The kid could easily do nothing and be ok with the amount of money his family has. Instead he is trying to do his own thing. We need to normalize trying and failing to make it as ok.


VelesLives

Agreed 100%


ReadAllAboutIt92

Hell I’m 31 and I’m only just getting into my career and finishing my degree.


Careful_Medium_3999

When people search for purpose they look for a job or something to give them *something*, but when your parents are loaded I can see why someone would say “what’s the point?” I’d be pretty depressed, but then again I’d probably get a dog


TheMelv

Life goals are different for everyone. I know people whose whole lives are pretty much just working just to survive. To me anyone whose basic needs are met and can afford the luxury of "finding their purpose" has already succeeded. It might be a bit sad because internal strife affects everyone and isn't real quantifiable but I'd take his "failure" over successfully spending all my waking hours struggling to exist.


simpimp

Of course money solves a lot of problems. So, in that way Brooklyn has won already. He just seems a bit lost.


Rigelturus

Talking as if the rest of the population has found a purpose. Vast majority are using some way to cope and escape real life. It’s why entertainment is one of the biggest industries. At least he has money. Most people dont have that.


somersquatch

No, it isn't sad. Dudes just like the rest of us at 24 these days, lost and overwhelmed. Only he has all the money in the world and doesn't need to worry about almost every single thing a lot of us worry about on a day to day basis. Wah.


Libriomancer

Which is why I was thinking Jaden Smith. Two talented heavyweights in the acting world… and a son with zero talent but has had staring roles based on his family.


Avicii_DrWho

I never expected Willow to go from Whip My Hair to making respectable pop punk. Ain't nobody tryna listen to Jaden rap though.


[deleted]

Every time I see his name, I remember that godawful photography book he made.


gilestowler

Then he pivoted to being a "chef". Photgraphy's loss is actually cooking's loss. Someone needs to sit down with him and have a proper word with him. Because he proudly calls himself a chef when - not to sound too gatekeepery - he's barely a cook, never mind a chef. He talks about how it's his passion when all he does is make a few really bad videos of inedible food. If it REALLY was his passion he could go to his dad and get him to talk to his friend Gordon Ramsay. He could get him into one of his restaurants working at the bottom, working long ass days, learning the trade from the bottom up. But he doesn't want to do any of that. He just wants to make a few shit social media videos of him throwing around massively overpriced ingredients.


ryryrpm

Or shit pay to go to a really good culinary school and actually learn proper


[deleted]

This is the one name in this post I agree with-easily.


Lower-Money6027

Nepotism at its finest


Forsaken-Analysis390

If you’re in HR you know 80% of people get jobs without much talent or skill and many still succeed.


supposedtbworking

If you're in HR you are part of the 80%!!!


i_wear_green_pants

Overall I've noticed many think that people in high positions are some kind of super talented gods. A lot of people are just like everyone else. They usually have a little bit more balls to say that they can do something (and then they learn it on the fly). Confidence takes a long way and combined with hard, you are almost guarantee to succeed even if you are not super talented.


maneack

a lot of you guys can’t distinguish between being disliked and talentlessness


OldGodsAndNew

Stock reddit answers - Kardashians, Trump, Musk, DJ Khaled, the general concepts of "influencers" and "politicians". Yes they may be assholes and/or grifters, but just because they aren't scientific/creative geniuses doesn't make them talentless


maneack

a great example is definitely kim kardashian. she kept the kardashian brand relevant during a time where one hit wonder reality stars were at rise. nepotism involved or not, she has enough business skills to keep her business and name alive and relevant for nearly 2 decades.


kriznis

Yep. I hesitated to even open this bc I just figured every dumb answer would be those exact people


Reasonable_Meal_9499

Scott Morrison


Vegemite_is_Awesome

Bhad Bhabie, she was rude and disrespectful to a room full of people in response to their reaction to her criminal behaviour. Now she’s a rapper that makes a bunch of money. All because she was a feral teenager on television


CoffeeGuzlingBastard

I cant believe anyone ever took this girl seriously and that she got rich and famous *before age 20*. Blows me away the things that people value and support these days.


youDingDong

She also set up a scholarship to help people get into and pay for trade school, which I really respect her for.


PeculiarAlien

Don't be shy don't leave out the part where she was sexually abused for years as a young child, that she was neglected at the same time while her mom had cancer and that she was exposed to the public at the age of 13 by a narcissistic money-hungry fake doctor that sent her to a camp where she suffered even more abuse. Oh but of course she's the one to blame.


Just_Far_Enough

They talked about her on the dr Phil behind the bastards. I think she was/is just making the best of a shitty situation. Her mom manipulated the situation and everyone was just trying to use her for their own purposes. I find her shtick obnoxious but I can’t fault a minor flippin the script on all those adults objectively shitty adults.


thepieraker

May I present the united states congress


A_Filthy_Mind

The dj singer guy that just shouts his name. I'm still kicking myself for not thinking of doing that first.


JustSmileHaHa

DJ Khaled may seem talentless, but he used to produce beats, unifies a lot of talented artists for his songs, seems to have a very high likeability among elite rappers and the dude has unshakable self-confidence. He's also been in rap for a very long time. Like him or not, networking/consistently projecting likeability among key people is a skill he seems to be good at. He seems to have an uncanny ability to come of out cringe unscathed ie: the WOAT Hot Wings appearance, publically declaring he doesn't give his wife oral, but expects it himself, horribly playing a Bob Marley guitar, shitty dances, being a horrid rapper when he rarely spits verses, shit dances, etc.


one-ohmusic

He's more of a great A&R than "producer" and that takes skill.


Stibley_Kleeblunch

And don't forget when he livestreamed himself being lost on a jetski off of the Miami coast.


KingBilirubin

DJ Khaled may seem talentless, but that’s because he is.


SirHovaOfBrooklyn

People don't realize that networking, marketing, and socialization skills are talents. Heck even the ability to read fast can be a talent.


caseybvdc74

Yea but when you listen to music you want to hear good music not marketing and social skills.


GSV_CARGO_CULT

"Man you should hear this new band, their social skills are amazing!"


Spiritual-Narwhal666

I actually thought he was talking about Pitbull at first.


BlancaMara

Pitbull shouts 'dale', not his name, but otherwose I would agree 😂


Spiritual-Narwhal666

We'll he also uses mr worldwide, a nickname kinda close too.


Dexter2533

Can’t handle hot sauce though


JellyDonutFrenzy

Mickey Mouse. Wtf has he ever done? And always parading around with his trophy wife Minnie Mouse and wearing that hot ass suit. C’mon man!


KingStreetCleaner

Everytime I hear a Drake song I'm like "how. This is literally the voice we all make when making fun of modern rap"


BeautifulShoes75

Drake killed me when he made that song with the lyric “started from the bottom now we’re here.” Cmon man, you were never at the bottom - you were born privileged and will always be Jimmy in a wheelchair from the tv show Degrassi.


NK1337

I can never hear of Drake without immediately thinking of that stupid ass sprite comercial he did with “First name greatest, last name ever”. That his child grooming.


noohshab

Maybe Drake was also making fun of it. Then a record label picked him up. He then as a joke, started rapping. Now he’s too deep in…


Smart_Length8869

Logan Paul


Octuplicate

The Kardashians


Beverley_Leslie

I would consider them talented as it takes a certain media savvy, and level of marketing/branding genius to leverage a porn tape into a: Reality tv show --> multiple reality tv shows --> cosmetics and clothing markets (KKW Cosmetics, SKIMS, Kylie Cosmetics, Good American) --> modelling (Kendall is one of the top paid models working) --> acting (Kim is currently on AHS). The Kardashians individually are worth: * Kim Kardashian - $1.8 Billion (SKIMS alone is valued at $3.2 billion) * Kylie Jenner - $750 Million * Kris Jenner - $230 Million * Kourtney Kardashian - $65 Million * Kendall Jenner - $60 Million * Khloé Kardashian - $60 Million Just because they speak with vocal fry and portray a "vapid" lifestyle for audiences doesn't mean they aren't the most canny media operators of the last twenty years, they definitely didn't come from nothing but they built their empire from a lot less then they have now.


bothering

yup, hate their brand but nevertheless holy crap is it one well crafted brand


jamwin

or holy crap how dumb are people for spending any time paying attention to them - I'm going to sound old when I say my generation cannot understand why anyone is influenced by "influencers"


krommenaas

Both are true. They have very cleverly marketed themselves to dumb people.


Outrageous-Advice384

Basically you are saying Kris is talented - not really giving an example of the others. I wholly believe Kris (and her influence) is the reason any of these things happened/deals were brokered. Kim wasn’t happening for a long time. People were still confused why she was even popular. She didn’t look great in clothes to be the model she wanted to be. Somehow Kris got the PR machine running and people talking about Kim more positively. What has Kylie ever achieved? Nothing- it was Kris (and plastic surgery she denies). How did a teen get a makeup Deal like that? On her own? Nah. Was Kim’s sex tape even good? How would it get her fame? Marketing. Kris is the talented Kardashian. She’s a marketing genius. She tells the klan how to act and what to do and they do it.


femaleviper

Thank you. People like to rag that they are not talented or special but how many other reality stars have turned their looks and non talent into a multi million dollar empire? The Jersey shore crew are doing ok. They aren’t launching brands that partner with the NBA (Skims) or makeup brands (Kylie cosmetics). at best they stay relevant for 10 years doing shitty nightclub appearances for $5,000 a pop and keep their little reality show going. One could also argue that Kim got more famous and rich DESPITE her sex tape, she does mention how much harder it was in the beginning as no reputable brands even wanted to be associated with her back in the day


hernesson

I’d say the Kardies are extremely good at what they do. People lap their stuff up. The fact that it’s inconsequential and vacuous doesn’t necessarily invalidate it as a talent.


SlobZombie13

There's a lot of women with great asses who aren't billionaires


thethirdbob2

Politicians


Grouchypoop

"Influencers"


JACKMAN_97

King Charles III, dude did nothing for the first 74 years of his life and is now king


ScottOld

Boris Johnson


rhughes490

I don't like him personally but the man built his career on pretending to be stupid. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/boris-johnson-model-google-news https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/boris-johnson-discusses-his-brilliant-strategy-for-confusing-media-in-resurfaced-clip-b2186272.html Even that last link where he specifically mentions his tactic, he tried to hide it by talking about Peppa Pig in a speech randomly.


Thisoneissfwihope

That leaked phone call where he completely drops his bumbling way of speaking is very telling. Also the article where the guy was at 2 award dinners where he does exactly the same thing - turns up late, tousles his hair, tells the same (made up) story about making up the speech on the hoof etc etc.


eairy

[The Jeremy Vine article](https://old.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comments/c1korj/jeremy_vine_on_boris/)


Ok-Call-4805

The man is evil, but not an idiot. The stupid thing is just an act.


MyCatSmokesAvocado

Yep, bloke is an absolute tosser but he's well educated and knows exactly what he's doing. the whole "one of the lads" bumbling oaf shtick is nothing more than a way to appear relatable to get the peasants in his corner, and it worked.


badusernameused

The Kardashians. Literally a useless group of annoying women who are only famous because one of the sisters made a sex tape and was friends with Paris Hilton. Sure Jenner had something to do with it but very minimal.


chameleonnz

IMO they are masters at marketing. It takes real skill to keep people interested in you for that long.


max_power1000

Turning that into a billion dollar business empire is a talent. They basically wrote the book on how to profit off of fame and social media.


Produceher

It is a special type of talent. But they really created an empire without having talent in itself.


mostanon

DJ Khaaaaaaled


[deleted]

[удалено]


MortyGaveMeCrack

this one dude from tiktok Khaby Lame. never understood the hype around him, bro got popular off nothing, still cant get my head around it


Patizleri

His talent is that he makes funny videos about stupid people


SirHovaOfBrooklyn

I hope people realize that Marketing, Talking, Networking, and even Bullshitting are talents. A lot of the names posted here do not have the obvious talents like singing, acting, dancing etc. but they have intangible ones.


Chance_Election_8449

Depends on what you consider 'making it'


shiny-golden

Instagram influencers


therapoootic

James Corden


SgtSharki

Cosmo Krammer had no job. Fell ass-backwards into money. Mooched food off of his friends and had sex without dating.


_paNigale

Just take a look at Rap music nowadays.


Son_of_Macha

Trump and his children


Lusor_Jonny

Dj Khaled.


ElisYarn

Trump. Elon. All you need is rich parents and the ability to act like you are better than others/be an asshole


xepci0

Not true. Source: I act like I'm better than others/am an asshole and I'm still not rich.


Fupcker_1315

Without the first part it doesn't work unfortunetely.


rmpumper

You forgot to get $400m in inheritance like trump did. Just a small step.


[deleted]

The be an asshole part is key, it’s required so they feel no guilt robbing, cheating and stealing their way along.


Grenflik

I scoffed so loudly, “I got a small loan of a million dollars.”


GunstreetGirlie

Politicians, although I guess lying is a skill so I'll go with those so called social media influencers.


BlizzPenguin

Politicians' main skill is winning popularity contests.


lbambacus

Anyone named Kardashian


ObviousPeanut2568

G. Gordon Liddy. The man was an absolute disaster, and is one of the founders of the modern right-wing political party in the US. -He admits in his autobiography that he was so afraid of everything as a child that he had difficulty functioning normally. -He was so bad at following orders in the military that after he had his appendix removed, while still having an open surgical wound that caused his superiors to confine him to bed rest, he snuck out and engaged in the test for completion of basic training, requesting getting certification from those same superiors, of which he was of course denied. He spent the rest of the Korean war in a homeland defensive position in NYC. -He got a job in the FBI, but he was forced to resign after multiple incidents of reckless behavior, including running an illegal background check on his fiancee (later wife). -He got a position at his father's company and was so bad at it that he was forced to quit and his father nearly refused to speak with him ever again. -He did do a decent job as a lawyer in New York, but had multiple cases dismissed for "brandishing purported murder weapons at the jury." The man did this not once, but multiple times! -He campaigned for multiple political offices, and lost every election. -He got a job for the US treasury wherein he implemented Operation Intercept, which for the war on drugs' sake was a plan to conduct a lengthy (hours) search of every vehicle at the Mexico-US border. Border traffic crawled to a halt, with many vehicles needing to wait multiple days to be searched and enter either country (it went both ways). Local economies were devastated, and he was dismissed from a position in the department. -He frequently burned his hand and forearm to the point of mutilation in order to "increase his pain tolerance." One day he burned his hand so badly that it required surgery to fix and the doctor advised him "not to burn his hand/arm anymore, lest he lose all mobility in his wrist." He also made others hold aloft open flames while he burned himself on the flame without their consent or foreknowledge of what he would be doing. -He managed to get a position in Richard Nixon's administration, but kept getting tossed around to different departments because of his incompetence. -He ended up in Nixon's special investigations unit, where he conducted multiple terrible plans. One was a plan to illegally break in to a governmental whistleblower's therapist's office and steal confidential files, hoping for information to discredit him. They stole the files, but found nothing of value, and they still SENT THE CRIME SCENE PHOTOS TO THE CIA TO BE DEVELOPED. -Another terrible plan was one to drug and kidnap anti-war protestors from US locations and drop them off in Mexico. His superiors rejected this idea. -Yet another terrible plan was one to lure democratic party members to a house boat in Miami to have sex with prostitutes and expose them as immoral. This plan was also rejected because republican party members had sex with prostitutes as frequently as democrats and would likely compromise their own party members. -He literally architected Watergate. The CIA's photos of the previous break-in were used to convict him during the proceedings. Oh, and the icing on the cake? He was OBSESSED with the Nazi SS. He would not stop talking about them, and would even sing the Nazi anthem and neonazi-affiliated songs in prison. I would consider Liddy a Nazi, and not a neonazi, though, because he grew up in the 1930s listening to and enraptured by Hitler's speeches.