MAFS star’s Pete Evans COVID post costs Clothing Depot deal
A former MAFS bride’s sharing of a controversial COVID post by Pete Evans has sparked a rift with a prospective fashion partner and subsequent claims of merciless trolling from her fans.
Confidential
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A stoush involving an influencer and a clothing label has ended badly with claims of death threats on social media.
Married At First Sight’s Natasha Spencer was in talks to become an ambassador for The Clothing Depot, but the deal went south when she shared a controversial post about COVID-19.
Small business owner Brent O’Rourke told Confidential that he and his family were bombarded with death threats from Spencer’s fans after she posted their message exchange on Instagram.
“I’ve had to call the police because of trolls,” he said.
“I didn’t mind it when it was just me, but when they sent death threats to my pregnant sister, that was it.”
Spencer, who had nothing to do with the messages O’Rourke says he received, had reposted claims made by anti-vaxxer Pete Evans, claiming The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention had misrepresented the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in the US.
In a message to Spencer, O’Rourke wrote: “Unfortunately Natasha, we will be rescinding any offer of sponsorship at this time.
“I’d highly suggest that you remove any and all Pete Evans propaganda from your page as you have a strong influence on a young audience — he is a chef, not a f...ing scientist.”
Spencer defended the post in a fiery response to O’Rourke and posted the exchange on Instagram, which he claims prompted the online abuse from COVID deniers.
“Her going rate is $1000 per post which is absolutely ridiculous but I thought ‘OK, I’ll give her a chance’,” he said.
“Then I saw she shared the Pete Evans post about coronavirus and one of the things my business sells is face masks so I couldn’t be associated with her.”
In a statement, Spencer denied that she was a conspiracy theorist.
“First and foremost, I wish to express my sincere sympathies to anyone who has lost a loved one to coronavirus. I in no way deny the existence of the virus,” she said.
“The man who is claiming to have cancelled a sponsorship deal and is looking to obtain media exposure from my profile is barking up the wrong tree. There never was a deal or contract in place.”
Originally published as MAFS star’s Pete Evans COVID post costs Clothing Depot deal