Understanding the emu content controversy

It's not important but you still want to know.

Straight up I will tell you I’m not much of a fan of emus. I have seen them around, given I grew up in Australia. Not like in the street or anything…but at farms.

Anyway, while I’m not a fan of emus, I am a fan of niche internet drama. So with that in mind, after requests following my last post, here’s my breakdown of the emu content controversy.

OK wait what is EmuTok?

EmuTok is basically the emu realm of TikTok. Endless videos of emus in hobby and rescue farms - mostly charging at their owners, becuase that’s what female emus do.

Just who are these famous emus?

Emmanuel is the ‘main’ emu from Knuckle Bump Farms in South Florida. Emmanuel’s owner is Taylor. Together they have 2.4 million followers. Other featured emus from the farm are Ellen, Eliza, Elliot, and Emily.

Karen is an emu from Useless Farm in Kingston, Ontario. Karen’s owner is Amanda. Together they have five million followers. Less popular is Stanley. Another emu with less carisma than Karen. He also lives on Useless Farm.

Why are people talking about this?

Because basically, they’ve had an outbreak of Avian influenza AKA bird flu at Knuckle Bump Farms and Emmanuel got sick. According to owner Taylor Blake, more than 50 birds on her farm died in three days. These included other emus - namely, Emily, Eliza and Elliot.

Taylor posted videos of her lying next to Emmanuel and kissing him on the beak. If you immediately thought “why on God’s green Earth would anyone kiss an emu with fucking bird flu” well, you’re not alone my friend. Science Twitter, particularly virologists and veternarians really shit the bed on this one and who could blame them.

A virologist and research scientist from the Vaccine and Infection Disease Organization in Canada said what everyone was thinking - “If your emu (or any bird) has avian influenza, do not kiss it. Do not cuddle with it. Do not touch it. Bird flu is extremely dangerous to humans and other animals.”

Like others, she said Emmanuel should be euthanised.

So did the emu get euthanised?

No. Taylor responded to the backlash by saying Emmanuel “freaks” when he sees a mask. It turns out that not only does Emmanuel not know that he’s a viral star on TikTok, he also doesn’t know the importance of mask-use.

So she kept on snuggling that emu. An then oh, how the turns table, in that it turns out Emmanuel didn’t ever even have bird flu.

Taylor tweeted: “Emmanuel Todd Lopez tested negative for Avian Influenza at two separate labs, swab, fecal, and blood. He does not have the virus, and is not actively shedding the virus”.

eco sister @hiitaylorblake

I am trying my best to remain hopeful, tap into my unwavering faith, and trust that God is in control. I am also doing my best to remain thankful in the face of loss, for I have so much to be grateful for❤️ Thank you for reading.

So wait, why was the emu so sick then?

Good question bro. Despite saying “God is Good” and that’s why Emmanuel is not bird flu positive…It turns out maybe he was just stressed?

“We believe this all stemmed from stress. Emus are highly susceptible to stress. He was incredibly overwhelmed by the state coming in and euthanising our flock.” Taylor tweeted.

Is it possible Emmanuel the emu was stressed because his owner was Milk Shake Ducked?

So, just to start off at the same place here: a Milkshake Duck is a person who is beloved and popular on social media but it turns out as soon as you say you love them, it turns out they’re racist or a nazi or just plain problematic. It’s directly inspired by this great tweet:

pixelatedboat aka “mr tweets” @pixelatedboat

The whole internet loves Milkshake Duck, a lovely duck that drinks milkshakes! *5 seconds later* We regret to inform you the duck is racist

Increasingly to differentiate Taylor from Knucklebump Farms from Amanda from Useless Farms, Taylor has been known as “The Racist Emu Lady”.

This is because, as is the way of the internet, Taylor had a bunch of racist tweets out in the world before her rebrand as an emu enthusiast on TikTok. She also did that thing of ‘pretending to be racist to show racism’ which rarely works out in the way white TikTok comedians think it will. This led to a discussion on white lesbians and racism.

OK but what about the Other Karen - the emu from Canada?

That emu is fine. And is only mentioned as an antidote to “The Racist Emu Lady” as people have found that incredibly, she has no skeletons in her closet as of publication time.

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖕𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖊𝖈𝖙 𝖉𝖔𝖚𝖌 @theperfectdoug

@pop_gem i use this simple mnemonic: running from an evil bird? that's amanda, you have my word blonde hair and old tweets are shady? that's the racist emu lady

I just wish beloved wild life enthusiast and eternal-teen Bindi Irwin had something to do with this.

Well, it’s your lucky day, because she does. When it was thought Emmanuelle had bird flu, Taylor and her followers bombarded Bindi with requests to help. Even though Bindi lives in a country called Australia which is not in the United States.

Taylor tweeted Bindi saying: “I have been a fan of your family for as long as I can remember, I am reaching out to you in total desperation right now. I need help saving my emu, Emmanuel.”

Bindi replied that though the Irwin slash Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital which has treated over 100,000 animals including emus, they have never treated an emu “with this particular disease”.

She rather sensibly said “We will need to rely on our fellow animal experts with more experience with this avian flu”. But it was too late, Emmanuel’s fans were pissed and went after her.

In a now deleted tweet one member of the Church of Emmanuel and Parasocial Relationships with Emus said: “What a pathetic, useless reply. Zero effort to help when you're in a supposedly unique position to use your influence and contacts to actually help her. Thoughts and prayers are cheap. You are unimpressive and that's being polite”.

I am so tired. I am so very tired of this world.

Absolutely fair but not a question.

So what now?

I imagine this whole brouhaha will ignite a debate on whether people should keep emus as pets and use wild animals as ways to gain popularity on social media sites. Or maybe it will highlight the dangers of avian flu.

Will we ever fully understand the dangers of pandemics?

Or maybe there will be no further debate and people will choose choose which emu side they’re on and one day there will be a new emu influencer, and we will follow her and then she will be Milkshake Ducked and it will continue on in an endless cycle until the planet dies.

What does Emmanuel say about that?

Nothing. He’s an emu.