Cancelled: Top 10 Aussie social media star scandals
With great power comes great cancellation. Given the recent pile up on embattled bikini model Jade Tunchy, we have put together a list of other Aussie influencers who have fallen from grace.
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The higher one’s social media following, the further they can fall, especially after a run-in with the accountability police and in some cases, the real police.
Following the pile on of controversial Jade ‘Tunchy’ Tuncdoruk (first name pronounced ‘Jar-Day’), who has made recent headlines for reasons including a resurfaced xenophobic rant, we take a look at other social media stars who have felt the force of cancel culture including those who managed to redeem themselves.
10: TAMMY HEMBROW
She may have been ‘kancelled’ by some of the Kardashians but Tammy Hembrow still has plenty of Aussie fans who adore the mum of three and her hugely successful activewear brand, Saski Collection.
The then-24-year-old made global headlines almost three years ago after leaving Kylie Jenner’s 21st birthday party in Los Angeles lying facedown on a stretcher.
The dramatic exit saw Kim, Kris, Kendall and Kourtney Kardashian unfollow Hembrow on Instagram. Ouch.
In an apology posted to YouTube, the fitness aficionado explained her collapse was due to jet lag and exhaustion, though said she had regretted drinking alcohol that evening.
“I was running off pretty much 30 hours no sleep. I was struggling to stay awake even when I was getting my hair and makeup done,” Hembrow said. “I was literally sitting there, like, falling asleep. Like, I could barely keep my eyes open. I’ve been throwing myself into work way more than ever, and also, I have my kids the majority of the time.”
9. MIKAELA TESTA
Gold Coast-based Only Fans mega star Mikaela Testa copped serious flak in 2019 for filming a very emotional breakdown upon hearing Instagram would be removing the amount of likes from their platform.
The distraught Testa warned such a move could cause ‘real damage’ on somebody who has Instagram as a job.
“Regardless of what you may think, Instagram is a REAL job and those in the industry have worked hard to get where they’re at,” she said.
“It’s people that aren’t even in the industry that think it’s a f***ing joke. It’s not, it’s real damage out here. I’ve put my blood, sweat and tears into this for it to be ripped away, it’s not just me suffering too, it’s every brand and business I know.”
As one might imagine, the internet was not forgiving in their response to the tears, telling Testa she was out of touch with reality.
However, since the meltdown in 2019, the 22-year-old has since gone on to become one of Australia’s most successful adult content creators so the Instagram likes didn’t seem to make much of a difference on her career.
8. GEORGIA LOVE
The former Bachelor star, turned Channel 7 reporter and sleepwear entrepreneur felt the wrath of cancel culture after posting an Instagram story deemed by many to be in poor taste.
The offending post showing a cat in a Chinese restaurant window captioned “shop attendant or lunch?” was criticised for being what many saw as an example of casual racism.
The post was quickly removed within an hour of being posted but didn’t stop subsequent fallout, with Love being temporarily taken off reporting duties by Channel 7 and being dumped from her role as ambassador for Chadstone Shopping Centre.
Love later released a lengthy Instagram post apologising for the incident stating, “I meant for this to be a joke about an animal being in a restaurant at lunch service time”.
“I meant absolutely no insinuation about the type of animal nor the type of restaurant, but I see that my post did not come across like that and was offensive,” she wrote.
“I sincerely apologise for the oversight and offence I have caused.”
7. CHLOE SZEPANOWSKI
The popular wellness vlogger from Queensland was at the forefront of anti-vaccination movements in 2021, copping heat and haemorrhaging Instagram followers for lending her support to the anti-lockdown movement and allegedly promoting vaccine misinformation.
During the height of the pandemic Szepanowski’s antics reached boiling point when she filmed a YouTube video showing herself and her partner Mitchell Orval unmasked while shopping at Big W store buying a potty for their one-year-old son.
It’s understood the stunt caused her to lose around 22,000 Instagram followers with some even filming themselves throwing away items of clothing they’d purchased from Szepanowski’s activewear brand, Szep’.
In response to the backlash the 22-year-old stated the people criticising her ‘have an illness worse than any virus going around now’ – in an apparent reference to Covid.
Szepanowski later took to Instagram to apologise for not wearing a mask inside Big W admitting it was a ‘mistake’.
“I never want to come across as abusing those rights. It was my mistake for publicly not wearing a mask and I take ownership of that mistake,” she later wrote.
6. MITCHELL ORVAL
The son of former Collingwood star Mark Orval (known as Angry Dad on social media for his viral videos), and Chloe Szep’s other half, with whom he shares young son Arts, also deserves to be featured in this list in his own right.
Orval has been vocal about his anti-vaccination stance, brazenly flouting social distancing rules.
In November 2021, the 25-year-old reportedly staged quite the scene at a luxury hotel while waiting in line at a buffet brunch.
The Daily Mail reported Orval entered the dining area of a Gold Coast resort without a mask or footwear, refusing to comply with the dress code and health order requiring a face covering, he was later provided with a pair of hotel slippers.
5. TAYLOR WINTERSTEIN
In the same vein of anti-vax influencers which could make up an entirely separate list, another worthy mention goes to Taylor Winterstein.
The mother of two and wife to former Penrith Panthers player Frank Winterstein was ahead of the game by offering up anti-vax views all the way back in 2019 telling her thousands of followers she would not be immunising her children.
Fast forward to a global pandemic and Winterstein found herself the posterchild of the Covid vaccine resistance movement.
Both Taylor and her husband received fines for attending the violent anti-lockdown protests in Sydney in 2021.
Winterstein wrote on social media ahead of the protest: “Be prepared for all scenarios including arrests and fines. I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.”
4. RUBY TUESDAY MATTHEWS
This one is a real pearler and one you might best recall as “Oystergate”.
While waiting at Ballina airport for a delayed flight to Sydney, Instagram model Ruby Tuesday Matthews decided to go enjoy a meal of oysters, despite Jetstar’s instruction that passengers of the flight should stay put and not leave the airport.
The oyster detour resulted in Matthews and her companion boarding the flight thirty minutes after it was due to depart, and receiving a less than warm reception from fellow passengers who subsequently began heckling the two.
If it wasn’t bad enough to be roasted offline and on an aeroplane, the backlash followed Matthews online.
Jetstar released an official statement the following morning, saying they “kept customers informed” during the delay and asked them “not to leave the airport should the flight be able to get away ahead of the revised time.”
In a bid to explain, the mother of two took to social media to vent her frustration about what was a “pretty traumatic flight experience” in a lengthy rant.
“This is so minor this s---. I actually think it’s a joke and it’s annoying that it has to waste so much of my time,” she said.
“It’s horrible being yelled at by heaps of people and harassed … then at the end we were bullied, literally followed to the car and bullied for something that was not our fault.”
3. JON-BERNARD KAIROUZ AKA TIKTOK GUY
They say all glory is fleeting, an adage that certainly rings true for Jon-Bernard Kairouz.
The aspiring comedian and TikTok user rose to popularity during Sydney’s 2021 lockdowns, by correctly ‘predicting’ NSW’s Covid case numbers on TikTok five days in a row.
His fall from grace began when he appeared at last year’s violent anti-lockdown protests, and gave a rousing address to thunderous applause, allegedly telling the 3,500-strong crowd it was “time for freedom”, and called himself “the people’s premier.”
Kairouz was later charged with two counts of not complying with COVID-19 directions and one count of encouraging the commission of crimes.
After battling a Covid diagnosis in late 2021, it appears he has made a recovery and has taken his TikTok endeavours to the U.S. where he continues to irritate people with his awkward and intrusive lines of questioning.
2. ALEX ‘SHOOTER’ WILLIAMSON
The 33-year-old comedian touts himself as the loosest Aussie bloke and staying true to his name has run into seemingly endless controversies ranging from laughable to heinous and distressing.
The biggest turning point in his career came in 2021 when Williamson was subject to allegations of “abusive, manipulative, and predatory” behaviour by ex-partner, singer and social media personality Peach PRC, who alleged in a lengthy statement on Twitter that Williamson had done “absolutely vile things to not only myself but others who I won’t mention.”
In response to the allegations, Williamson let rip on social media with a deeply upsetting and derogatory rant toward 24-year-old Peach which saw him dropped by his management and both Sydney and Melbourne comedy festivals.
Following the firestorm of backlash, Williamson boldly claimed: “I decide when I get cancelled” – which is arguably a fairly blatant misunderstanding of how cancel culture works.
Months later in December of 2021, NSW Police filed an apprehended violence order on Peach PRC’s behalf to protect her from Williamson by preventing him from contacting her at all.
1. BELLE GIBSON
Possibly the most extraordinary influencer story on here, of which the details are almost impossible to believe.
The 26-year-old Melbourne woman amassed hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers by claiming she cured her non-existent brain cancer via wellness, alternative medicine and therapies.
So believable were her claims she launched a hugely successful app and cookbook both called The Whole Pantry where she peddled her alternative treatments, and also featured on Sunrise, and in Elle and Cosmopolitan magazines.
Her fall from grace began when it eventually emerged Gibson did not actually have any of the cancers she claimed to be suffering from, outraging thousands of people including legitimate cancer sufferers whom she had duped.
In 2017, Gibson was found guilty of five breaches of the consumer law over her wellness empire’s dealings and was then fined $410,000 for breaching consumer law.
She later had her Melbourne home raided and assets seized by police after refusing to pay the six figure fine.
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