ABC News‘ Rocsi Diaz took a look at what’s trending in pop culture, and she found something nobody expected: a whole lot of stuff that has nothing to do with pop culture. The segment, titled “WATCH: Kim Kardashian, Tay Keith, Millie Bobby Brown: Here’s what’s trending,” opened with three big names and spent most of its runtime on diesel prices, a legal battle over Betty White’s estate, and a comeback from Toys ‘R’ Us. The celebrities got brief blurbs. The rest got minutes.
The show ran 21:27, and the mix was strange from the start. Diaz covered the usual celebrity ground — Brown and Jake Bongiovi announcing their second child, Kardashian opening up about a new health scare — but then veered sharply into territory that had nothing to do with entertainment. The result is a segment that feels less like a pop culture update and more like a grab bag of current events.
The Celebrity Blips
Millie Bobby Brown’s announcement of her second child with Jake Bongiovi was the first item on the list. The segment didn’t linger on the baby’s details; it moved quickly to the next name on the list.
Kim Kardashian followed, and the segment noted that she was opening up about a new health scare. No specifics were given. The segment treated both stories as quick hits rather than full stories, which made sense for a show trying to cover multiple topics in a tight window.
Tay Keith was the third celebrity name mentioned. His presence in the lineup was notable, though the segment offered no further context about what he was trending for. The trio of names was the promised headline, but the content underneath delivered something quite different.
The Diesel Surge
The bulk of the segment focused on the economy, with diesel prices surging to all-time highs. It was a serious topic, but it sat alongside the celebrity announcements as if they were equal draws.
The segment also covered a new legal battle over Betty White’s estate. The segment presented it as a fresh development.
Toys ‘R’ Us rounded out the non-celebrity coverage. The retailer is reportedly making a comeback. The segment framed the story as a revival, though the details of the comeback were thin.
A Brand New Cat Species
The segment also reported on a brand new cat species being discovered. The segment provided no details on where the cat was found or what made it distinct from existing species. It was a curious addition to a list otherwise dominated by human affairs.
The final item was a brand new cat species discovered. The segment reported the discovery without elaborating on its significance.
What the Segment Actually Delivered
| Item | Category |
|---|---|
| Millie Bobby Brown’s second child | Celebrity |
| Kim Kardashian’s health scare | Celebrity |
| Tay Keith | Celebrity |
| Diesel prices at all-time highs | Economy |
| Betty White’s estate battle | Legal |
| Toys ‘R’ Us comeback | Business |
| Brand new cat species | Science |
The table shows the split clearly. Three of the seven items were celebrities. Four were not. The format promised one thing and delivered another, which is the kind of mismatch that leaves viewers confused about what they’re actually tuning in for.
“WATCH: Kim Kardashian, Tay Keith, Millie Bobby Brown: Here’s what’s trending”
The title itself is a promise the segment broke. The show’s own description, “A variety of news and talk shows featuring our flagship programming,” suggests a broader scope than the celebrity-focused title suggests. That gap between headline and content is the whole story.
What This Says About Trending
The segment is a reminder that what counts as “trending” depends heavily on who’s doing the counting. For ABC News, the economy, legal battles, and retail revivals counted just as much as celebrity babies and health scares. That’s a fair perspective, but it’s not the one the title promised.
The segment also reflects a larger shift in how news outlets package content. Multi-topic segments like this one are common, but they often blur the line between what’s actually newsworthy and what’s simply popular. A health scare for Kim Kardashian can feel like a trend, but it doesn’t move the needle the way a price surge for diesel does.
The segment also showed how quickly celebrity news can slip into background status. Brown and Bongiovi’s second child announcement was a major story in its own right, but it got a blurb treatment rather than the segment’s main focus. The same went for Kardashian’s health scare, which was noted but not expanded upon.
The Verdict
The segment is a curious example of a show that can’t decide whether it’s a celebrity update or a news broadcast. It tried to be both at once, and the result was a jumbled list where the non-celebrity items carried the runtime while the celebrities got the headline.
The segment is worth watching for the diesel prices and the estate battle, but viewers looking for deep dives on Brown’s baby or Kardashian’s health scare will come away disappointed. The celebrities were the draw, but the content delivered was mostly everything else.
The lesson is simple: when a headline promises one thing and delivers another, the viewer loses. The segment was entertaining in its confusion, but it was also a reminder that “trending” is a label that gets applied to almost anything these days, and the labels don’t always match the contents.
Source material: “WATCH: Kim Kardashian, Tay Keith, Millie Bobby Brown: Here's what's trending,” ABC News.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.