“Reunited Apart”: Charity Reunion Specials on YouTube in Lockdown

Abstract

This article considers the immense popularity of celebrity cast reunions on YouTube amid the onset of 2020’s COVID-19 lockdowns. As one of the most successful (and self-reflexive) examples of this trend, it focuses on Reunited Apart (2020—), a lockdown web series created and hosted by actor Josh Gad, dedicated to bringing together the casts and crews of beloved Hollywood films from the 1980s and beyond. Using Reunited Apart as a case study, the paper considers the ontological security afforded by nostalgic consumption in lockdown; discusses the remediation of celebrity and nostalgic fan experiences within YouTube (as platform) and Zoom video conference (as aesthetic); and draws attention to the utility of these reunions’ affective allure, mobilizing the influence of and attention generated by Hollywood celebrities to fuel the “affective economics” (Jenkins) of fan philanthropy, an endeavour streamlined through the use of YouTube’s native fundraising affordances.