The Brunch round-up for November 22: The week and how it made us feel

Raise your hand if you walked into 2025, expecting to see a Korean singer on an Indian TV serial. Yeah, us neither. Aoora made a K-drama-style entry in Saas Bahu Aur Swaad, causing at least one person to faint and lots of fangirling to ensue. Move over, KPop Demon Hunters. K-pop Damad Hunters is the meme we need.

Johnson Wen, the TikToker who rushed Ariana at a red-carpet event, has been arrested by a Singapore court for being a public nuisance. And not a moment too soon. Wen has jump-scared Katy Perry on stage and had rushed onto the field at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Anarchy is cool and all, Wen. But you keep picking women. That’s just harassment.

How to know the Labubu craze has peaked? We thought it was when Urvashi Rautela took hers to Wimbledon. Or when Amitabh Bachchan, 83, posted about his. It’s peaked for sure now. Sony is making a movie about the ugly-cute plushie. Nobody asked for this. And yet it feels… inevitable.

How are we just finding out that there’s a speed dating event for cars? Alabama’s Southern Automotive Conference has hosted matchmaking events for 13 years. Suppliers meet manufacturers and each tries to woo the other into a partnership. It’s less risky than a Tinder meetup, at least there’s insurance when your car totals. Where’s the 16-episode romcom based on this, BTW?

Merv from Merv is our new fav internet doggo. He’s the mixed-breed terrier in the upcoming movie that follows Zooey Deschanel and Charlie Cox as exes who reluctantly go on vacay together to cheer up their pup. Sappy? Yes. Are we watching? Also yes. There hasn’t been a good dog movie in a while.

ChatGPT released an apology for using em dashes with godless abandon, giving itself away. “Things got out of hand. We flew too close to the punctuation sun,” it joked. Look, it’s funny when brands commit to a personality, because we know there’s a human team BTS. It’s why we loved @TweetOfGod (remember waiting for “God” to drop an unhinged status update?). But AI pretending to be our bestie is creepy-cringe.

Zootopia 2 is almost here, and grown adults are squealing over all the Nick-Judy chemistry in the trailers. Plus, Officer Hopps had her own Glambot moment, which we’re watching on loop. And Nick in a suit? Chef’s kiss. The furries may be onto something.

Monster Energy is launching a for-the-girls line called FLRT. Cue the cliches: Pink cans with flower doodles, flavours named Berry Tempting and Strawberry Fling, “Zero-sugar” and “Zero-calories” in the labelling. Is this what women want? To be infantilised and fat-shamed? Drinks are gender-neutral, Monster. Why are you getting so emotional?