00:00TikTok says Jake Shane is the next Truman Capote. Creator Stephanie Zamara sparked the theory.
00:04If she's right, the safest room in Hollywood has an expiration date. So let's test it out.
00:09How did Jake become Gen Z's most powerful socialite? What is the theory really saying?
00:13And if true, what does it mean for Jake Shane's future? Because Capote had a room just like this
00:18and he burned it down. Before we get to the theory, let's dive into how Jake got here.
00:24Five years ago, Jake's reviewing Octopus Online as Pass That Puss. By his own admission,
00:28it's moving the needle, but not really. Then he sees Julia Fox acting out her own comments on
00:33TikTok. Remember that name? She comes back later. But in February of 2023, barely prepared,
00:39a commenter asked him to act out Bill Clinton denying Monica Lewinsky. Jake does it and his
00:44comments were onto something. Gossip as improv. Nope, because I'm the president, so I wouldn't do
00:49that. That small switch from reviewing Octopus to letting the comments pick the next bit
00:54made every video feel like an inside joke. Jake had 100,000 followers in under a week,
00:59a million within a month, a management deal with WME. Jake didn't just get famous. He got trust by
01:05famous people. And trust is exactly what Capote traded on. Jake just needed a bigger room. In January
01:11of 2024, that room opened in the form of Therapist, the comedy show and podcast where Jake plays amateur
01:17therapist and celebrities help solve listeners' problems.
01:20Yeah, they're not your friends. And like to leave you on the private snap story? Fake.
01:24At first, the big names weren't biting. So he started with people he knew. Friends, roommates,
01:29friends of friends. Then a friend from the gym appeared in episode three, who happened to be a
01:33pop star named Tate McRae. Two episodes later, American singer-songwriter Renee Rapp joined.
01:39He credits them as the reason therapists worked, because they came on when no one else would.
01:44Why did that matter? Because in Hollywood, stars go where others feel safe. And two pop stars in that
01:49chair sent a signal. Jake's room is a friendly room. Jake's own rule is, if a guest wants something
01:55cut, the answer is always, always yes. So word got around. A pop star here, an A-lister there.
02:02Then the dam broke. Charlie XCX, Ed Sheeran, Glenn Powell, Selena Gomez. Those names sent the show up
02:08to Spotify's comedy charts. That fall, he sold out a 21-city live tour. The next year, 36 cities,
02:15Radio City included, and a Webby for best comedy creator. And these aren't just bookings. They're
02:21real friendships. And that's the whole brand. Sophia Richie Grange was already a close friend
02:26back in his TikTok skit days. Years later, she's still one of his besties. And that's exactly where
02:31the Capote theory starts to bite, because the room was about to get a lot bigger. This February,
02:37therapists move to Netflix and Spotify, meaning bigger room and bigger stakes. And Jake is upfront
02:42about what he's building. He says calling therapist journalism is insulting to journalists.
02:47It's a conversation. Do stars come on to dodge real journalists? Probably, he says. And he doesn't
02:53care. That's not shady. That's the business. A room where stars feel safe saying anything. But a room
02:58that's safe has a downside. On therapists, anything awkward gets cut. But outside therapists, at a live
03:05event, there's no editing. What's your favorite title of the song? Push the start. Pushing on my
03:10button. Boom. And in March, Vanity Fair hired Jake and two other creators to host its Oscar party
03:17carpet. Kris Jenner asked how they got the gig. I love it. I don't know, honestly. Then Julia Fox
03:24walks up. Yes, the woman who inspired his entire format. She's there to talk about If I Had Legs,
03:30I'd Kick You, the Oscar-nominated film about a mom caring for her sick daughter. Fox, the single mom
03:34herself, calls it every mother's story. And Jake's first question, wasn't that kid so annoying? Fox
03:41doesn't laugh along. She does try to reframe it. Then she wraps the interview herself. And that's
03:46where Jake learned live has no second take. And the woman who inspired his career just walked away
03:51from him on camera. Okay, I feel like we've practiced on a little bit. That's the Capote risk in miniature.
03:55When your whole brand is about being liked, one wrong moment can close the door. Variety called
04:01his carpet question strange. Online, people questioned his media literacy. Jake's response?
04:06He re-shared the jokes himself. Because at the end of the day, none of it slowed him down. Because
04:11Jake's currency was never his interview skills. It's his access. We're talking Broadway debuts alongside
04:17Ray Romano. Movie debuts alongside Maya Hawke. And he's even a chief creative officer of a candy
04:22company. Every door opened because famous people like him. And that's exactly what the TikTok theory
04:27is pointing at. Because access got Capote everything too, right up until he spent it.
04:31But before we get to Capote, do you think Jake is a friend or a swan collector? Drop your answer
04:36now,
04:36then see if you still agree at the end. Because depending on who you ask, some commenters are sold
04:41Truman Capote is such a great comparison. While others are saying this is blasphemy. But one comment
04:46made the real case. Back then, the celebrities were writers and actors. Now Hollywood includes
04:51influencers. So Jake, quote, very well might be our modern day one. But is he really following
04:57Capote's playbook? Let's rewind to 1960s New York to find out. Where Truman Capote was a small town
05:03Alabama kid turned literary star who wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's. A novella where the main character,
05:09Holly Golightly, was reportedly based on real socialites Capote knew personally. And that's just one
05:14detail TikTok can't stop pointing out. Because Jake's next big project, a Hulu show based on his
05:19own life and his real best friends. And this is where the TikTok theory gets real. Believers are
05:24watching for one thing. Will Jake take the trust that got him to the top and burn it all down
05:29the
05:29way Capote did? Because Capote didn't just know New York's most powerful women. He was their best
05:34friend. We're talking Babe Haley, Slim Keith, Pamela Harriman, and he called them his swans.
05:39And they told him everything. Marriages, affairs, and secrets. Sound familiar? It does if you swap the
05:47swans for Tate, Selena, and Glenn. Swap the 1960s lunches for a podcast chair where anything can be
05:53cut. Which leaves just one step. The betrayal. And that's the step TikTok is waiting to see if Jake
05:58takes. Because Capote took it. In November of 1975, Esquire ran LeCotte Basque 1965. And this is the
06:05playbook TikTok says Jake is also running. Because Capote got the High Society invitation. The invitation
06:11that earned him trust. And the trust that got him secrets. And those secrets? He sold them as part of
06:16a book deal worth $750,000. And the swans were barely disguised in Esquire. Why? Because Capote bet
06:23they wouldn't even recognize themselves. Unfortunately for him, they did. Babe Haley never spoke to him again.
06:29Capote wasn't even invited to her funeral. And High Society shut him out forever. To make matters worse,
06:34he never finished the book. Meaning he burned down the empire and never even got paid in full.
06:39But here's where the TikTok theory starts to crack. Capote made money selling secrets. Jake makes
06:44money keeping them. The swans never got a say in what Capote wrote. On Therapist, the stars hold the
06:49edit button. And Jake doesn't even claim to be a journalist digging for dirt. So dropping a digital
06:54LeCotte Basque, like posting every clip his guest asked him to cut out, wouldn't just cost Jake the
07:00room. It would kill the whole business model. So maybe he's not the next Capote. Maybe he's the
07:05anti-Capote. Unless there's a third theory. That Jake won't betray his friends on a podcast.
07:10He'll do it the Capote way. In fiction. Because his Hulu show is about Jake's real life. And his real
07:16friends. Scripted by Hacks writers. Capote call LeCotte Basque fiction too. So the real test isn't
07:22whether Jake leaks a clip. It's what ends up in that script. And whether Jake's friends will
07:27recognize themselves as well. So back to the question from earlier. Is Jake a real friend
07:31or Gen Z's swan collector?
