I Accidentally Caused the Internet to Attack Anna Bright (Blog)

Halfway through writing this, Anna published her newsletter and what do you know, it's about the same topic.

And what a strange topic it is, evidenced by her subject line: "The Trolls are Coming! Becoming an Anti-Feminist Punching Bag"

So, I started gaining an inordinate number of followers on my personal Instagram and X accounts this week.

I assumed it was just bots or some bug.

But I started to receive a healthy amount of comments, replies and messages as well. All asking whether I won my match against Anna Bright.

Anna Bright Agrees to ‘Humble’ The Dink’s Thomas Shields in Singles Match After Trash Talk Escalates

“We’re doing it, I’m bored and humbling men is my favorite pastime.” – World #2 women’s pickleball player Anna Bright.

The Dink PickleballAlex E. Weaver

People were even approaching me in the real world. Either wishing me luck or asking how it went. Pretty cool.

I chalked it up to good marketing and a solid storyline (which to be fair, it is).

But then Anna texted me:

"People are trolling me so hard saying I lost to you. I really don’t get it 😂. I do so many trollable things but they are so latched onto this."

Around the same time our contributor and PicklePod co-host, Nico the Lefty, sent this:

The Dink, Nico, Anna and I were receiving tons of messages and comments, even on unrelated posts, asking if "Thomas won," or where and when they could watch the match.

All of Anna's recent posts were filled with comments referencing her now infamous statement that "humbling men" is her favorite pastime; how she was going to "humble" me.

Now, most of us know this to be a joke, especially if you know her sense of humor. The internet, however, interpreted it differently.

But I still didn't understand why SO MANY people cared.

And then it clicked when I received a text message from a former NBC producer that I hadn't spoken to in over a year: "Thomas Shields has hit my TikTok timeline."

I clicked the link to a TikTok video Nico posted last week. In it, he explains the back and forth between Anna and I that sparked the trash talk and ultimately the match in Miami.

It went viral.

It hit about a quarter million views on Instagram. Not bad. 10s of thousands on YouTube and X. But on TikTok, it's nearing 3 million views.

Usually that kind of reach is the result of a great highlight or funny meme. For a talking head video, that's huge.

And while the views are impressive, it's the comments that tell the real story.

• 60,000 people liked this comment: "Professional pickle ballers vs random white guy will never get old"
• 53,000 people liked this comment: "He won"

And then 10s of thousands of likes on comments revolving around Anna's us of the phrase "humbling men."

All of our social channels are blowing up with comments. People are dying to know the result. But why?

Well, because apparently Anna Bright's feminine energy is upsetting a certain corner of the internet, one that's composed of young males who will look you dead in the eye and warn you that "toxic femininity" is running rampant.

As Anna put it:

"Overnight, I became an anti-feminist icon… or perhaps enemy? target? A misandrist? I can’t lie, I do like being iconic, but I think I reached a corner of TikTok that is a relatively dark place. I saw Nico’s video on Instagram a few days before this and legitimately thought nothing of it, I don’t even think the tone of it is particularly incendiary."

By the transitive property, I believe that makes me their champion.

Anna reached a similar conclusion:

"But alas, to these men, Thomas Shields has become a martyr, a saint, a hero in their fight against the big, bad, scary women of the world."

And that...is concerning...and also pretty hilarious. Of all the things to be the face of, this movement isn't exactly high on my list.

So anyway, we'll post the full match to The Dink YouTube channel on Monday.

Until then, it is very important you do two things. Subscribe to Anna's YouTube channel and...

Sign up for her newsletter. In addition to being super insightful, it's an entertaining read.

Finally, here's a clip of Anna body-bagging the referee (my brother):