Instagram influencers seem to have it all. They’re able to travel the world, receive free products from brands, and connect with other creatives across the world. But while their lives might look picture-perfect on Instagram, a lot of influencers have made headlines across the web for controversial reasons.
Unfortunately, that’s the name of the game with this job. While influencers get to create amazing careers around their interests, they also have to be mindful of what they say, do, and promote, because if they plug or say the wrong thing, everything they have worked for can be destroyed within seconds. And that’s a lot of pressure to deal with.
Luckily, a lot of the issues that influencers have to deal with can be fixed with an authentic apology. And they most likely can overcome any issue as long as they have a strong brand and fan base.
However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t talk about the issues that arise. After all, they are interesting to talk about every now and then.
So just in case you’ve fallen behind on the influencer gossip, we gathered a full list of controversies you might’ve missed from this past year below. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to give them a follow if you like what you see.
1. Caroline Calloway’s national “creativity” tour got canceled over negative comments — and a former friend allegedly ghost-wrote her material.
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She recovered, but only temporarily.
At the beginning of this year, influncer Caroline Calloway planned a national creativity tour for her followers to attend for $165. Unfortunately, things turned south when a reporter claimed the events were a complete scam.
After her New York and D.C. event, Calloway decided to refund all of the money for the events. Good news is Calloway isn’t letting this situation bring her down. She sold out an event, which was conveniently called “The Scam.”
Her former friend’s story might be the nail in the coffin.
On September 10, The Cut published a piece by Natalie Beach, a college friend of Calloway’s. In the scathing essay, Beach talks about how she helped Calloway build her social media brand and presence but never received proper compensation for doing so.
She also dives into Calloway’s myopic and privileged world view — a far cry from the alleged “self-made” brand she touts herself as.
The writer also claims that she essentially ghost-wrote Calloway’s book, which is still in limbo and may not get published.
Calloway posted on Instagram after reading the story to clarify her side of things. She said that they “wrote them [Instagram captions] TOGETHER. And my best captions–the captions about Cambridge–I wrote BY MYSELF after our friendship had shaped me and helped me find my voice.”
Commenters pointed out that Calloway’s impulse to defend herself was not a good look. Yikes.
2. An Instagram couple from Germany is slammed for setting up a GoFundMe page for their vacation.
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This is not okay.
Most influencers work with sponsors to fund their lavish vacations. While they may have to work on their trip, at least they don’t have to worry about money.
However, this couple from Germany decided to try a different approach by asking their followers to fund their African vacation by donating to their $11,000 GoFundMe page. You can probably imagine things didn’t go well for this couple.
3. When Emma Hallberg denied she was pretending to be black to get followers.
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Wait, what?
Some influencers will go above and beyond to get as many followers as possible. Unfortunately, their decisions can cause a bit of controversy. For instance, Emma Hallberg was outed by a tweet claiming that she was “blackfishing” for more followers.
Hallberg quickly denied those claims on Instagram by stating that her skin naturally tans this color.
“I’ve been accused of doing frequent spray tans, taking melatonin, getting hair perms and lip injections and many more. When I haven’t done anything of the above,” she said, according to People.
4. Johanna Olsson was caught Photoshopping herself in Paris.
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This isn’t how you should travel the world.
At the end of last year, influencer Johanna Olsson decided to post a few photos of her “trip” to Paris, France. While it’s pretty common for influencers to edit their posts for the ‘gram, her followers noticed her images didn’t quite look right.
Soon after, this #photoshopfail became national news and Olsson had to come clean. Even though she said that she did, in fact, go to Paris, she did admit to switching out the backgrounds of her vacation photos.
5. An Instagram couple created a deck for brands to fund their “surprise” engagement.
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Did they think this was going to go well?
Fashion influencer Marissa Casey Grossman (aka @fashionambitionist) must have known exactly how her then-boyfriend was going to propose because they decided to send a step-by-step pitch deck to brands to sponsor their lavish engagement.
Unfortunately, word got out and the couple got slammed for coming up with this idea.
While it’s never been confirmed that they actually did receive money, Grossman’s now-husband has claimed that most of the brands they’d pitched didn’t respond to their proposal (pun intended).
6. Influencers slammed for visiting the Chernobyl death zone.
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This isn’t safe.
With the recent popularity of HBO’s show Chernobyl, the actual radioactive city has gained more foot traffic as of late. Even though the government claims that people should still refrain from going to the site at all, influencers have been flocking to Chernobyl and taking pictures for the ‘gram.
7. An Instagram couple got backlash for taking a picture outside of a moving train.
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Hey, you have to get the shot somehow.
Portuguese travel bloggers Raquel and Miguel are known for taking gorgeous photos while they travel the world. However, just a few months ago, they decided to up the ante by photographing themselves hanging on the outside of a moving train that was going over a bridge. While the photo was beautiful, the couple got slammed for pulling such a dangerous stunt.
8. When Scarlett London decided to pose with fake pancakes and an empty cup.
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Yeah, this doesn’t look good.
Even though the majority of people who use Instagram have admitted to staging their photos for the ‘gram, most people will use actual items for their pictures to be authentic with their messages. Scarlett London decided to take a short cut with her sponsored photo by sitting on a perfectly made bed with a plate of tortillas that were supposed to be pancakes and holding a big cup of nothing.
Unfortunately for her, her followers saw right through this staged image and responded with anger.
9. Kristen Hancher inappropriately rode a horse in the ocean.
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The horse is safe.
While we may push ourselves to our limits to capture a gorgeous photo for Instagram, this influencer and YouTube star might’ve taken things a little too far. According to LAD Bible, while Kristen Hancher was on vacation in the Caribbean, she decided to take her horse to the ocean for a quick photo shoot.
Once the photo was posted, equestrians around the world told her how dangerous it was for the horse to be that deep in the ocean. However, her representatives said everything was fine and the horse was safe.
10. Bri Dietz was slammed for posting about “choreplay.”
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This photo didn’t go as planned.
According to Practical Parenting, influencer Bri Dietz posted a photo of her and husband with a sign that said: Helping with housework so you can get lucky is called choreplay.
While this resonated with some women, some of her other followers found the sign and post to be offensive, claiming that they both imply that women should still be doing the majority of household chores.
11. When an Instagram couple demanded free wedding photos.
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Yikes, this sounds awful.
Even though the majority of influences can swap promotions for services, it doesn’t work with every company or industry. According to Yahoo Lifestyle, a particular influencer thought she could get free wedding photos for her wedding if she would promote the photography company to her Instagram by including a 25 percent discount.
This didn’t fly with the company, as they posted the email exchange on their Facebook page. Ultimately, the partnership never happened and ended communications with the influencer for good.
12. When an Instagram star took a business-class photo a little too far.
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You gotta do what you gotta do.
Creating a highly stylized photo for Instagram can rack in the likes and followers. However, it can also create unrealistic expectations for what certain experiences are supposed to look like.
Harimao Lee posted a photo that was clearly staged by sitting in a business class cabin backwards with lights draped all over her.
13. Kim Kardashian West created a line of shapewear with a culturally appropriated name.
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She apologized.
Even though Kim Kardashian West was famous before influencing people on Instagram, her most recent business endeavor took social media by storm. She named her shapewear brand Kimono.
While it makes sense for her brand, this name was accepted as it culturally appropriated the Japanese culture.
Since the backlash, Kardashian West has announced that she’s going to relaunch the brand with a new name soon. So let’s see what she comes up with this time.
14. Something Navy caused controversy with her bikini photo.
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Amanda Seyfried chimed in.
Arielle Noa Charnas aka Something Navy has been a part of the influencer world for quite some time now without causing any controversy. However, things took a turn for the worst when she recently posted a photo of herself in a bikini with the caption: Proud of my body after two kids.
While she was celebrating her win, other moms, including Amanda Seyfried, came forward saying that Charnas was thin-shaming their bodies. Seyfried eventually apologized and things went back to normal.
15. When James Charles went to the Met Gala.
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Unfornantelty, his excitement didn’t last long.
Let’s be honest: it’s a huge honor to be invited by Anna Wintour to go to the Met Gala. So when influencer James Charles got invited to go to the star-studded event, he posted a picture on Instagram with a caption mentioning that it was “a step forward in the right direction for influencer representation in the media.”
This didn’t go well.
Soon after, people commented sarcastically about him stating that he was the “first” influencer to attend an event like this, when other YouTube influencers, such as Liza Koshy, have been going for years.