Influencer and Therapuss podcast host Jake Shane is currently copping scathing criticisms over his red carpet shenanigans at the Vanity Fair Oscars party, especially his thoughts on nominated flick If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
On Monday, Hollywood’s awards season for 2025/2026 came to a roaring close with Sinners and One Battle After Another cleaning up at the Oscars.
But amongst the red carpet glam, acceptance speeches and Timothée Chalamet / Marty Supreme shade (LOL), influencer Jake Shane stirred up controversy for his hosting duties at the Vanity Fair Oscars party.
Alongside fellow influencer Quen Blackwell, Vanity Fair hired the podcaster to host some interviews with its A-List Oscars party guests, like Kris Jenner and Tate McRae.
However, during his time as Vanity Fair host, Shane vented his disdain about the highly acclaimed drama If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, starring Australia’s Rose Byrne.
One particular segment Shane has faced heavy criticism over is his interview with Julia Fox, who expressed her love for the Oscar-nominated movie, describing it as “every mother’s story”.
In response, Shane responded, “Really good. Do you think that kid was annoying?”.
A pretty big YIKES, considering the fact Fox just said the movie is “every mother’s story” and that she’s a single mother herself.
While Fox refused to agree or disagree with Shane’s remarks, the HIM actress declared that his issues with the child are “society’s fault”.
“It’s not that it’s the mother’s fault or the child’s fault — it’s society’s fault,” Fox said.
“It sets mothers up to fail. Even the fact that school gets out at three, but most jobs are done at five or six. All those little things are not conducive to mothering.”
Fox ended the interview with Shane and Blackwell, saying, “I feel like we’ve dragged this on”.
In another chat with F1‘s (and my current top of Hollywood’s hunks of spunks) Damon Idris, Shane reiterated his grievances with the child of If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
Idris also refused to address Shane’s remark, telling the influencers, “I’m not gonna say it”.
Elsewhere in Shane’s hosting stint, Shake copped an icy interaction with actress Gabrielle Union and Dwayne Wade.
You see, when the interview ended, Union only seemed to have addressed Blackwell, leaving Shane visibly upset.
Shortly after the interaction, Shane went to whisper something in Blackwell’s ear before it cut away to the celebrities on the carpet.
However, when the camera shot back to them, Shane panicked and said, “Did I just whisper something while we were on live?”.
But amongst all the chaos, mother of all mothers, Kris Jenner, threw shade at the podcaster, questioning how he got the gig as Vanity Fair’s Oscars correspondent.
“I don’t know, honestly,” Shane responded.
Shane’s recent stint as a red carpet reporter for Vanity Fair has deepened the online discussion on whether influencers should replace journalists and seasoned hosts when it comes to events such as the Oscars.
Previously speaking to Rolling Stone, Shane himself admitted he wasn’t a journalist, and that the assumption that he is one is “insulting to journalists”.
“I didn’t go to school for journalism. There are real journalists out there asking real, thoughtful, hard questions. What I am having with people is a conversation. You can say that’s journalism, but it’s not hard-hitting,” Shane said in a podcast with the publication.
Shane isn’t the first influencer to be embroiled in controversy for his red carpet behaviour.
In March 2025, influencer Hannah Berner apologised after she was accused of making microaggressions towards Megan Thee Stallion, stating that her music has made her “want to fight someone”, while she was interviewing the rapper as Vanity Fair‘s Oscars afterparty reporter.
