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ENTITY discusses Danielle Bregoli aka Bhad Bahbie aka the Cash me Outside Girlvia "Gucci Flip Flops"/Danielle Bregoli

It was on an episode of “Dr. Phil,” of all places, that the “Cash Me Outside” girl earned her fame. That strange line, “cash me outside how ’bout dat,” brought her out of a dicey situation with her mom and into the spotlight.

Since then, however,  she’s become famous for a whole slew of other things, including a prolific music career. She was nominated in 2018 for the Top Rap Female Artist at the Billboard Music Awards. She didn’t win, but she’s had a number of singles on the Billboard charts, including one that went certified gold. She’s even been signed by Atlantic Records to a multi-album contract.

And she’s only 15.

That’s a lot for somebody so young to go through. And it all started with a meme! So how did we get here?

Who is the ‘Cash Me Outside’ girl?

ENTITY covers the cash me outside girl's career.

In case you didn’t know, the “Cash Me Outside” girl isn’t really her name. It’s Danielle Bregoli and she jumped to viral stardom after an appearance on “Dr. Phil” in Sept. 2016. She appeared with her mother, who wanted to discuss Bregoli’s behavior, which included allegedly stealing cars. During the interview, Dr. Phil began to discuss some of her questionable decisions, which started to get a reaction from the audience. When Bregoli had enough of their laughing at her, she called them “hoes” and said, “Cash me outside, how ’bout dat?” And a meme was born.

Her accent caught the attention of some as well, including Dr. Phil who had a hard time understanding her. When her mother told him to ask where the accent came from, Bregoli replied, “The streets.”

This caused some to question the validity of her accent and to begin accusing her of faking it.

She appeared again on the show in Feb. 2017 and by then she had already become famous. By her account, she made Dr. Phil famous too.

Her most recent claim to fame, however, is her career as a rap artist under the name Bhad Bhabie. Her single “These Heaux” came out in 2017 and gained traction quickly, the video reaching 2 million views within the first 24 hours of its release, according to Atlantic Records.

What are people saying about her?

ENTITY explains cash me outside girl's career.

Photo via Instagram / @bhadbhabie

A recent Buzzfeed Community article detailed her rise to fame and ended it with words of encouragement. “I mean we can sit and judge her all we want but, it’s safe to say that she’s doing pretty well for herself and making her fans and family proud. Keep up the good work!” it said.

Refinery29 reported on the “Cash Me Outside” girl comparing herself to Cardi B, but nevertheless praised her as a woman who “knows what she wants, and does what needs to be done to get there.”

Others, on the other hand, have fewer praises to sing. Bustle featured an article claiming society was rewarding her for cultural appropriation. The author wrote, “She is considered extraordinary because she is white; her behavior may push up against what our culture demands of white women in a superficial way, but it ultimately upholds the power structure that demonizes black women and rewards their white peers for the same behavior.”

What have we learned?

This all seems like a mess. How does a girl who made such a negative impression end up so famous that she had three hits on the Billboard Hot 100?

Our media-driven culture seems to reward bad behavior. Let’s think about who is leading our country right now. What has he done to deserve that kind of attention? Nothing good, in my opinion.

I’m not likening Bregoli to President Trump, but it does make you wonder if our culture is thinking about fame correctly.

Bregoli isn’t the only one whose claim to fame is acting poorly. How many reality TV shows are out there that only survive because of their endless drama? A lot of the appeal of “Dance Moms” has to do with the larger-than-life, but verbally abusive coach, Abby Lee Miller. Despite the talented children and how it’s launched the careers of stars like Maddie Ziegler, we watch because of their gossipy moms and Miller’s horrible behavior. Even critics have questioned why they watch it when its star does objectively terrible things.

You can lump “Toddlers & Tiaras” and its spinoff “Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo” in with other shows leaning on the drama of overbearing and overly competitive mothers. There are also several “Real Housewives” spinoffs portraying catty, misbehaving women. The list goes on, even if a lot of it is played up for the cameras.

ENTITY discusses Real Housewives and bad media behavior

via giphy.com

An NBC Chicago article reported on social media trends and their effect on children. It claimed that kids who see adults acting aggressively or in other poor ways can become distrustful of adults. It cited the President as an example. 

“We are normalizing behaviors, and it’s affecting some kids,” psychologist Catherine Steiner-Adair said. “And what’s affecting kids that is profound is their mistrust of grown-ups who are behaving so badly. Why aren’t they stopping this?”

The report also discussed the effects of gossip surrounding these kinds of issues. Gossip binds people together because it gives you a common enemy. But looking down on a behavior as a group doesn’t mean that those behaviors don’t seep into our own logic and actions. Steiner-Adair likened it to a mob mentality, calling it a “petri dish for massive cultural change.”

“It behooves us all to question why we are participating in this mob of reactivity,” Steiner-Adair said, “and what are the character traits we need to model for our children.”

Going back to the “Cash Me Outside” girl, Bregoli, in her defense, has addressed her negative attention. Bregoli said of her Dr. Phil experience, “I wish I could smack you,” meaning that she would hit herself because of the way she acted. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt that she doesn’t like the way she acted. Perhaps she deserves some amount of forgiveness on that level. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s her claim to fame.  

That’s something we might not be able to change. She’s already linked to the controversy that caused her fame.  Unfortunately, she might be connected with Dr. Phil forever. What we have to consider, then, is the future, and how our actions – or reactions – affect our culture and future generations.

Edited by Carli Velocci
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