After a month-long break from their podcast, “Emergency Intercom” hosts Drew Phillips and Enya Umanzor released a comeback episode on March 28 titled “Emergency Intercom – Episode 185 (Things are changing).” The episode was met with disappointment from fans for various reasons.
The episode started out in the typical fashion for the podcast: discussing the hosts’ daily lives and a variety of other topics. However, it quickly began to break down when the conversation turned secretive and vague, and the hosts started to discuss known influencers and activists in a very unseemly way.
“So much has happened in my life. This one I specifically can’t talk about,” Phillips said in the episode. This moment, and others similar to it, bothered fans. The secretive nature of their conversation made listeners feel left out, wondering if the show was even worth listening to anymore. While influencers are not required to share everything about their personal life, “Emergency Intercom” gained a following for being open and transparent with their fans. Taking that crucial aspect away makes it feel like there has been a drop in quality, and further distances the fans from the hosts.
Beyond their lack of authenticity, Phillips and Umanzor are also under fire for their comments about YouTuber Safiya Nygaard and tasteless jokes about activists Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai.
Seemingly out of nowhere, they began to criticize Nygaard and her relationship with her husband Tyler Williams, with Phillips saying that they “hate each other” and making odd assumptions about the nature of their relationship. This angered listeners and fans of Nygaard, as she is known as a highly unproblematic influencer. It was unjust and, frankly, a bit cruel.
The comments that really rubbed audiences the wrong way, though, were the ones about Thunberg, with Phillips saying that she “fell off” and that the “b**** is in the gutters.” Umanzor then followed up, commenting that Thunberg should “go to school and be normal.” This immediately sparked controversy across the internet, highlighting their blatant disrespect, degradation and ignorance of Thunberg’s advocacy efforts.
Thunberg went viral in 2018 for her work as a climate change activist in her teenage years. As her views became more radical, she lost significant media coverage. However, she is still well known for being highly active in climate change-related protests and, more recently, her advocacy for Palestine. Fans of “Emergency Intercom” were upset with the hosts’ tone-deaf comments and began to question their views, especially considering their recent collaboration with Marc Jacobs — a brand known to openly support Israel.
While Phillips and Umanzor shouldn’t necessarily be considered as a credible and informative source on politics, they also shouldn’t be openly discussing important activists in such an unserious light, especially with a platform as large as theirs.
As a result of their tasteless comments and low-quality conversations, users online began to open up about how they never thought “Emergency Intercom” was funny, suggesting other podcasts like the “cocteau twinks” and “Upstairs Neighbors” as alternatives.
As it so often goes in the world of social media, the initial controversy caused internet users to dig up older videos and tweets that show the hosts’ problematic past. Videos of Umanzor and Phillips saying racial slurs in old vines and distasteful tweets from their old accounts resurfaced as a result of their recent episode.
Many fans were disappointed that the highly anticipated comeback episode of “Emergency Intercom” was so lacking, with many citing the hosts’ move to LA as the reason why the quality of their content dropped significantly.
As it stands, folks on the internet are still angry at the hosts’ insensitive jokes and are very aware of the changes in the vibe of their podcast. Phillips and Umanzor released a statement on April 4, apologizing for their behavior and promising fans that they will do better: “…we do recognize that even offhand comments have weight, especially online, and it’s on us to do better.” In “Emergency Intercom – Episode 186 (episode one hundred and eighty six)” — the following episode released on April 4 — they did not verbally address any of the comments.
Denise Piolo is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the spring 2025 quarter. She can be reached at epiolo@uci.edu.
Edited by Alaina Retodo and Joshua Gonzales