The crux of Severance, the dystopian black-comedy thriller streaming on Apple TV+, is the titular medical procedure, which "severs" the memories of one’s "innie" work self from their off-hours "outie." This essentially results in two different humans, each with potential for a unique personality. It’s not inconceivable that your innie could love jazz (perhaps even "Defiant Jazz") and your outie could only dig hair-metal. The possibilities are endless.
Seemingly branching out from there, content creator Jaden Williams wound up with a hilarious premise: What if your outie was super cringe? In an Instagram sketch titled "When You Realize Your Outie Sucks," he plays two characters: a tie-wearing innie with an initially chipper demeanor that recalls early season one Mark S. (Adam Scott), and a smooth-voiced wellness director reminiscent of Gemma "Ms. Casey" Scout (Dichen Lachman). Just like in the show, where "Ms. Casey" presents the innies with innocuous info about their outies—a way to satiate their curiosity about their other lives—Williams’ counselor character shares a series of simple facts. They just don’t go over well.
The first fact—"Your outie loves Nickelback"—earns a modest look of concern, but nothing too extreme. But the innie enters outright disbelief when learning, "Your outie has a 'Live, Laugh, Love' bumper sticker." From there, these statements touch on slang ("no cap," "I’m baby"), social media (calling the platform "X" instead of "Twitter," overusing LinkedIn), and political headlines ("Your outie says 'The Gulf of America'"). The innie becomes gradually more frazzled, eventually pleading to "stop" and noting, in a violation of company policy, that he "hate[s] each of these facts equally."
The sketch ends with a curveball: "Your outie is a software engineer," the innie learns, breathing a temporary sigh of relief. "But his full-time job is content creating." (Wow. If you’ll indulge me for a second: In the universe of this sketch, the innie presumably underwent the severance procedure to accept a job that required it. But his outie also works an additional full-time job, with more work on the side. That’s real hustle.)
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The actual Severance wrapped its second season in late March with "Cold Harbor," a universally acclaimed finale that offered a nuanced and mind-bending portrayal of old vs. new love. But it’s been captivating everyone’s collective imagination—and infiltrating broader culture—this entire run of episodes. On a darkly comedic tone befitting the world of the show itself, someone on LinkedIn shared some of the in-office perks of working at JPMorgan, and they do give off a Lumon Industries vibe.
On a more heartwarming note: Ben Stiller, the series’ primary director and executive producer, engaged with a hardcore fan who’s battling stage 4 cancer and reached out with a special request. "A great bucket list item to check off would be to meet you and any of the cast and crew from the show," the viewer wrote. "We can fly anywhere." Stiller responded on the same day, requesting a DM—and apparently initiating plans to meet up: "Look forward to meeting you xx," he wrote. The fan added that Stiller and the team had made their "wish come true."
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Ketel Marte was brought to tears during an MLB game after facing a shameful fan taunt.
Baseball manager's poignant support for a player brought to tears after shameful fan taunt
Whether they’re expecting perfection from their favorite players or, worse, behaving callously toward opposing teams, sports fans often forget that athletes are human beings. But athletic competition has the ability to unify and uplift, even amid such painful and unpleasant encounters. Take, for example, a major-league baseball game held June 24, 2025 between the home team Chicago White Sox and visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
A shameful low point occurred when Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte was at bat in the seventh inning. Per ESPN, a fan reportedly yelled out a comment regarding Marte’s late mother, Elpidia Valdez, who died in a 2017 car accident in the Dominican Republic. Team personnel, including manager Torey Lovullo, then requested the 22-year-old fan be ejected. (Though he was remorseful and admitted his actions were inappropriate, according to an ESPN source, he was nonetheless banned indefinitely from all MLB ballparks.) "We commend the White Sox for taking immediate action in removing the fan," the MLB said in a statement. Marte reportedly declined to comment.
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While the fan’s behavior is inexcusable, it did spark a powerful and inspiring moment. After hearing the comment, Marte was visibly upset, prompting Lovullo to walk on the field, put his arm around him, and offer some words of encouragement. "[I said,] 'I love you, and I’m with you, and we’re all together, and you’re not alone,'" Lovullo said in a post-game interview, as documented by The Rich Eisen Show. "'No matter what happens, no matter what was said or what you’re heard, that guy is an idiot.’"
According to Arizona Republic, Lovullo heard the fan’s comment but didn’t want to repeat it. “I looked right at [Marte] when I heard,” he said. “I looked right at him, and he looked at the person, as well. He put his head down and I could tell it had an immediate impact on him, for sure."
Elsewhere in the post-game interview, the manager called the moment "terrible" and reflected on why he stood up for Marte. "Fans are nasty, and fans go too far sometimes," he said. "I love my players, and I’m gonna protect them…I’ve known Ketel for nine years. He’s had some unbelievably great moments and some hardships as well and some really tough moments in his life. I know those. At the end of the day, we’re human beings, and we have emotions. I saw him hurting, and I wanted to protect him."
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The following day, the Chicago White Sox X account sent out a message in support of Marte, writing, "We’re with you" and "Baseball is family." On The Rich Eisen Show, the show's host addressed the need to eradicate this kind of toxic athlete-fan interaction: "I was hearing [people saying], 'There’s no place for this in major league baseball.' There isn’t. There’s no place for this in our society. I understand that people are saying the MLB has got to do something about this. Fans have a right to heckle players—this is something that has happened forever…But there is a line."
In another recent, depressing sports moment with a beautiful coda, let’s look to Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the eventual champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. During the first quarter, Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon—a devastating injury that could potentially sideline him for most of the 2025-2026 season. Following the game, in a lovely display of sportsmanship, Thunder point-guard and league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went to the Pacers locker room to check on his competitor. In a press conference, he said, "You just hate to see it, in sports in general. But in this moment, my heart dropped for him. I can't imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening. It’s so unfortunate."
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