The term “influencers gone wild” has become the epitome of scandalous actions and shocking images, especially of the social media influencers. But with every few million followers that an influencer gains, they also possess more power to influence and change trends. In this article, we will look at some of the most insane cases of streamers and social media influencers gone wild and the consequences that such actions have.
The Rise of Influencers and Their Power
Before looking at what the influencers gone wild big controversies around influencers are, it is needed to briefly understand how influencers got their clout. With followers in the thousands, or sometimes millions, social media such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube has enabled people to create content that is marketable.
It didn’t take companies long to realise how beneficial working with influencers could be for their marketing campaigns. Influencers have followers in droves, which enables them to reach various demographics.
Practically, this means that influencers have brands endorsing them just like celebrities would. With such mighty endorsements, influencers, unfortunately, have failed to respect a few boundaries, and that too in the most craziest ways.
Logan Paul
Logan Paul’s career took an unexpected detour in 2018 when he posted a Youtube video that showed a dead body inside the Japanese Aokigahara Forest, or more famously known as Suicide Forest.
This was not the first time Paul made headlines for doing insane stuff over Youtube, but that is a different story altogether. Paul, along with friends, are seen goofing around with the upside-down body of a man who decided to take his own life.
People were in shock and disgust after watching the video, with many labelling Paul as a disrespectful and narcissistic person. He lost a major amount of his fanbase, and as a result, he lost more than a million subscribers.
In addition, some brands terminated their contracts with him, and bizarre enough, YouTube even suspended his account temporarily! Paul’s initial apology was seen as insincere, and the incident remains one of the darkest moments in YouTube history.
Lisa Li
A Chinese influencer with more than 1 million followers, Lisa Li, came under fire when her landlady exposed her living conditions on social media. The landlady began by accusing Li of failing to pay an outstanding utility bill of $500 and captured the apartment on camera, which was covered in dog faeces, leaving the glamorous star at the centre of a scandal.
As the video started spreading, Lisa Li’s reputation dropped dramatically. In reaction to this, Li posted a video on her channel in which she cleaned the apartment and offered a brief apology. This incident underscores the pitfalls of influencers curating their image online and failing to meet it when it comes to their audiences.
Ingham Family
The Inghams are a family that has an active social media presence and runs a YouTube family vlog. In the video they posted online, which created a stir among the public, the family showcased a silicone doll, which they claimed was an exact replica of their son, Jace, who at that time was just 4 months old.
To add to this absurdity, the silicone doll even had a birth certificate and came equipped with diapers and was seen simply as an amusing prop by the family as they created content for their other videos.
However, many fans found it disturbing and creepy, calling it an irresponsible stunt that trivialised the reality of parenting. Most fans took to social media to express their distaste over the doll in the video and pointed out that such a display of inhumane behaviour was unbecoming of such an influential family—and the abuse was rightfully directed at the Inghams. Overall, it was in very poor taste and raised a broader conversation about the indecency of content available online.
PewDiePie
So far as controversies are concerned, PewdiePie seems to have the most controversies for a YouTuber. He recorded a racist slur on a stream in 2017, and YT for one wasn’t impressed. His sponsors didn’t take it too kindly either. As a result, he lost several brand deals and would turn off a large number of his followers.
He was critiqued earlier as well for his many gaffes and most egregiously for the promotion of antisemitic content, such as making jokes about Jews and portraying Nazism. The fallout from these events was widespread hatred and a severed relationship with the public and the brands that supported him.
Despite these controversies, PewDiePie continues to be a major figure on YouTube, although his reputation has been permanently affected.
Belle Delphine
One day, people awoke to news that made them scratch their heads. Social media influencer and one-time cosplayer, Belle Delphine, was selling her bathwater for $30. Ever since she came up with this horrifying idea, people seemed to be outraged at this seemingly unnecessary claim and called it disgusting and outright exploitative.
Having considerable notoriety for her special content, Delphine’s posts have her being at odds with many as she seems to affect the perception of younger audiences towards violence and toxic relationships. Delphine’s actions serve as a reminder of the fine line influencers walk when pushing the boundaries of acceptable behaviour online.
Mukbang YouTuber Chantal
Chantal, the Canadian Mukbang behind the channel Foodie Beauty, had to do some clearing up when she uploaded a video where she eats cheese and talks about mass suicide. Chantal on that video even narrated the story of the Heaven Gate cult, where a total of 39 members killed themselves.
While narrating about the cult, Chantal disrespected the cult by eating food like cheese tombstones and coffins, which a lot of people found disgusting. Chantal was also known to be her followers’ darling because of her self-proclaimed humour, so her followers were quick to condemn her for the lack of sensitivity she displayed. This firing back from her followers along with the insults waned off a lot of the respect that her fans had for her, marking another example of influencers gone wild.
Lauren Goodger
Lauren Goodger is a former reality star and an influencer who received backlash after endorsing a weight loss drink filled with the dangerous chemical hydrogen cyanide. The drink was classed as a miracle weight loss drug until fans called out the lies as it had dangerous ingredients.
In this particular instance, Goodger, along with her other two fellow influencers, Mike Hassini and Zara Holland, received a lot of negative comments, with many stating that they are doing it for money and marketing harmful products, which encourages people to be harmful.
Zara Holland later confessed that she wasn’t aware of hydrogen cyanide. However, the damage was already done. This incident highlighted the numerous ethical issues that surround influencer marketing, especially regarding the promotion of unsafe products.
Conclusion
With the use of social media, the endorsement of influencers is often done in seconds; this advancement in advertisement has changed the influencer landscape. Unfortunately, as demonstrated in these influencers-gone-wild instances, instead of positive change, their influence can lead to negatives that have far-reaching consequences. These unfortunate turns of events highlight the need for control among influencers as well as a more responsible audience.