Charli XCX has never lacked range. Over more than a decade in pop, she’s moved between underground credibility and mainstream dominance, while quietly building a social circle that spans music, film, comedy, and fashion. That network becomes the punchline in a new Elle video, where Charli flips the script and pranks her famous friends with scenarios so specific they almost work.
The segment, part of Phoning It In with Elle, finds Charli on the other side of the prank for once. She admits upfront that she’s been targeted by the series before and is visibly nervous about returning the favor. That anxiety ends up working in her favor, lending the calls just enough sincerity to keep people on the line longer than expected.
The Horse That Almost Lived in Dakota Johnson’s Yard
Charli opens strong by calling Dakota Johnson with a crisis that sounds both impossible and oddly plausible in celebrity Los Angeles: her husband, The 1975 drummer George Daniel, has allegedly won a horse at a party and now needs somewhere to keep it.
Before dropping the bomb, Charli asks a key question, does Johnson like animals? The setup buys her time as she explains that the horse is currently circling the city in a trailer while she scrambles for solutions. Johnson listens, pauses, and then calmly dismantles the lie. “Am I getting pranked by Elle magazine again?” she asks, correctly clocking the situation before Charli can spiral further.
Still, Johnson offers a compliment on the performance, admitting Charli’s fake distress almost sold her.
A Managerial Crisis That Crossed a Line
Next up is singer Role Model, who shares a real-life manager with Charli. The premise this time is riskier: Charli asks him to help fire their manager during an active Zoom call.
Role Model resists immediately, saying he’s “not that guy,” and adds a pointed observation, as a gay man, he feels inclined to keep the manager around. Charli pushes back by claiming she’s now seeking straight male representation, a line that lands with enough shock value to give the prank away. Role Model laughs, calling it the moment that confirmed his suspicions.
The exchange lands less as gotcha humor and more as a snapshot of trust; the joke works because both sides clearly understand the boundaries.
Rachel Sennott and the Cow Romance That Almost Worked
The most elaborate bit is reserved for Rachel Sennott. Charli pitches a fictional film about a woman who falls in love with a cow, suggesting Sennott might play the animal opposite her.
Instead of shutting it down, Sennott leans in, asking about tone, genre, and whether the script includes intimacy. The conversation stretches into genuinely thoughtful territory before Charli escalates by asking her to “moo” as part of an audition exercise. That’s when Sennott finally breaks, laughing as she realizes she’s been had, though she admits there was a moment when she was fully on board.
