Deal Brief · Week of Jun 1
Tracking the deals shaping the business of culture.
Investments
Sydney Sweeney, Khloé Kardashian, Jessica Alba and Priyanka Chopra Jonas revealed among Phia's backers
Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni's AI "shopping agent" Phia revealed the roster behind its $35.5M Series A — more than 30 cultural figures, from Sweeney and Kardashian to Paris Hilton and Karlie Kloss. The raise values the company near $185M; it now reports 1.5M users and 9,600+ brand partners.
Tony Hawk backs Scott Coker's new $60M global MMA league
Former Bellator CEO and Strikeforce founder Scott Coker is launching a new global MMA league with $60M led by Creator Sports Capital, targeting a 2027 debut. Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk is among the investors, alongside backers across sport, media, and finance.
New ventures
Olivia Jade launches makeup brand o.piccola after a five-year build
The creator has gone from influencer to founder with o.piccola, a self-funded line debuting with a single hero product: a $44 Bronze & Glow Balm formulated in South Korea. The name nods to the Italian piccola — little — and her less-is-more philosophy.
Jonas Brothers launch weekly podcast ‘Hey Jonas!’
Kevin, Joe, and Nick have launched a weekly show, “Hey Jonas!”, under an exclusive deal with iHeartPodcasts — complete with a fan call-in line and an unfiltered look at life on and off tour.
Former NHL enforcer Aaron Volpatti releases his first country single
The ex-Canucks and Capitals winger — and author of a memoir about his road back from severe burns — has released his debut single, “A Beer A Day,” a country-rock track.
Fundraising and acquisitions
Martha Stewart’s AI startup Hint raises $10M seed, led by Slow Ventures
At 84, the lifestyle icon has co-founded Hint, an AI home-management platform that flags maintenance, insurance, and repair needs before they become problems. The seed round was led by Slow Ventures, with Montauk Capital and others participating.
Brand endorsements
Cardi B named Fashionphile's 2026 global ambassador
The Grammy winner is fronting luxury-resale platform Fashionphile's "Get Your Bag" campaign, with a curated edit of Hermès, Chanel, and Goyard pieces. She's the brand's fourth ambassador, after Martha Stewart, Nicole Richie, and Emma Roberts.
Conor McGregor signs as global brand partner for nicotine pouch brand ALP
The former UFC champion will front a campaign for ALP, a nicotine pouch brand tied to Turning Point Brands and the Tucker Carlson Network, as it expands into the EU and South America.
Enzo Fernández becomes BingX's first individual athlete ambassador
The World Cup–winning midfielder is the crypto exchange's first individual athlete global ambassador, extending a sports push that already includes Chelsea FC and Scuderia Ferrari. The deal is timed to the 2026 World Cup.
Banchero, Holmgren, Pritchard and Loyd headline Foot Locker's 'Hoops Lives Here' platform
Foot Locker's new year-round basketball platform, "Hoops Lives Here," features NBA stars Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren, and Payton Pritchard alongside the WNBA's Jewell Loyd, spanning Nike, Jordan, and Converse.
On signs Louisville distance star Elsingi Kipruto to an NIL deal
The Swiss brand has added Kipruto, a Kenyan-born Louisville freshman and record-setting distance runner, to its NIL roster — his first major brand deal and On's first Louisville distance signing.
Partnerships
Jay-Z's Roc Nation partners with Chelsea FC to grow the club in the U.S.
Chelsea has signed a cultural-marketing partnership with Roc Nation Sports International to build the club's following in the U.S. through music, influencers, and storytelling.
Stephen Curry's Unanimous Media forms a sports-content venture with Hard Carry Media
Curry and Erick Peyton's Unanimous Media has launched a joint venture with Bryan Smiley's Hard Carry Media, starting with content built around NIL college basketball players for YouTube and TikTok.
Bussin' With the Boys launches NASCAR show 'Racin' With The Boys' with Omaha Productions
The football-born podcast (hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan) is moving into motorsports with a 14-episode weekly NASCAR series produced by Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions, on the Bussin' YouTube channel.
Bridgerton creator Chris Van Dusen teams with Kim Kardashian and Emma Roberts on Netflix’s ‘Calabasas’
Netflix has ordered Calabasas, a YA romance drama from Bridgerton creator Chris Van Dusen, with Kim Kardashian and Emma Roberts among the executive producers. It’s the first series under Van Dusen’s new Netflix deal.
Media deals
Alex Cooper locks four exclusive shows on YouTube
The Call Her Daddy host announced four original series coming exclusively to YouTube, all produced by her Unwell Productions — a push past podcasting toward a full programming slate.
Trevor Noah signs a YouTube-exclusive travel series, ‘World Tour’
The former Daily Show host is launching Trevor Noah’s World Tour, a YouTube-exclusive travel series blending comedy, food, and culture city to city — announced alongside Cooper’s slate at YouTube’s Brandcast.
Julian Shapiro-Barnum gets YouTube’s late-night swing with ‘Outside Tonight’
The Recess Therapy creator will host Outside Tonight, a live weekly late-night show shot in New York parks and on street corners — billed as the internet’s first true late-night talk show, launching June 17.
Nick Cannon gets a Netflix docuseries on raising 12 kids with 6 mothers
Netflix has greenlit an untitled docuseries following Cannon as he balances a busy career with raising 12 children across six mothers, due winter 2026.
Olivia Jade's five-year build is the part worth sitting with, not the launch. Most creators rush a brand out the second they have an audience and then wonder why it flops - wrong margins, wrong manufacturer, wrong timing. She self-funded it and waited until she had one product done right instead of ten done fast. Self-funding also means she owns 100% of o.piccola, no investor cap table eating into the upside before the model's even proven. Compare that to Phia raising $35.5M from 30 backers before it's fully proven out - different bet, different dilution, different control. Both can work, but only one keeps every dollar of upside with the founder.