The Brooks Nader School of Performance Art

Who is Brooks Nader? Beyond the labels of former Sports Illustrated model and girl from Baton Rouge, I’d argue that she’s a modern-day performance artist.

The Nader family rose to prominence in the C-list cultural zeitgeist after the first season of their reality series, Love Thy Nader, premiered on Hulu in 2025. At the time, the Nader girls (Brooks, Mary Holland, Grace Ann, and Sarah Jane) were blowing up on social media, with wild-card Brooks at the helm. This year is no different. Now, another season of Love Thy Nader is on the way, Brooks is starring in the Baywatch reboot, and she is flexing her mastery in the time-honored tradition of Getting Attention.

Here’s her playbook:

Lesson 1: Make the US Open about you

Last year, Brooks caused quite a stir when she revealed that she was dating both tennis No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner (at the same time) as they played each other at the 2025 US Open.

Was it true? That’s not the point. The point was that she was ballsy enough to claim it, even if it was a blatant lie.

Lesson 2: Dump Taron Egerton*

*Only after you’ve finished using the relationship to promote your role in the Baywatch reboot.

Lesson 3: Have a “viral topless moment”

Flashing forward to this month, Brooks instigated several headlines with a “viral topless moment,” after she was paparazzi’d sans the top half of her bikini while on board a yacht in Sardinia with her family, including her mom, Holland, and her dad, Breax. And how can I say it better than Page Six? “Breaux looked unfazed as [Brooks] bared her breasts aboard a luxurious yacht.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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While pearl-clutching Americans thought to themselves, that’s a little strange, Brooks and co. saw a PR gold mine.

Lesson 4: Use your “viral topless moment” to harness the news cycle (again)

Brooks then responded to the outrage with another batch of paparazzi-style vacation snaps.

“Are we happy now?” she wrote on her Instagram story on Tuesday, along with the photos of her jumping into the ocean wearing a Gucci dress and stilettos.

Model Brooks Nader jumping into the ocean wearing a Gucci dress and heels!🔥 pic.twitter.com/MCNGG2LEwq

— LEGENDARY LADE! 🇳🇬 (@LegendaryLade) August 20, 2026

The stunt also featured model Jack Lumsden, who can be seen cinematically pulling Brooks out of the water, and in more totally not-staged yacht pics.

Let’s assume, for the purposes of the exercise and the narrative that I’ve built in my head, that her first viral topless moment was also staged, maybe to promote Love Thy Nader or Baywatch (or again, just for attention). That would mean it was all an elaborate rouse to jump into the meditarean fully clothed, chronicle this moment in history, and forever dominate the tabloid news cycle…You have to respect the dedication to the craft. Of course, we cannot forget the iconic performance-art trailblazers who came before her, like Lisa Rinna, Nicole Richie, and Kim Kardashian. She is learnèd in their ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Marina Abramović in her own right.