I’m gonna go to hell for writing this… but nothing tickles my pickle like watching influencers get called out for flexing these lavish events that swiftly go to shit.
I mean, I do feel bad for all the folks who are left stranded at influencer-led events, but also, play stupid games etc etc.
Here, we’ve gone back at rounded-up all the event disasters involving influencers because we could all do with a LOL during these darkest of times, couldn’t we?
Fyre Festival
First up there’s the OG. One of the biggest event shitshows in history.
In 2017, a bunch of influencers and models like Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber (then Baldwin) and even Aussie Shanina Shaik were recruited to promote an epic-sounding festival on their socials.
The promos promised a lush location, top performers and the chance to hang out with famous faces.
But, of course, the whole thing was a scam cooked up by conman Billy McFarland, who is currently serving a six-year prison sentence for fraud.
We will forever be haunted by the images of disaster tents, the shitty excuses from the models who promoted the fest and most of all the unbuttered bread with the sad slice of cheese that was fed to the unfortunate festival-goers.
REVOLVE Festival
Next up is the event that was described as 2022’s Fyre Festival, REVOLVE Festival.
In April, influencers took to social media to vent their frustrations about the exclusive Coachella-aligned event which saw Post Malone, Willow, Jack Harlow, Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, and Cindy Kimberly all make appearances.
Averie Bishop who has over 700,000 followers didn’t mince her words describing the sitch as “absolute chaos”. The TikToker said she waited hours for a shuttle that was supposed to take her to the festival before eventually giving up and going home.
@averiebishop I hope you made it to the festival @kate bartlett !! #revolvefestival @revolve
TikTokers also uploaded vids of the pickup area which looked like an uninhabitable dustbowl, with influencers queueing up without water or food.
@sarahfarrugiaa The real tea #coachella
REVOLVE later apologised for all the malarkey, blaming the whole thing on “safety requirements causing longer wait times for entry and resulting in some guests not being able to attend the festival.”
Sure, Jan.
Caroline Calloway’s nonsense tour
Ya know those people in history who you don’t necessarily idolise or respect, but you’re just fascinated by them?
For me that’s Caroline Calloway.
She’s an American influencer who has been embroiled in many a scandal. From getting called out by her ex-bestie in a scathing essay to attempting to repair her reputation by fanging a book titled SCAMMER then failing to write said book, even after accepting pre-order dosh. Caroline’s resume of scandals is a v. impressive one.
You can read about all of that online, but for now let’s focus on her BS event.
In 2018 Caroline announced a nationwide “Creativity Workshop Tour”, which involved a four hour seminar.
The first hour would involve attendees meeting up for coffee and networking (Caroline would not be present for this part). Next up she’d roll in and provide a lecture about harnessing creativity, getting over heartbreak, shit like that.
The seminar would include a “care package” fit with personalised trinkets and handwritten notes from the influencer herself, plus lunch.
Miraculously, many dates on the tour sold out immediately. The only catch was that she hadn’t actually booked the venues she’d sold tickets for.
She subsequently cancelled the tour and refunded the tickets then had a change of heart and resumed the tour but instead of travelling to different cities, she hosted the whole thing in her New York apartment. It was a disaster.
If you’re as deeply invested as I am, have a squiz at this Twitter thread to suss what happened next:
That Instagram influencer I occasionally check in on because she’s The Worst is now charging $165 for a 4 hour “seminar” on how to be yourself. pic.twitter.com/zLvBFn9dPI
— Kayleigh Donaldson (@Ceilidhann) December 20, 2018
TanaCon
If you’ve never heard of Tana Mongeau, I suggest you do some googling because the shit that pops up will blow your mind.
But before you enter that rabbit hole, lemme clue you in on a chaotic as fuck event she planned (or rather did not plan) in 2018.
Fittingly named TanaCon (because the whole thing was a bloody CON), the American YouTuber invited her 3+ million subscribers to an event in Anaheim, California.
Thousands of fans flocked down to see their fave IRL and what ensued was nothing short of abject chaos.
The greedy as fuck event organisers had sold more tickets than the event space had capacity for and scores of frustrated fans were left standing outside in the boiling Anaheim heat.
There were reports of dehydration and sunburn, plus injuries from crowds of people scrumming into the event space.
Organisers eventually pulled the plug on the event after seeing how cooked things had gotten. Yep, they cancelled the event while the event was taking place. MADNESS.
In June 2019, Mongeau told Paper Magazine: “There were so many emotions, so many people involved, so many intentions, and so many things that it really is like a big thing to unfold and I think that’s why it took me like a year to unfold it all and pick it apart.”
There were definitely “intentions” involved… but were they good ones?
Anywho, keen to read about more influencer shitstorms? Suss out our recent piece on Aussie influencers who royally fucked up.
