Meet Troix Moi, Deux Moi’s Absurdist Little Sister

US Weekly’s “Stars: They’re Just Like Us” spread made a generation of fans obsessed with the minutiae of everyday celebrity life. Sites like Perez Hilton brashly followed in its stilettoed footsteps, ushering in the Internet era of celebrity gossip. And a couple years ago, Deux Moi slung this obsession of unverified celebrity gossip into the social media era, boldly relying on crowd-sourcing to share with the world everything from Jennifer Lopez’s Carbone order to how Leo DiCaprio allegedly likes to wear headphones mid-coitus to breaking stories like Scarlet Johansson and Colin Jost’s marriage.

Now, the infamous celebrity gossip account, which bills itself as “curators of pop culture,” has its own parody: Meet Troix Moi, the “charcuteriers of pop culture.” Troix Moi looks like its older sister Deux, with sans serif block letters, Instagram highlights for star spottings, and a grid full of celebrity memes. But Troix’s meme’s are lo-res, and its brand of celeb gossip is either mildly deranged, like, “Just saw Harry Styles having lunch with Queen Elizabeth II in LA. They both seem happy and comfortable, but won’t take pictures with fans. Anon pls,” or aggressively normal, like, “Evan Ross Katz at CitiBank. Anon pls” or, “Saw Timothee Chalet on a street in London today. He did something. No pics.”

Whereas the driving force behind Deux Moi is one that is earnestly trying to share celebrity stories, no matter how strange or unverified, Troix Moi wants to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

“I think it's fair to say Troix Moi is a satirical take on a seemingly renewed interest in ‘celebrity’ (brought about largely by the advent of Deux Moi),” the person behind Troix Moi, who would like to remain anonymous, tells NYLON over email. “Whoever Troix Moi is, she’s the absurdist little sister of Deux Moi, basically.”

NYLON spoke with the elusive founder of Troix Moi about how the account came to be, their favorite fake celeb sightings, and what’s behind people’s Deux Moi obsession.

How did you come up with @troixmoi, and why did you start it?

I cannot stress enough how little time or thought went into the genesis of Troix Moi. It really began as a joke amongst friends. We would send each other fake “spotteds” — the more absurd the better — and then I created the account as a continuation of that inside joke. To my surprise, other people started to stumble upon it and the rest, as they say, is history.

Troix Moi feels like a satire on the obsession we have with the minute details of celebrities' lives, like where they go to eat and what they order (or the fact that they all go to the same restaurants). Is Troix Moi not just a spoof, but maybe an antidote to Deux Moi? Are you trying to point out how ridiculous it all is, or something else?

I think it's fair to say Troix Moi is a satirical take on a seemingly renewed interest in "celebrity" (brought about largely by the advent of Deux Moi). I'm a fan of Deux Moi myself. But I think the unchecked, crowd sourced aspect of it really led me to the absurdist tone of Troix Moi. But ultimately I'm not trying to make a statement or anything. It's all in good fun.

Do you get a lot of submissions? How do you choose which ones to post?

I do get a lot of submissions. I actually think I might get more than Deux Moi herself, because in theory, in order for people to submit to Deux Moi, they have to spot a celebrity (or have a Carbone reservation). To submit to Troix Moi, you just have to get the joke. So I get a lot of submissions. And I was pleasantly surprised that so many people seemed to effortlessly pick up on what I was doing. The criteria for what I post is mostly just… if it makes me laugh, and it doesn’t seem too mean-spirited, I post.

What is the funniest or most ridiculous or your favorite submission so far?

I really like the ones that seem just this side of plausible. Like “Biden spotted in DC. anon” gets me every time. Or “Harry Styles was in my yoga class and couldn’t stop burping.” I also like the more obscure celeb sightings, or the strange combinations of celeb sightings — like Gwendoline Christie and George Lopez on Citibikes, or Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stealing gumballs from the Skechers headquarters. And to that end, when it's something so specific like "Kate Mara nibbling a nerds rope outside of the Four Seasons Austin,” it’s always really fun.

There are also longer bits that people catch on to and perpetuate — there’s a "Cousin Craig” runner, and “anon please, I am Bradley Whitford" makes me laugh a lot.

What inspired the tone of Troix Moi? One of the most fun things about the account is that all the commenters really get the joke and the voice.

I think the voice of Troix Moi was very much poking fun at what you mentioned earlier, just someone with a sort of ongoing interest in pop culture and is constantly just into the idea of fame and being famous. Whoever Troix Moi is, she’s the absurdist little sister of Deux Moi, basically.

Why are people so obsessed with Deux Moi?

Look, I don’t have any great insight into any of this, but I think Deux Moi is just the social media era version of "stars they’re just like us!” or TMZ or Access Hollywood. So people, myself included, have always been interested in this, it’s just a new avenue and new outlet for that. She’s kinda genius.

Has Deux Moi lost the plot? If so, when?

I really don’t think I’m qualified to comment on this one. Again, I must stress that I am really just here for a good time, not for a long time.

You've gained 7800+k followers in a month. Is that surprising to you? What do you think people love about Troix Moi?

I’m very surprised. Again, I have to mention, I really did not think this through. But now that it’s happening, I think it's really fun that people have jumped on the joke, and it’s very cool to have a community of really funny people all contributing to this very silly thing. I think that's what people enjoy about it, too, that we’re all just in on the joke.

Anything else you want to share?

Love you NYLON.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.