#baseless speculation

Blake hired E, ostensibly to gather evidence to prove MC cheated. Eliott was "freelancing" when he came to MC's rescue, and he joined the show very quickly afterward. Being MC's photographer gives him access to information he wouldn't otherwise have, and lets him blend into the background of MC's life.

Depending on how MC acts (and/or how close they are with G) this could either "prove" / disprove their involvement. (Yes, MC didn't rig the show to get on, but that doesn't mean that the show wasn't rigged, and by taking "advice" from G and/or Viktor, they could technically be cheating now.)

Incidentally, this could also mean that Blake (through E) might actually have evidence of other behind-the-scenes dirty dealings with the show, and could explain how he's so outspokenly certain abuses of power are taking place. (And if he did bribe the previous photographer to leave so E could take his place, he might have anecdotal evidence from Mariano as well. Blake might have "bribe a photographer" money, but it (probably) wouldn't be a lot, so that would only work on a photographer ready to quit.)

G did rig the show. I'm not sure how - might be as simple as hyping up MC's band during their introduction. If MC's band got more votes during G's introduction than while they were actually playing, that could be evidence but would be hard to prove. Plausible deniability is the point.

Viktor did not rig the show, but only because he's too busy constantly gaslighting G - to keep G under his thumb and insure that no one else in the industry would want to deal with GReign.

Viktor is never reachable when Griffin is actually trying to contact him. He constantly nags Victoria and the band into wrangling G instead. Viktor allows G to spiral into excess (while being unreachable), then swoops in to chastise G in front of friends and colleagues (to reinforce the image that Griffin is irresponsible, childish, and dangerous to himself and others) and then "publicly" makes a big show out of ensuring that compromising images don't become public.

(i.e. Viktor wants everyone close to Griffin to think G's the problem, and that he (Viktor) is the problem-solver, protecting G's reputation and making sure that well-know "facts" of G's life don't make it into tabloids or TV.)

Viktor is also a horrible sexist pig, but that's less conspiracy theory and more conspiracy fact. (Though it is kind of a fun whiplash moment to play one gender followed by another, and see how the criticisms change.)

Viktor playing on G's family issues (and correctly assuming that Ma Caruso would put pressure on MC, if he "informed" her of the "situation"- thanks for that, Vik) really should be the nail in the coffin.

He lets G spiral, lets their friends and colleagues think worse of them, chastises them publicly, and when all else fails, calls in their mom, which causes G to shut down entirely, like a forced reset.

(BTW Griffin are you seriously parroting back your mother's criticisms of your wife? Holy shit. I know she's your mom and you love her but you know this isn't right or healthy. I mean, that's why you didn't want to stay with them in the first place, right? Because you know how they are? That they're manipulative AND have the wrong impressions / opinions? Dude. Defend your wife, because if you don't I'm gonna have to do it for you, and NONE of us are gonna look good when that happens. THANKS AGAIN FOR THAT, VIKTOR!)

Viktor is constantly pulling the "see what I have to deal with?" scam. "Oh, Griffin keeps falling into the same pitfalls, again and again. We've all seen it happen." Okay, but who's digging those pits, Viktor?

Without G, Viktor loses a lot of influence and credibility within the industry. G wouldn't be where they are without Heavenly Isle, but Heavenly Isle probably couldn't function without being built on top of G's fame, either - and G's the one with the talent. (And charm, when they aren't mid-spiral.)

The only way Viktor can hold onto that power is A. by making G feel helpless and B. by making sure no one else would (afford to) want to deal with them. After all, a star known industry-wide for expensive temper tantrums is one on whom any record label finance department will have to do thorough cost/benefit analyses before attempting to poach.

G has talent and charm, but they were desperate to get away when they were starting out. And Viktor maintains power by making them revisit those feelings of desperation, so that their obvious "escape" is excess, now that they have the wealth that makes excess an everyday thing - making them more and more dependent on Viktor.

Blake hates G for ending their friendship and stealing their "chance." And potentially their demo tape.

"La la love" sounds more like Blake's lyrics. It's silly if you analyze it line by line, but it's catchy and fun. (And Blake has great energy on stage, which more than makes up for the lyrics.)

G and Viktor's "lore" mentions that it took 6 moths for Viktor to call him about the demo - and that Viktor said the lyrics were stupid and they'd need to do a lot of work to make something fame-worthy - but the demo IS what got G noticed in the first place.

The version that Blake has the DJ play at the beach has a different voice. Same silly lyrics, but it sounds different. Less polished.

I'm betting that version WAS Griffin's; that it was something G had made while / after being friends with Blake, and that Blake's version (and potentially Blake's voice) was what Griffin gave to Viktor.

They do sound alike, sometimes. They have similar voices, aesthetics choices, and backstories.

Desperate people do cruel and stupid things. Griffin was trying to escape his (going out on a limb here - 🙄) overbearing family and dead-end future, and he took his best chance of doing that.

Which might have been Blake's voice. (And, according to Blake, their "chance," too.)

I'm still confused by why Blake has such disdain for Seven, and the only explanation I can come up with is that he sees too much of his own life (and his resentment of Griffin) in Seven's life and the drama between Seven and MC's band.

He's almost certainly got the wrong impression, though.

Seven is not Griffin - he didn't abandon anyone or steal anything. If anything, MC's band (with or without MC) forced him out, and Seven never even asked for "his" songs or royalties for them.

Lucy supports Seven going on tour. Seven and Blake both really seem to love their moms (and call them often.) But if Blake thinks Seven left because of his own vanity while his (sick?!?!) mother needed help... that might dredge up his own insecurities.

(Why does Lucy have debts? Why does Lucy have debts that might take all of Seven's winnings to pay off?) 😰

I think Blake's letting his own insecurities and self-righteousness reflect onto someone similar... but someone who really doesn't deserve the scrutiny or the blame.

Semi-related rambling:

In the blame-game issues (at least in my first playthrough) as of Ch5

I will always defend Seven.

I will defend anyone against Viktor. (You don't get to talk to people like that.)

I will defend Victoria over Griffin (and hope to encourage Griffin to defend her, too.)

I will (apparently) defend Blake* over Griffin. (You don't get to talk to people like that, either.)

I will defend Griffin as a performer and a human being... but not where career decisions are concerned. (And especially concerning my career. I'm just here to sing, man. Don't drag me into anything else.)

I will defend my band against accusations of things they definitely didn't do (We didn't cheat to get on the show. We didn't cheat in any of the challenges.) ... But will investigate other accusations. (Wait - why is Seven a touchy subject for the rest of you? He's my ex.)

I will fight Viktor and G's mum bare-fisted in a parking lot

Well maybe not yet.

* For plot-reasons MC can't speak up, but for game reasons I can't select to send a "comforting" look to either Blake or G, and I don't know where I might have lost requisite points with Blake. We're getting a lot of friendly variations in the text so I don't know why that one was greyed out.