Those paying attention to the dos and don’ts of celebrity culture may have noticed a recent trend. It appears as though wired headphones, which are significantly cheaper than many higher-priced Bluetooth headphone alternatives, are making a huge comeback.
Celebrities such as Harry Styles, Zoë Kravitz, Ariana Grande, and Dua Lipa have all been seen with wired headphones, leading some consumers to question why. Is it just an “it girl” aesthetic, a silent march toward anti-tech advocacy, or a bona fide conspiracy?
Patty Eminger (@pattypopculture), a popular TikTok content creator, shares a theory regarding the recent move toward wired headphones and whether it’s just trend hopping. His video has more than 654,000 views.
Eminger’s observations
Wired headphones seem to be the new fashion, with Harper’s Bazaar calling them the “coolest It-Girl accessory.”
Eminger himself has noticed the trend.
“In every single Vogue ‘What’s in My Birkin’ or ‘GQ 10 Things I Can’t Live Without’ video, they all whip out wired headphones,” he says.
He argues they may be part of a bigger conspiracy.
“I don’t think it’s just a performative trendy accessory, because they all do it,” he says. “ Celebrities absolutely know the real reason.”
The reason? “People really believe that AirPods can be hacked into and used as a listening device,” Eminger says. “ Anyone with basic hacking knowledge can tap into your conversations and intercept them. And I bet you that celebrities’ teams especially advise them to not take a phone call on AirPods.”
Is there really a conspiracy?
There’s at least some merit to the idea that celebrities fear a hacker accessing their devices. Yahoo Tech writer Dan Thorp-Lancaster notes that “anything can be hacked if someone has enough time, patience and expensive equipment to do it.”
Bluetooth, like pretty much every other technology, has weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Thorp-Lancaster says that encryption can make it harder for hackers to access Bluetooth devices, and that everyday people aren’t usually the targets of attacks to begin with.
For celebrities, politicians, and leaders in various enterprises, the risk is always present.
Famously, former Vice President Kamala Harris told Stephen Colbert she doesn’t use Bluetooth headphones as a way of maintaining her security, which Eminger referred to in his video.
“ I’ve served on the Senate Intelligence Committee. I have been in classified briefings, and I’m telling you, like, don’t be on the train using your ear pods and thinking somebody can’t listen to your conversation,” Harris said in 2025.
That logic, it seems, may have been spread to other celebrities and insiders who have private information to protect.
But, as Thorp-Lancaster concludes, the wired headphones are part of a trend. It’s unclear, then, whether celebrities are moving to use wired headphones to protect their calls, or whether they’re simply participating in a broader movement.
@pattypopculture
Subplot News reached out to Eminger via email for comment.
