Brittany Broski Launching YouTube Talk Show ‘Royal Court’
It’s highly unlikely anyone can say they got their start in showbiz by drinking kombucha — anyone that is, except Brittany Broksi.
The Texas native, whose legal name is Brittany Tomlinson, first became an Internet sensation when a video of her trying kombucha for the first time went viral in 2019. In 21 seconds, she experienced every range of emotion and gave audiences their first introduction to a now beloved internet personality. But at the time, Broski tells Rolling Stone that it was one of the most humiliating moments of her life.
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“I got fired,” Broski says. “I was humiliated. I worked in a bank in trust and investment services. I was making barely enough to feed myself, but it was a good job and it was embarrassing to say ‘Oh, I got fired because I was dicking around on the internet.’ But hindsight is obviously 20/20 and I also know I never would have quit that job to pursue this full-time. So maybe it was the universe nudging me.”
Since that 2019 video — and getting sacked — Broski took a few sponsored brand deals (kombucha, of course) and turned her 21 seconds in the spotlight into a career in content creation, comedy, and fangirling. She has over 10 million followers on TikTok, 1.3 million subscribers on YouTube, was featured in a Super Bowl commercial, and there’s a good chance if there’s a viral sound going around, it’s probably her. Now, an in exclusive interview with Rolling Stone, she’s announcing the start of her new celebrity talk show, Royal Court.
The series, which premieres Thursday, July 20 on YouTube, is a medieval take on one of Broski’s favorite things: talking about all things pop culture. Each episode’s featured guest — all considered pop culture royalty — will go through a series of challenges, tailored to their personalities, in an attempt to win a coveted spot on Broski’s “medieval council.” The first guest of the monthly series is masked country star Orville Peck, who chats with Broski about all things medieval, and his most recent album Bronco. But above all, Broski says the show is a chance to mashup her fangirl aesthetic into a setting that makes celebs want to open up.
“I’m a Game of Thrones adult. I think that that whole era was so fun. I’m a big fantasy reader as well, like knights, dragons, and fairies. So I was like, ‘What is a way to incorporate that and have fun with that?“ Broski tells Rolling Stone. “When you’re a creator like me, and you’re at this level and able to create a rapport with people, how do you take that and build something for yourself? We’ve got some really superstar guests lined up. It’s just been a dream.”
This isn’t Broski’s first time in a hosting gig. She spent a year as the co-host of the cult internet podcast Violating Community Guidelines with Sarah Schauer, which ended in early 2023. She also hosts The Broski Report, a solo podcast where she stars as a “fearless and tyrannical” leader giving her people the latest on news, pop culture, and her ongoing (and numerous) obsessions. But she tells Rolling Stone that she considers Royal Court her first opportunity to finally take control over her own project — and ask the kinds of questions only the internet would understand.
“I want to take that viral-clip nature of the internet and give you a show of 100 of those moments,” Broski says. “But I also think that’s really important to have these moments where it is the interviewer and the celebrity to their core interacting. And that’s my hope, honestly, for the audience to know that if you’re watching your favorite person on the show, you get to see that side of them.”
While Broski has turned her love of entertainment, music, and film into a legitimate day job, one of the qualities that enures her to fans is her past life as a fangirl. Even in the interview, she’s more than willing to discuss what actors she can’t stop talking about. “There’s a lot of people dueling for white boy of the month right now,” Broski laughs. “It’s a really bloody battle. I really can’t get into it.”
Broski knows what it’s like to want to know everything about a celebrity, which is why she tells Rolling Stone she’s determined to do the most good as possible with her newfound platform. She used to be a stan — now she’s making content for them.
“I went from an anonymous consumer of media to now I’m one making the media, which is a strange jump,” Broski says. “But I know what it’s like to be in a really low mental space and really depend on other people, creators, and funny people to take you out of your reality and to provide that form of escapism. And it’s a big responsibility to have that now kind of resting on my shoulders. But it’s like, at the end of the day, what a privilege to be able to do that.”
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