Fans furious Covid denier flouts mask rules during Big W trip
A Gold Coast influencer who is “bleeding followers” since sharing her controversial views on vaccines and lockdowns has upset fans with her visit to Big W.
A Gold Coast influencer who has been “bleeding followers” since sharing her controversial views on vaccines and lockdowns has angered fans again with a recent trip to Big W.
Chloe Szepanowski and boyfriend Mitchell Orval documented their visit to a shopping centre in a YouTube video on Sunday.
The pair filmed their trip to Big W to purchase a potty for their one-year-old son Arti, angering thousands of fans in the process as neither were wearing a mandatory face mask.
Currently people in southeast Queensland are required to wear a face mask when they leave home in most indoor and outdoor spaces, unless they have a lawful reason not to.
The couple, who spruik wellness products and have shared anti-Covid opinions in recent weeks, are not believed to be medically exempt from wearing a mask during the pandemic.
News.com.au has contacted Chloe for comment.
As Chloe can be seen strolling through the shop, talking to Mitch behind the camera, other shoppers around them can be seen sporting face masks.
Fans of Chloe, 22, and her outspoken partner – best known as the son of Angry Dad – quickly blew up over the “disrespectful” act.
Many blasted the couple for not following “simple” health procedures and putting others in danger.
“It is absolutely disgusting that you think it is okay to use a platform like this to literally endanger and risk other people’s lives,” one person raged.
“It’s disgusting seeing you and Chloe not wearing masks while out shopping. You’re clearly too privileged,” another flamed.
“Yikes guys … the self entitlement is gross,” another commented.
While one person ranted, “You can’t even do a simple thing like wear a mask in a public place, endangering the lives of others. Do you think you’re better and above everyone else that you are exempt from wearing a mask? Absolutely disgusting behaviour from people who are supposed to be ‘influencers’.”
During the 20-minute video, Mitch also took aim at the Queensland Health Department as his sister Hannah, who has been living in the UK, was currently completing two week’s hotel quarantine.
He compared her stay to “prison” and claimed his sister was given bad eating advice by a health official.
In recent weeks both Chloe and Mitch have been losing thousands of followers in response to their outspoken views on lockdowns and vaccines.
On TikTok the hashtag #chloeszep has been flooded with videos from former fans explaining they are no longer following the pair after they revealed they were anti-vax.
“I’ve never hit unfollow so quick in my life wow,” one video, viewed more than 364,000 times, was captioned.
“@chloeszep babe there’s people that are dying,” another captioned their video, which called out the influencer for “promoting anti-vax, lockdown protests and dangerous misinformation”.
While others shared videos of them unsubscribing from their accounts and emails.
An Instagram account dedicated to Australian influencers recently returned from a five-month hiatus to call out Chloe and Mitch, labelling them “hypocrites”.
“Someone who is an ‘advocate’ for health and wellbeing” who supports the protests “doesn’t sit right with me at all,” the page wrote on its Instagram Stories, according to Pedestrian.
The page, called Aussie Influencer Opinions, then shared several screenshots that appear to show Chloe’s dramatic dip in Instagram followers lately, reported to be around 20,000.
Chloe has responded to the criticism with a TikTok video titled, “How to continue on with your day even if you don’t agree with something”.
In it, she skips past the camera, stopping momentarily to look at the camera before continuing on out of frame.
The video offended many, with people claiming it was “final nail in the coffin” while others suggested she was about to be “permanently cancelled”.
“The whole of Australia is over them at the moment … I’ve never unfollowed someone so fast,” one wrote. “They’re bleeding followers at this point.”
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“I am just so disappointed. I have followed you for YEARS. You are dangerous,” another stated.
She also issued a statement to the Outspoken podcast about the fall out on her anti-science views, saying, “I’m losing followers by the day and I literally am waving them goodbye. The more alignment for me, the better. Only up from here.”
In a separate Instagram post on the topic, she also criticised those who have slammed her, stating they “have an illness worse than any virus going around now”.
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