Whether it be an Instagram model getting paid to look pretty or a blue-haired twenty-something playing video games, influencers are a core part of today’s culture. Like them or not, they’re here to stay, and they’re making a good chunk of cash just by virtue of being influencers.
That being said, there are always some overachievers in every group, and this is true even for influencers. Whether it be to get some extra publicity (good or bad) or simply to line their pockets with a bit more dough, here are five of the weirdest things influencers did over the past few years.
5. Spending $3.5 Million on (Fake) Pokemon Cards
If you’re at an age where you can remember the initial Pokemon card craze of the early 00s, you might be surprised to learn that these playthings, which were once the topic of playground arguments and trades, are now extremely valuable collectibles and many people’s hobby of choice.
And wherever there are collectibles, there are certain to be collectors who take it a bit too far. For Pokemon cards, this was YouTube influencer Logan Paul. The older Paul brother started collecting Pokemon cards in 2020 and immediately turned the pack openings into content for his Youtube channel.
The excitement turned to dread in January 2022, when Logan’s haul of 3.5 million dollars in Pokemon cards turned out to be fake. Logan was first unaware, but long-time avid collectors and Pokemon fans were quick to point out inconsistencies. While the whole situation was certainly stressful, Logan ended up getting a full refund after the guy who sold him the cards received major backlash from both fans of Pokemon and Logan.
When all is said and done, the situation turned out beneficial for Logan, who got millions of views and several sponsorships because of the whole fiasco.
4. Faking a Spanish Heritage
We all know at least one person that claims they’re 1/16th Cuban or that their great grandfather invented the lightbulb, but few lies about heritage go as deep as Hilaria Baldwin’s. After being accused of not actually being Spanish in late December 2020, more and more evidence of this cropped up.
It wasn’t long before Twitter users found out that both of her parents are from Boston, not Spain, and that her claims of being born in Mallorca were completely false. To make matters even worse, some more digging revealed Baldwin’s old MySpace page, bringing to light the fact that her real name isn’t even Hilaria, but actually Hillary!
After all of this info came out, the influencer had to do some major damage-control. She explained that she spent a good chunk of her childhood in Spain and that her parents moved there at one point, meaning she often traveled between there and the US.
Despite this, fans and skeptics alike weren’t satisfied with this explanation. If Baldwin had only claimed to have some Spanish heritage, no one would’ve batted an eye – it’s obvious she grew up participating in both cultures. The internet took issue with her presenting herself as Hispanic, using Spanish phrases in conversation, and even going as far as to appear in the Spanish weekly magazine ¡Hola!
With all of this said, Baldwin is not out of controversial waters yet, recently coming out against criticism of her husband, Alec Baldwin, after a deadly incident at the filming of one of his films. The internet and news outlets are certainly getting their money’s worth from Hilaria, and she doesn’t seem to mind it that much.
3. Selling Bath Water
If you’re a regular on Twitter, TikTok, or social media in general, you’re most likely familiar with Belle Delphine. While the young influencer is mostly known for her career in pornographic and explicit content, being labeled as one of the progenitors of the E-Girl subculture, things escalated in an unforeseen direction in 2019.
While many influencers choose to sell their dirty undies or nude pictures on Kinkie, Delphine took it a step further by selling “Gamer Girl Bath Water.” As the name suggests, this was water taken from baths Belle actually took (or so she claims) and sold on her online shop for $30 per package.
This quickly caught the attention of news outlets and online personalities alike, with many commentary YouTubers making videos both making fun of Belle for the stunt and congratulating her on finding yet another way to get money out of horny people.
While any adult niche product like this that reaches mainstream media will cause controversy, the situation was worsened by some fans drinking the water despite Belle strongly advising against it, and some even claimed it gave them herpes!
The influencer was quick to deny these claims, but it quickly became a part of the already-memed stunt. Many jokingly claimed that the water gave them a variety of diseases, from scurvy to the black plague, and some even joked that the water could give you superpowers if ingested in a ritualistic manner. All publicity is good publicity, and Belle certainly earned a nice paycheck from her Gamer Girl Bath Water, and it certainly earned it’s place in the internet hall of fame.
2. Faking a Manic Episode
With how much influencer drama happens, we had to dedicate the top two spots to something a bit more serious. While the previous three entries were just trendy to joke about for a few weeks, Gabbie Hanna’s recent stunt was anything but funny.
While the Viner-turned-YouTuber-turned-TikTok star has had her fair share of controversy throughout her career, fans were genuinely worried for her in August of 2022 after she posted over 200 videos in the span of 96 hours. The videos were frantic, seemed very out-of-character, and many even featured the creator crying and seeming in distress.
The real kicker of the situation was when Gabbie deleted all of these videos a week later. While she hasn’t come out and said it, many fans believe that this was all a ploy to get media attention and shift it towards her failing album. On top of this, the deleted videos contained many racist, ableist, homophobic and transphobic comments, which the creator only briefly addressed before romanticizing her episode and calling it “Genius.”
This led to a lot of criticism and backlash from fellow creators and the internet as a whole, as many saw the situation as trashy and offensive at best and downright dangerous at worst. While we can all hope that this is the end of controversy for Hanna, it’s highly unlikely, as her career has seemingly been nothing but.
1. Using a Creator’s Death for Clout
Finally, we have the drama to end all drama, and that’s using a fellow creator’s death to get views and likes. While clout-chasing is a common phenomenon in influencer circles, many assumed that it would have its limits, but they were proven wrong in early July of 2022 after the passing of popular Minecraft creator TechnoBlade.
When the young creator passed from cancer, fans and influencers alike were devastated by the news, with many holding private events to commemorate TechnoBlade and creating art in his memory. Unfortunately, some creators took this as an opportunity to milk the situation for precious clicks, creating dozens of videos a day of “YouTuber reactions,” creating insensitive content about “Calling TechnoBlade’s Ghost at 3 AM,” or claiming that his death was faked to sell merch or amass a larger following.
All these creators obviously received major backlash for this, with many of them claiming that they were doing so to honor their memory but ultimately deleting the videos or even getting banned by YouTube.
To end this entry on a happier note, the young creator’s memory was genuinely honored by Hypixel, the owner of the game’s biggest server, who created a public book where everyone could sign their names and is, as of writing, in the process of turning it into a giant physical tome to send to TechnoBlade’s family. Mojang, Minecraft’s creators, also put his signature character, a pig with a crown, in the launcher for a few months and permanently added “TechnoBlade Never Dies!” as one of the possible splash texts when opening the game.
Conclusion
From spending insane amounts of cash, selling bath water, or looking for views in places best left alone, it seems there really is no limit on what influencers will do to get likes or a paycheck. If there’s anything we can say about the drama and weird things they do, it’s that most of it is at least entertaining.
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