If you're married to Selena Gomez, and you are asked who the hottest celebrity is, what is the correct answer? It's not rocket science nor a multiple-choice test, but sometimes, the answer is seated right next to you wearing a wedding ring, and you still miss it.
Benny Blanco is raising eyebrows after a resurfaced clip from his podcast, Friends Keep Secrets, showed him naming Margot Robbie as the 'hottest' celebrity while within a three-foot radius of his wife, Selena Gomez. Out of context, the moment reads as awkward at best and insensitive at worst, especially given that Gomez is known as one of Hollywood's most recognisable beauties. However, before another digital riot begins to defend her honour, the moral lesson is that not every viral video tells the full story.
The Clip That Sparked the Backlash
The now-viral moment comes from an episode of Friends Keep Secrets, hosted by Blanco alongside Lil Dicky and Kristin Batalucco, with Gomez joining as a guest.
During a conversation about hypothetical film roles and how they connect with relationship boundaries, the group discussed scenarios involving actors filming intimate scenes. At one point, Blanco was building the scene, complete with the 'hottest' celebrity. After a brief pause, he landed on Margot Robbie's name.
Despite the scenario initially being described for Lil Dicky to answer, the fact that Blanco considered someone other than his wife as the 'hottest' did not sit well with the fandom. On the other hand, how awkward would it have been if he used Gomez's name for that hypothetical scene?
Clipped and circulated across social media, the video took on a life of its own. Without the surrounding conversation, many viewers interpreted the comment as tone-deaf, most especially given Gomez's presence.
'Is there one good thing about this dude? Like, genuinely', one Reddit user wrote, while another called the moment 'humiliating', reflecting the second-hand embarrassment that quickly spread online.
Context, Clipping, and the Internet's Favourite Sport
Some viewers have pointed out that the clip omits key context. The discussion was centred on a hypothetical acting scenario involving a sex scene, not a direct comparison between Gomez and Robbie. In fact, Gomez herself had been actively participating in the conversation, even joking about relationship boundaries.
At one point, she quipped that if Blanco ever decided to take on such a role because he truly believed in it, she wouldn't stand in the way. She then drew the line at him choosing to do it randomly or just for fun, playfully stating: 'But if you were just one day like, "I wrote this and I'm gonna do it", and I'd be like, "Great, so sign here, and that's our divorce"'.
Others online have echoed the same point. 'Context does actually matter', one Reddit user noted, adding that the video appears to have been deliberately shortened for 'outrage clicks'.
Despite the full context, the wording still prompted a side eye from all over the internet. Because while the conversation may have been hypothetical and much less harmful than initially framed, the choice of the word 'hottest' in that moment may not have been the coolest move in the eyes of the public.
