- The past year has been a big one for influencers.
- The industry is on track to be worth up to $15 billion by 2022, according to Business Insider Intelligence.
- But 2019 has also been a year of ridiculous dramas in the influencer space.
- There were alleged paranormal experiences, baby replicas being sold for profit, entitled comments, accusations of lies, insults, and more.
- Here are 27 times internet personalities were called out for controversies and weird behavior in 2019.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Critics managed to get Jessy Taylor's Instagram account taken down.
In April, influencer Jessy Taylor had her Instagram account with over 100,000 followers taken down because people kept reporting her as spam. She then uploaded a video to YouTube where she said she didn't have the skills for a normal job and was trying to be "a f---ing better person."
Comments below said "This is exactly what an entitled brat looks like" and "Get a job, you entitled tramp."
Taylor told Insider she called the police when her account was removed because it felt like "a murder" and the online hate came from her past controversies and public arguments with other internet celebrities. She didn't want to talk about it on the record, but she did apologize for her trouble with law enforcement and making racist comments.
"I'm not a hateful person. I'm a Sagittarius," she said. "I don't get jealous. I can't relate to hateful and jealous people because I've never been a hateful jealous person."
People were horrified when a vlogger tried to eat a live octopus — until it stuck to her face and ripped her skin.
A vlogger on the Chinese video sharing platform Kuaishou learned the hard way that you shouldn't play with your food when she tried to eat a live octopus, only for it to suction onto her face so hard it ripped off some of her skin.
While trying to rip the octopus free, she screamed "painful" and "I can't remove it," according to the Mail Online.
Her attempted feasting, which occurred in May, has been watched all over the world. People criticized her for trying to eat a live animal in the first place, including one person on Twitter who wrote: "That will teach her a lesson not to play with Octopus. Poor baby must have been terrified and eaten alive."
An Instagram couple were criticized when they asked for $11,000 for a vacation.
Catalin Onc and Elena Engelhardt, the brains behind the Instagram account Another Beautiful Day Official, asked their followers to help them fundraise €10,000 ($11,215) in June so they could cycle to and through Africa.
But the plea didn't do as well as they hoped, with people calling them "egotistical brats" and "shameful, self-indulgent bludgers."
"This is just pathetic, really," one person wrote. "It disgusts me that you two have such a luxurious work-free lifestyle while one of your mothers has to work twice as hard to support you.
"And about that 'working is not an option' crap, just grow up and earn your own money. You are an embarrassment to the human race."
People were suspicious when an influencer couple's "surprise" scavenger hunt proposal was too slick.
Influencers Marissa Fuchs and Gabriel Grossman went viral in June this year for filming and sharing a three-day long scavenger hunt that ended in Grossman proposing. But people quickly grew suspicious when a marketing deck was unearthed online.
The story quickly went viral, with people mocking the couple for thinking they could get away with such a scheme.
However, the bride maintained she had no idea the whole event was being pitched to advertisers beforehand.
A wedding photographer shared emails from an influencer's PR who wanted their services for free.
A PR person claiming to work for an "influencer" with 55,000 social media followers got in touch with a small wedding photography company and expected to receive a $5,000 package for free.
Frankie Lowe and Laura Dunning, who run Betrothed & Co, weren't impressed with the offer of a few Instagram shots in the place of payment so they said it was no deal.
The PR person, named Melissa, responded by calling them "unprofessional" and "abusive," and said working with the influencer would have been a "great opportunity" to network with "some celebrities who will be making TV appearances later in the year."
Lowe and Dunning weren't bothered by the threat, however, and shared the exchange to their Facebook page in July.
A beauty YouTuber went to the worst rated salon in her area and claimed to get a skin infection, but was accused of lying by the owners.
In July, beauty YouTuber Mar, real name Mariale Marrero, took part in a popular challenge where she went to the worst rated salon in her area. But she didn't have the best experience and claimed to later develop a skin infection.
The makeup artist's daughter saw the video and hit back at Marrero, saying she shouldn't have publicly shamed them, and she was lying about the salon's cleanliness. Several other people also criticized Marrero for looking down on other people.
Marrero posted another video saying she was sorry for hurting them, but couldn't apologize for "the truth."
A famous YouTuber family sold replicas of their actual baby online, and people were weirded out.
The Ingham Family, who have 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube, made a life-like replica doll of their four-month-old baby Jace in collaboration with dollmaker Mary Shortle.
Some fans love the idea of getting their own Jace clone, complete with birth certificate and nappies. Others were horrified, calling it "unbelievably weird," "creepy," and "irresponsible."
Mother Sarah Ingham told Insider: "You have to remember this isn't a mold of his face and body," and they are "extremely happy" with the result.
A model was called out for saying transgender women aren't women, then falsely claiming to be trans herself.
Carissa Pinkston, a 20-year-old model for Rihanna's Savage X Fenty brand, made transphobic comments on Facebook, saying trans women aren't real women. She then backtracked and claimed to be transgender herself in July, and her comments were a "direct reflection of my inner insecurities."
But friends soon spoke up saying this wasn't true, and Pinkston tried to dig herself out of the mess she's caused with several videos and posts.
She later messaged Insider to say she's been "devastated financially" by what happened and "people shouldn't be judged for asking questions, forming opinions, and creating dialogue."
A Chinese vlogger was caught using facial filters to make herself look younger.
A vlogger who goes by "Her Royal Highness Qiao Biluo" was revealed to be much older than she was pretending to be when a technical glitch showed she was using beauty filters in July.
Many of her male fans subsequently unfollowed her when they realized she was actually a 58-year-old woman, not the "cute goddess" they thought she was.
Some then accused her of "conning men for their money" and called her "grandma."
Bella Thorne's people were accused of tipping off the paparazzi.
While promoting her new book "The Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray," Bella Thorne's team informed the paparazzi of her whereabouts to increase publicity, Page Six reported.
After the tip-off, there were 15 photographers waiting for her at "Good Morning America," a source told the publication.
An Instagram influencer who documented her motorcycle crash was accused of sponsoring the posts and glamorizing the accident.
In August, influencer Tiffany Mitchell shared 10 Instagram photos taken just after her motorcycle accident, but archived the post because people were accusing her of glamorizing the accident, and some even suggested it looked like it had been sponsored by SmartWater.
One person commented on the post "you had an accident and still u were taking photos" with an eye-rolling emoji. Another said "quit glamorizing accidents."
Mitchell explained in an Instagram story it was never her intention to bring negative attention to the post, and she was simply grateful someone had documented the experience. "It was just a blur because of how intense it was," she said.
She told Insider the experience was so meaningful for her because her partner passed away after a motorcycle accident three years ago.
A YouTuber duo's video was called "ignorant" and "stereotypical" when they had a man dress up as black female singer Normani.
Niki and Gabi, a YouTuber duo with 8.9 million subscribers, got into trouble with some viewers who said they pandered to harmful racial stereotypes in a video in September.
In their video "Going to College Dressed as Celebrities Challenge," they dressed up as Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, Taylor Swift, and Normani — who was played by a man.
Some viewers said it was problematic to cast a man to play Normani because of the racist stereotype that black women have "masculine" features.
After some backlash, Gabi defended herself on Twitter, saying their decision wasn't "that deep." But after a while, Niki tweeted that they had been "ignorant."
People noticed a travel influencer was using the same cloud edits in many of her photos.
Instagram influencer Tupi Saravia went viral in September when eagle-eyed social-media users realized the same clouds appeared in many of her photos.
She told Insider she never tried to keep her editing a secret, and she sometimes edits the sky in her photos when it looks "burned or overexposed."
Saravia now might be in talks with the photo editing company to create her own "cloud pack."
A young YouTuber's father revealed she is just 13 despite posting revealing and suggestive photos.
YouTuber Danielle Cohn is a figure of controversy on YouTube because of questions about her real age, and whether her suggestive posts and older boyfriends are actually appropriate.
Then, in September, her father Dustin recently posted a lengthy statement on Facebook stating that his daughter is in fact 13, and that he'd had enough of Danielle "being online in a way I didn't approve of." He suggested it was her mother, Jen, who was forcing her daughter to date older boys and post revealing photos.
Danielle then responded to her father's post with a statement on Instagram, saying she was happy he wasn't in her life and she doesn't do anything she doesn't want to.
People called an 18-year-old YouTuber "privileged" and "entitled" for saying her trip to Greece was "not fun."
YouTuber Haley Pham uploaded a vlog about her trip to Italy and Greece in September where she warned people not to visit the Greek island of Santorini.
"I highly discourage you from going to Greece," she said, adding that the country's economy and government were "struggling" and that there's "nothing to do."
The video received thousands of dislikes, as well as hundreds of comments from angry people calling Pham "spoiled" and "entitled."
A landlord exposed a Chinese influencer's filthy apartment when she was pretending to live a glamorous life.
Chinese influencer Lisa Li was showing her 1.1 million followers a life of luxury, while her apartment was a disgusting mess. Her landlord was sick of her living in filth and exposed her reality.
The landlord filmed a video showing moldy food, unwashed dishes, dog excrement, and a filthy cage in the apartment.
Li later apologized to her landlord in a video, and cleaned the apartment herself.
A controversial influencer was urged to apologize for comments she made about shootings in movie theaters.
Controversial influencer Jackie Oshry, or Jackie O, said she wouldn't apologize for comments she made about shootings in movie theaters in September.
She said she feels safer and more relaxed "with the elevation of the movie theater experience" on her podcast with sister Claudia Oshry.
"If you're going to shoot up a movie theater, it's not going to be the most expensive one," she said in a clip that was shared on Twitter.
Many people on the podcast's Facebook group and in Instagram comments urged the women to apologize, but Jackie told Tanya Chen at Buzzfeed News she would not.
A YouTuber received criticism for coming out as transgender because she's attracted to gay men.
YouTuber Trisha Paytas posted a video titled "I AM TRANSGENDER (FEMALE TO MALE)" in October in which she said she's basically a gay man who likes to dress in drag, because she is attracted to other gay men, loves "glam" and "voluptuousness," and has "penis envy."
The video received a lot of criticism from people in the comments and on social media, who said she shouldn't make like of LGBTQ issues.
"Just know your judgments hurt me a lot," she wrote in response. "This isn't something I would joke about or take lightly."
Paytas then appeared on an episode of CBS' "The Doctors" and said she's always wanted a male body because it would make dating gay men easier.
A YouTuber was accused of scamming fans after a competition to win Louis Vuitton bags ended in confusion and delays.
YouTuber Alissa Violet was accused of scamming fans after a competition to win Louis Vuitton bags ended in confusion and delays in October, BuzzFeed News reported.
Violet announced the competition in a photo on Instagram with a now-deleted caption, showing her surrounded by various Louis Vuitton items. But one winner of the contest, 19-year-old Vanessa Avila, told BuzzFeed News there had been very poor communication about her prize.
Follow-up messages and DMs all led nowhere until the BuzzFeed story came out on October 8, after which Avila received a message saying her bag had been shipped two weeks previously.
A boy band was criticized online for a video of their miserable meet and greet.
In October, YouTube boy band the Dobre Brothers were criticized online when a fan video of one of their meet and greets was leaked.
"PLS TELL ME THIS IS A JOKE," said Twitter user Amina, who shared the video of the group looking bored and annoyed and not even saying a single word to the young fan who was getting her photo taken with them.
One of the band members, Lucas Dobre, tweeted out an apology soon after the video started going viral.
"We just wanted to apologize," he wrote on behalf of the whole group. "After a long 48 hours of restless filming and touring then meeting thousands of fans with no sleep we were exhausted by the end of our show. Our true apologies we are sincerely sorry."
Reality TV stars were filmed endorsing a fake charity that taught underprivileged African children how to ski.
YouTuber Josh Pieters and magician Archie Manners enlisted four reality stars to appear on fake TV shows "Technology from the Future" and "Reality TV Gone Wrong" for a prank video in October.
They found reality stars would say just about anything as long as they were paid to be on television. They commented on truly ridiculous fabricated stories like the invention of time travel, leaving fridge doors open to combat climate change, and a charity that teaches underprivileged African children how to ski.
"The world now is a funny place full of people saying all sorts of things, so maybe it's a lesson of don't just believe the first thing you see or read," Pieters told Insider. "Just a bit of research is all it would have taken."
People complained when a YouTuber talked about mass suicide while eating cheese.
Mukbang YouTuber Chantal, who runs the channel Foodie Beauty, was criticized for uploading a video where she ate cheese and talked about mass suicide in November. She received so many negative comments she removed the video.
She also added photos and video footage of a crime scene, which some people said was in poor taste. But Chantal told Insider she never meant any harm and called the backlash "false outrage."
"Imagine sitting there, flashing pictures of dead bodies on the screen, while you stuff your face talking about the price of Nikes," tweeted one of Chantal's critics, YouTuber MichaelBePetty. "She is literally sitting there talking about a mass suicide and mid-sentence stops to give a review on how the cheese tastes. I am in f---ing awe."
An Instagram healer was mocked for promoting "perineum sunning."
A "healer" called Metaphysical Meagan on Instagram claimed "perineum sunning" boosts energy, regulates hormones, and strengthens organs in November.
She said aiming her butthole at the sky for five minutes per day regulated her circadian rhythm and increased creativity.
Her post naturally went viral and was mocked on social media.
People said a YouTuber was lying about experiencing paranormal activity in her home.
YouTuber Daisy Marquez posted a video on Twitter in December of supposed paranormal activity. A door mysteriously opened behind her and she looked wide-eyed into the camera in shock as dust flew past the camera — which some fans are calling "orbs."
"I'm trying to put two and two together and I find it so weird that I fell down the stairs earlier today ..." Marquez wrote in a follow-up tweet. "I didn't trip, I wasn't on my phone, I legit just fell down the stairs as if something pushed me ... I find it so bizarre and scary now that this just happened."
Some fans were supportive but others accused Marquez of staging the whole thing. One urged viewers to "look at her arm," while another said, "it's fake as hell lol i'm sure she can't believe the amount of people that eat it up too."
Influencers were filmed agreeing to promote a fake weight loss drink that contained hydrogen cyanide.
Three British influencers were criticized when they were secretly filmed agreeing to promote a fake weight loss drink they were told contained hydrogen cyanide — a lethal chemical.
Lauren Goodger, Mike Hassini, and Zara Holland all said they would post Instagram ads, the investigation by the BBC and anonymous Irish presenter Blindboy revealed.
In a statement, Holland said she did not know what hydrogen cyanide was at the time, while a representative for Goodger said the "large sum" offered was a "blatant attempt to get her to attend the meeting."
"As with any audition you people please and say what they want to hear," they said.
A YouTuber called out a questionable prank by two TikTok stars where they pretended to be in a violent, abusive relationship.
YouTuber Kurtis Conner noticed a disturbing trend on YouTube in December where creators "pranked" their friends into thinking they were in abusive relationships.
He called out two TikTok stars, Sebastian Bails and Lauren Godwin, for a video which saw them yelling at each other and even using fake blood to feign violence.
Conner decided to fundraise $10,000 to the domestic abuse charity loveisrespect as a result. He told Insider he was "blown away by the sheer insanity" of the video, and that it was baffling they'd posted it at all.
Bails' video is still up. He tweeted that he only earned $93 from the video and he was sorry, but many people have commented telling him to make a donation himself for making light of something so horrifying.
British vloggers Alfie Deyes and Zoe Sugg apologized for being insensitive about domestic violence
Popular British vloggers Alfie Deyes and Zoe Sugg also had to apologize when they made light of domestic violence in December. Sugg said it was one of her "favorite games" to yell "help" out their open bedroom window in a video — suggesting Deyes was hurting her.
Sugg said she had "no intention of trivialising a serious issue, we were just being silly," in her apology on Instagram. Deyes then took down the YouTube video, although it's still circulating on social media.
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