As with any global trending news topic, the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the spread of viral misinformation, and some of it stems from influencers and celebrities trying to help their followers.
Rapper Chris Brown and influencer Kelvin "Brother Nature" Peña have two of the largest online platforms that were used to spread coronavirus hoaxes about quarantines and pseudo-medical advice.
Other influencers like the beauty guru Cole Carrigan are tweeting fake news, while celebrities like Katy Perry and Shawn Mendes are falling for less serious but still fake edited videos of Italians singing.
As the global coronavirus pandemic worsens, so has the spread of misinformation, fake news, and outright hoaxes about how to stay safe and what's going to happen during periods of quarantine and social distancing.
Some of the viral, debunked conspiracies about the coronavirus are being perpetuated by figures on social media with large followings – influencers and celebrities. Misinformation and hoaxes posted by people like rapper Chris Brown and influencer Kelvin "Brother Nature" Peña are likely being spread because they really believe them and want to help their followers, but they're still incorrect.
There are also celebrities falling for things that just aren't true – like Katy Perry, Shawn Mendes, and Kim Kardashian, with the former two believing that the edited memes of Italians "singing" popular songs during quarantine are real, and with Kardashian sharing an alleged psychic's coronavirus "prediction" that says the virus will disappear.
Chris Brown posted an audio hoax to his Instagram Story, and it's gained even more traction on Twitter.
Rapper Chris Brown uploaded an audio file to his Instagram Story – that's been debunked –suggesting that the US will soon enter a mandatory month-long quarantine period (within two weeks, according to the audio). Fans and followers of his screen-recorded the audio and posted it to Twitter, like the above, where the hoax took on a new life.
The video in the tweet above that was taken from Brown's account has been viewed nearly 1 million times already by publication, and Brown has more than 62 million followers.
According to the audio, the woman recording has friends who work at the US Pentagon and in various local and state governments, and she says the federal government is going to "shut down" and "quarantine" US citizens to the point where people won't be allowed to leave their homes or buy groceries at any stores.
In the viral tweet above, the poster specifically attributes this "unannounced" quarantine to New York City, although local and federal officials have clarified across the country that these steps will not be taken.
Brown is also posting lots of memes about the coronavirus, but some of them shouldn't be taken seriously.
Brown has been posting about the coronavirus non-stop on Instagram, and a lot of his content is harmless memes. However, he's also been encouraging fear of grocery store workers, like with a video of a man yelling at a checkout line staffer for not using gloves.
On his Instagram Story, Brown has also posted biblical passages that imply the coronavirus pandemic will disappear if people pray – and he's not the only one tying religion and spirituality to the coronavirus.
Insider reached out to Brown's management for comment, but didn't get a response.
Kim Kardashian tweeted a passage from a book written by a self-described psychic that she implies predicted the coronavirus – along with its sudden disappearance.
The Kardashian family has been active on social media throughout the spread of the pandemic, but none are more topical than Kim. She says her sister Kourtney Kardashian sent this viral passage from the 2008 book "End of Days" in the Kardashian family group chat, and her tweet alone has more than 240,000 likes as of publication.
The book was written by a self-described psychic, Sylvia Brown, and the passage in question predicts that a "severe pneumonia-like illness" will spread around the world in about 2020, and that it will "suddenly vanish as quickly as it arrived," then return and disappear again a decade later.
Not only are psychic abilities questionable, but so is the idea that the coronavirus will just suddenly disappear. Kardashian's tweet also reinforces the idea that the coronavirus appeared out of nowhere, when in reality the gradual spread of the virus was reported on well before it reached the US.
Kelvin "Brother Nature" Peńa deleted his tweet that contained misinformation about preventing yourself from getting the coronavirus.
Peña is a hugely popular influencer with more than 2.4 million Twitter followers, and he tweeted out a Notes app screenshot that contained a lot of misinformation about preventing yourself from getting the coronavirus. After Insider reached out to him – and his tweet received additional coverage from outlets like BuzzFeed News– Peña deleted it.
The Notes app screenshot claimed to compile medical advice from a member of the "Stanford hospital board," but the information in it isn't medically advisable. One of the claims, that drinking hot water every 15 minutes will flush the virus into your stomach, where acid will kill it, has taken on a new life as a viral, debunked claim on social media and in mass texts.
Peña's screenshots were liked by more than 200,000 Twitter users before he deleted the tweet, and it also contains untrue claims like "[The coronavirus] hates the Sun," and "Try not to drink liquids with ice."
Beauty guru Cole Carrigan tweeted that the US was going "into quarantine" for two weeks, attaching a hoax text as evidence.
The influencer tweeted that the entire US would be "going into quarantine" for two weeks, although it's unclear what he thinks that quarantine would consist of. Authorities are recommending that US citizens practice social distancing and in some states, steps are being taken to prohibit groups of people above a certain number from gathering.
However, Carrigan attached a fake mass text as evidence of his claim in his replies, suggesting that the whole country would go under a federal quarantine, which so far is not true.
Insider reached out to Carrigan, but didn't get a response.
One would-be influencer admitted that she made up a fake trend called the "coronavirus challenge" to get publicity.
A 21-year-old college student from New Jersey who goes by Ava Louise online admitted in a YouTube video that the "coronavirus challenge" TikTok she went viral for isn't actually a trend, just something she made up to get attention.
In the original TikTok, Ava Louise licks the toilet seat on an airplane, which led to a lot of hate sent her way, along with people believing that the action was part of a trend that could endanger people through unnecessary spread of the virus. However, as Ava Louise stated afterward, the trend hasn't actually caught on, and she just made it up.
Fake videos of quarantined Italians singing along to popular songs are fooling the celebrities they're about.
Katy Perry, Madonna, Shawn Mendes, Halle Berry, and Cheryl all have something in common – they've publicly fallen for a meme that shows quarantined Italians on balconies singing along to popular songs.
Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/1239250576594042881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Fans are tricking their favorite artists by sharing fake edits of people singing their songs while quarantined in Italy due to the Coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/mK39IfaND8
The edited videos have gone viral on platforms like Twitter, and each of the celebrities above have quote-tweeted one of the fake edits and written something positive about people singing along to the songs. They're just in good fun, but it's another example of how celebrities and influencers can easily fall for misinformation online, spreading it to their large audiences.
Most of the celebrities have deleted their congratulatory tweets, but here's an example of what the meme looks and sounds like, with a musical overlay from the movie "Cats."
Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/1239231867397668864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw A whole neighborhood in Italy is singing "Mr. Mistoffelees" from the motion picture "Cats" while they're on lockdown and self-quarantined. You cannot break the human spirit pic.twitter.com/H7ocFkPCxI
One influencer posted an Instagram Story that people deemed racially charged, but she appears to have had different intentions.
Influencer and YouTuber Niki Demartino posted a Snapchat of herself at a nail salon that plays the "It's Corona Time" song while she gets her nails done. Both she and the manicurist are wearing masks, and nail artists typically wear masks throughout the process for safety and hygiene.
Some commentators think the video was racist, tying the coronavirus to the race of the nail technician.
But Demartino has tweeted otherwise, apologized, and said that the video was a poorly thought-out visual joke about the coronavirus in general, as opposed to a racist video. That being said, she also tweeted that essential oils can boost your immune system.
Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/1239310272776601600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw ways to boost your immune system: - L lysine vitamins 💊 - emergan-C 🍹 - 10 hrs of sleep a night 🛏 - drink LOTS of water 💦 - orange juice 🧃 - essential oils!!!
Several influencers and celebrities have spread misinformation about essential oils, but Michelle Phan was probably the first to do so during the spread of the coronavirus.
Along with Demartino, lots of people have indicated that essential oils can have antiviral properties. They don't, and there's actually very little evidence that essential oils have any medical benefits at all.
Back in early February, beauty guru Michelle Phan kicked off the trend of linking essential oils to the coronavirus pandemic, getting in a Twitter altercation with Sandra Lee – better known as Dr. Pimple Popper – in the process.
Lee tweeted firmly that there's no such thing as antiviral essential oils, but the suggestion to use oils has cropped up in plenty of advice tweets from influencers and non-influencers alike as the coronavirus continues to worsen in the US and around the globe.
Trisha Paytas is one of the biggest names on YouTube. She has over 5 million subscribers on her channels and has been on the platform for over a decade.
She posts Mukbangs, intimate personal vlogs from her kitchen floor, and has been in more public feuds than maybe any other influencer.
Drama seems to have followed her through the various twists and turns of her career, and she's shared every second with her fans.
Trisha Paytas has been an incredibly compelling character to watch on YouTube since she created her account blndsundoll4mj in 2007. For over a decade she's posted Mukbangs, hysterical personal vlogs from her kitchen floor, and gotten into more public feuds than maybe any other influencer.
In her 12 years on the platform, Paytas has grown a following of 4.9 million subscribers on her main account and 1.36 million on her separate vlog channel. No matter who she's dating or who she's arguing with, her subscribers can't get enough, and she's penetrated nearly every corner of the online world. She even manages to make a video about cooking scrambled eggs entertaining.
A self-confessed troll, Paytas is always trying to get featured on YouTube gossip aficionado Keemstar's show "DramaAlert" and every decision she makes seems to get people talking. She told Insider the last 12 years have been amazing, and she has always "wanted to be known."
"I never cared about being rich or anything (still don't)," she said. "I just had (have) this constant need for attention. Maybe that's a bad thing, maybe not, but it's how I thrive."
Here's the lowdown on some of the most memorable parts of Paytas' career so far, to help explain why she's one of the most iconic and persistent people to ever grace YouTube with their presence.
Trisha Paytas started her YouTube account as a dedication to her hero Quentin Tarantino.
When Paytas started her channel, it was devoted to counting down the days to Quentin Tarantino film "Inglorious Basterds" and reading out her raps and poems dedicated to the director. But her content evolved over the next year or two to include dieting vlogs, dating and beauty advice, and even an attempt to try and break the world record for speed talking— a skill that got her an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
She followed many other different ventures early in her career.
Back in 2010, Paytas claimed to be a tanning addict on an episode of "My Strange Addiction."In a YouTube video she further explained it helped with her "physical shape and acne." She's been cast in episodes of "Modern Family" and "Who Wants to Be a Superhero?", and the movie "Wunderlust" which starred Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston.
Paytas also appeared in the music videos of several artists including Eminem, Amy Winehouse, The All-American Rejects, and Les Savy Fav.
In 2013, she was a guest on Dr Phil and spoke out against people who criticize her looks in a segment called "girls who bash girls who dress sexy."
Her YouTube channel began to take off when she started posting more opinionated vlogs and comedy skits.
She's openly admitted to posting videos just for the clicks.
Paytas has admitted that some of her more outlandish videos were posted just to get the clicks. She told Business Insider her support of Romney was one of those cases, as was a video where she claimed "dogs don't have brains."
She said she thought "dumbing [her]self down" would get her views, and she didn't realize that more people would watch "if I was just real and true to who I was."
Paytas has a close friendship with fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson.
Paytas told Insider she owes a lot of her success on YouTube to Shane Dawson. She said they first met when she was cast as a stripper in one of his early YouTube videos.
"I remember going to Shane's house for the shoot (this was years before we even became friends and made our own videos together), but I was like 'WHAT DO YOU DO?' straight up," she said. "He had this big house and was paying all these actors and crew to make videos and his mom told me it was all from YouTube."
Once Dawson told people about her, it opened up the doors to grow her following, she said.
"I think everyone was weirded out by me but once I got the co-sign from Shane, more people were open to getting to know me and collabing with me and that meant a lot," she said. "Before that, I was about getting my face out on mainstream media wherever I could."
As well as "Ellen," Paytas appeared on "America's Got Talent" and "Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!" just to get her face out there.
"To this day, I try not to say no to any opportunity to be introduced to a new audience," she said. "The platform is always changing, growing and getting more and more saturated — you have to stay ahead of it all."
She's also had a pretty lucrative music career.
In November 2014, Paytas started her musical career with her first single, a cover of Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby." The next April she released a video for a cover of Elvis' "A Little Less Conversation," followed by an original song called "Fat Chicks" in May 2015.
"No one comes right out and says it: fat," she said. "It's like this taboo word that people do take offense to, including me at one point, but why?" Paytas told Business Insider at the time.
"It's really just me taking a word that so many people describe me as and throwing it away ... Like, I'm fat fat fat fat, is that good now? Can we stop talking about that in every video I post and every picture I take?"
Paytas has nine albums in total.
She has even written some religious pop as an ode to her faith as a Roman Catholic.
In 2017, Paytas released "A Jesus Bop" and "I Love You Jesus," as an ode to her faith as a devout Roman Catholic. These tracks were followed up with "A Christmas Jesus Bop" in 2018 and "Jesus Rises (Easter Song)" in 2019.
The video for "A Jesus Bop" features a YouTuber who calls himself Jesus Christ, who used to make money on Fiverr reading out statements from fans.
Paytas has written 11 books in total, experimenting with poetry, novels, and an autobiography.
Paytas has released 11 books, her first of which is titled "The History of My Insanity," released in 2013. Her latest book, "101 Poems About My Ex-Boyfriend," has just been published.
She also appeared on "Celebrity Big Brother" in the UK, but walked out of the house on the 11th day.
In 2017, Paytas spoke about her experience in the house on Twitter and in two YouTube videos. She said it was the "worst experience" of her life and everyone who was in the house with her was "fake." She called Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding "trash," said "Ex On The Beach" contestant Jemma Lucy was "extremely aggressive," and that former "Hollyoaks" actor Paul Danan was a "fake ass."
She once decided she did not want to identify as a person.
In 2017, Paytas uploaded a video called "i'm no longer a person" where she walked around in her underwear and said she didn't want to be identified as Trisha, a female, or anything anymore.
"Because I no longer have an identity," she said. "I don't want to be made fun of or compared to my videos because they are no longer me. I am stepping back from a persona, from a person that is Trish."
She also said people shouldn't wear clothes.
Paytas has dated several public figures.
Paytas dated Michael Anthony Hall from 2008 to 2013, then Roger Bart from 2013 to 2015. She talked about a lot of her past relationships in a video titled "WHO WAS MY WORST BOYFRIEND EVER?"
The first high profile relationship Paytas had on YouTube that people really started paying attention to was with Sean van der Wilt.
In 2015, Paytas started dated musician and performer Sean van der Wilt. They released a song together called "Playground" which has over 4 million views on YouTube. They also posted the now notorious video together called "Showering with my Boyfriend!"
They were together about a year until December 2016.
The breakup of Paytas and van der Wilt was full of controversy.
In 2016, Paytas publicly announced she and van der Wilt had split up in a video where she filmed herself crying on her kitchen floor — a trend she would soon become famous for.
She posted a subsequent video, "Sean Van Der Wilt Is Gay," where she revealed van der Wilt had kissed another man in a club. Paytas then received a lot of criticism from people saying she had publicly outed someone without their consent.
A few days after their breakup, Paytas posted a video saying she was a "chicken nugget."
Paytas took the breakup and the criticism hard, because she posted a confusing YouTube video titled "im a chicken nugget" a few days later. It has over a million views.
"When you feel like a chicken nugget, you feel like ... not delicious," Paytas said to the camera. "Well, you feel delicious, but you also feel, like, fried. And fake on the inside ... I'm pink goop and now I'm a chicken nugget."
She added: "I don't think I should be considered crazy for identifying as such."
Paytas shares so much on her channel because YouTube is the only place she feels heard.
When Insider asked whether talking to her subscribers through the camera helps her work through what she's feeling, Paytas said "absolutely!"
"Some people say I overshare but it's the only place I truly feel heard," she said. "I know now there are people out there who get exactly what I'm thinking, feeling, etc, even if my own IRL [in real life] friends and family don't get it."
She said sometimes she feels "so alone," so putting herself out there "so raw" helps her connect to the hundreds of others who are going through the same thing, even though some call her "crazy" or diagnose her with a mental illnesses.
"We all are just trying to survive and the more we are open and talk about our struggles, the more other people will feel comforted and feel it's OK and they will get through the day, the week, the year as well," she said. "The best part about recording myself at my lowest, is I always come out of the darkness and I can show others, as well as myself, it always gets better."
She can look back at videos six months ago to see how much her life has improved, she said.
"There will always be ups and downs in life, it's how we deal with the downs that makes our ups that much more glorious," she said. "No one should judge anyone on how they deal and process their feelings."
Paytas also has a complicated history with Aaron Carter.
Paytas has known noughties teen icon Aaron Carter for several years. They recently appeared in an Instagram Live video together, leading people to believe they were in a relationship. But the two have a rocky history.
On August 8 this year, Paytas tweeted that she had "hooked up" with Carter and he'd unfollowed her which led to a Twitter war of exposing each other's DMs. But the two appear to have made up, with Paytas tweeting they are like brother and sister.
Paytas also dated Viner turned YouTuber Jason Nash.
Paytas dated Jason Nash, a member of David Dobrik's Vlog Squad, on-and-off for about a year. During their turbulent relationship, Paytas featured heavily in Dobrik's famous vlogs. They also made a music video together.
Paytas and Nash broke up briefly a few times because of arguments, one time because Paytas thought Nash called her overweight, and another because Nash kept making jokes about having a threesome with Tana Mongeau. They made response videos about each other's behavior before rekindling their romance both times.
Paytas and Nash broke up in February, which was hard for her.
Paytas revealed in May this year that she and Nash had broken up for a final time in February in another emotional kitchen floor video. She said they had fallen out and Nash had stopped speaking to her. She also said she had started going to therapy to work through some of her issues with trust and insecurity.
After their relationship ended via a FaceTime call, Paytas said she accidentally mixed alcohol with pills and ended up in the hospital.
After posting the video, Paytas tweeted people who were saying they had found Nash on Tinder saying he had "every right" to be there. She said Nash"deserves nothing but the best"and"I never deserved Jason and I treated him poorly."
She said it's incredibly hard experiencing relationships and breakups in the public eye.
"This is the hardest thing I've ever dealt with online," Paytas told Insider about having a relationship on YouTube. "Having people constantly weigh in on your relationship — it just doesn't work."
She said the constant comments and assumptions eventually end up killing the relationship because of the insecurities they create.
"So many people called my relationship toxic or they would tell me my ex wouldn't be in to me, so I started believing that and getting insecure with it," she said. "The breakup was even worse — people dig and dig and dig at you constantly. Whether it's ill intent or not, they will always give you updates on your ex, telling you what he's doing, who he's with, what's being said, what's not being said, what's being insinuated."
She said she struggles to look past the comments, which she still gets every day, making it even harder to move on.
"It's tough but its slowly dying down," she said. "People get over things, it's just those few that want to keep drudging up the past. I am a person who already has a hard time getting over people so having that added peanut gallery has definitely slowed down my normal process of healing heartbreak."
Despite the pain, Paytas said she has turned the experience into something positive — publishing poems, recording an album, and going on her "Heartbreak Tour."
"You might as well monetize your heartbreak if the whole internet won't let it go," she said. "At least I can try and use it to my advantage the best I can.
"It's easier to do all that once your heart is healed, though. Months ago, I know I could never! I would break down for sure. But now it's like a chapter in my life and it just feels like I'm writing it down as if it wasn't my life, as if it was characters in a movie. Kind of therapeutic on that note actually!"
Despite staying friends initially, their relationship soured and Paytas spoke out against Nash and the Vlog Squad several times.
Paytas has released several videos since she broke up with Nash, claiming that he only broke up with her because Dobrik, who she compared to Ted Bundy, told him to.
She has also made several other claims about the Vlog Squad, most notably in a recent video titled "HOW DAVID DOBRIK + THE VLOG SQUAD RUINED MY LIFE" where she talked about one member, Jeff Wittek, ignoring her in a Starbucks.
She also addressed another claim she made in a deleted video that another Vlog Squad member, Brandon Calvillo, was dating a 17-year-old— which Calvillo later denied.
Paytas has confusingly changed her opinion of Dobrik and the Vlog Squad multiple times. She recently commented on one of Dobrik's Instagram photos, saying "Ur so hot. Can we f--- tho ?"
In May, Paytas also got into an emotional feud with h3h3's Ethan Klein.
Paytas tearfully called out Ethan Klein, A YouTuber who runs the h3h3 podcast, for fat-shaming her in a video, saying he was "harming young girls."
Klein made a video titled "Instagram vs. Reality" where he said influencers had a problem with photoshopping their pictures, and editing beyond recognition was harmful. Paytas responded saying the fact he used her images and called influencers like Tana Mongeau a "whale" was damaging.
In tweets, Paytas called Klein a "disgusting piece of s---."
"Hey @h3h3productions — I was suicidal at age 13, 15, 19, 22, and 25 over comments like yours,"she wrote. "You went beyond opinions, you are going for extreme bullying that could lead to many girls wanting to take their lives like I did for so many years."
Klein responded to Paytas saying: "Who is this rude person? I don't recognize her from her profile picture. Anyone know?"
Paytas also has a complicated relationship with YouTube's most popular gossip channel host, Keemstar.
Keemstar hosts YouTube's most prominent gossip channel DramaAlert, where Paytas has been a common topic of conversation.
Most recently, they got into a Twitter fight when Keemstar brought up Paytas' previous struggles with addiction. He quote-tweeted someone who said they had recovered from a crystal meth addiction, saying "Congrats! Hopefully this gives some inspiration to @trishapaytas!"
Paytas responded saying "@KEEMSTAR is a literal devil bringing up my drug addiction and shit. Ur bullying causes actual death. This isn't cute. Get ur shit together."
Keemstar also covered a story of another YouTuber called Nikocado Avocado.
In May, a video by a YouTuber called Nikocado Avocado went viral, racking up over 2.7 million views, titled "Exposing Trisha Paytas With Receipts." Nikocado Avocado explained that he and Paytas were supposed to film together several years ago, but she had ghosted him. Then she proceeded to criticize him publicly in several livestreams and videos, and he'd had enough of it. So he made all of their DMs public.
Keemstar said Paytas was "cancelled" as a result of the video coming out, because it had exposed her as a liar and a manipulator.
Paytas and Nikocado Avocado made up a few months later and did Mukbangs together.
Paytas initially denied any claims of wrongdoing, even telling Perez Hilton there was nothing wrong with ghosting someone. But she later backtracked on this, saying she was going through a tough time in May due to her breakup with Nash.
Paytas then filmed videos with Nikocado Avocado on both their channels where they ate take-out food and discussed everything that went down between them.
In August, Paytas appeared on a YouTube show called "The Reality House."
Paytas, along with several other YouTube stars, took part in a 10-part reality series where the last person to leave their shared house would win $25,000.
During her first few hours in the house, Paytas brought up how much she hated Jason Nash and David Dobrik, and then got into a fight with fellow contestant Dominic DeAngelis about a bed.
DeAngelis asked her for money, and she said she couldn't pay it because she was "broke." Then, just minutes later, she claimed to be worth $25 million.
"I have a f------ Patreon," she said.
Paytas recently appeared on Logan Paul's podcast.
Paytas appeared on Logan Paul's "Impaulsive" podcast on September 13 where she talked about everything from her sex life, to her public spats with the Vlog Squad, to YouTube's biggest creator PewDiePie.
Mike Majlak said they had to cut some of what she said out because it was too outrageous, according to Dexerto.
"There was a lot of back-and-forth with her ex-team, the Vlog Squad, that, unfortunately, didn't make the cut," he said. "I think we try really hard to keep everything in these episodes, but when there are any kinds of crazy allegations or stuff that we don't see there being evidence to support, we cut that stuff out, and this was one of those episodes."
Paytas also criticized PewDiePie, saying she hated him.
"Ew. F--- him and his declining views," she said, saying he did a video about her even though she's "irrelevant."
"PewDiePie, f--- all the way off," she said. "You're disgusting, your humor sucks, and you should stick to playing video games. F--- PewDiePie, I hate him."
Paytas sometimes stays out of drama for a few months.
Paytas told Insider she's learned over the years that positive attention not only "feeds my soul and drives my ambition," but it also helps people.
"Being able to hear the stories of people who can relate to what I'm about or just people who have watched my videos and felt better in their own lives, that's the impact I've always wanted to make, " she said.
"I just never knew until this year. I have a platform and I love creating but helping others cope with the hardships of life, that's the most wonderful thing about being in the public eye."
On October 7, Paytas posted a video saying she is transgender.
She posted a video titled "I AM TRANSGENDER (FEMALE TO MALE)" in which she said she's basically a gay man who likes to dress in drag, because she is attracted to other gay men, loves "glam" and "voluptuousness," and has "penis envy."
The video received a lot of criticism from people in the comments and on social media, who said she shouldn't make like of LGBTQ issues.
But Paytas insisted she wasn't trolling, and invited people to ask her questions on Instagram.
"I've dated gay men, and this is what offended people in my video, when I date gay men, a lot of gay men think I'm not man enough because I don't have a penis," she said.
In the "OFFICIAL WEDDING VIDEO" posted to YouTube on November 5, Paytas is walked down the aisle by her mother Lenna Paytas, who drops her off at the end of the conference room aisle next to a cardboard cutout of Brad Pitt.
"I never thought I would find someone who wouldn't leave me, and who wouldn't talk back to me and judge me for being crazy," Paytas said in her vows. "This is real and this means a lot. From the moment I got you in the mail, I knew this would last forever."
Paytas made a lingering feud with fellow YouTuber Gabbie Hanna public.
In November, Paytas was involved in a convoluted drama with fellow YouTuber Gabbie Hanna. She uploaded a video and claimed, among many other things, that Hanna had harassed and slandered her.
It stemmed from an incident where Hanna told Paytas' then-boyfriend Jason Nash that Paytas had herpes — something Paytas denies.
Hanna defended her actions on Twitter, saying "it wasn't my business to know if trisha had herpes, i have no reason for her to tell me. it WAS my business to warn a friend that he might be at risk. know what i mean? asking her would just be gossip. telling him to be safe and find out is caring for his health. [sic]"
She apologized for accidentally uploading a video to TIkTok where she showed nudity.
"My TikToks aren't sexy, I'm not trying to be sexy on TikTok," she said in the video. "There were two buttons that weren't buttoned down there. It wasn't explicit. To be fair, it wasn't my vagina, it was above it, it was below the bellybutton area. Nevertheless, I deleted it immediately. I was mortified."
In March 2020, Paytas claimed to have Dissociative identity disorder.
In a video titled "MEET MY ALTERS," Paytas claimed to have Dissociative identity disorder, which was formerly known as Multiple personality disorder.
She talked about having multiple distinct personalities called T, Trixie, Tyson, Tierney, and Tobolter, but was met with outrage because she spread misinformation about the disorder, diagnosed herself rather than going to a mental health professional, and used outdated and offensive terms.
YouTuber DissociaDID, who identifies as a DID system, outlined everything Paytas got wrong about the disorder in a detailed video. The alter presenting, called Nin, said Paytas was not very well educated on DID, and it was harmful for her to upload a video on it.
"It's hard to sit here and watch someone call me crazy and spread information that's very incorrect and damaging about our community, which undoes a lot of the hard work that me and a lot of other content creators in the DID community have done," Nin said.
In the latest episode of Tana Mongeau's "MTV No Filter" show, her manager Jordan Worona took her to see the pulmonologist. Mongeau had been suffering from a persistent cough for months, and had even been coughing up blood, leading her friends to joke that she might have contracted tuberculosis.
When Mongeau finally received her diagnosis of being asthmatic, she and her friends all played it down. They received criticism from fans for being so blasé and celebrating the fact she wasn't going to stop smoking marijuana.
"She's literally so toxic," one viewer wrote in the comments below the video. "The fact that she doesn't care and is acting like that is pathetic."
Others called Mongeau "entitled,""spoiled," and "rude."
"She needs to take better care of herself," one person wrote. "Her 'friends' are too busy trying to be relevant. They are cringe."
Asthma is very treatable with inhalers, but it also puts people in a high-risk category for developing COVID-19. The coronavirus affects the lungs, so people like Mongeau with this diagnosis shouldn't be taking unnecessary risks with their health right now.
Tana was traumatized going to the doctors
Mongeau was initially resistant to going to the doctors because she is traumatized from trips with her parents there when she was younger. She explained in the episode her parents would never pay the medical bills so they would have to go to a different doctor every time she was ill.
In the car ride over, Mongeau was clearly stressed out and anxious about the appointment, but was still smoking a vape pen, which initiated a coughing fit.
In the lung specialist's office, Mongeau started acting up. She complained about the tightness of the blood pressure machine and kept saying she wanted to leave. Worona, who was getting visibly more annoyed with his client's behavior, said he would be "beyond mad" if she took off.
Many fans sympathized with Worona in the comments for his patience and care for Mongeau.
"God bless Jordan for seriously putting up with that," one fan wrote.
Asthma puts people at a higher risk of getting sick from the coronavirus
Test results and X-rays revealed Mongeau's lungs were clear, but she did have constricted airways. The doctor gave her the diagnosis of asthma and prescribed an inhaler. He told her to come back in 10 days to see how she was getting on, which Mongeau told Worona she wasn't going to do.
"I have asthma, I'm fine," Mongeau laughed on the way home, saying she basically had a "clean bill of health." Worona told her it wasn't something to joke about because people die from asthma. Mongeau's friends Ashly Schwan and Imari Stuart were also unconcerned.
But the reality is it's a scary time for people who have asthma while the COVID-19 coronavirus is spreading around the world.
"People with asthma are at a particularly high risk because the virus affects the lungs, so those suffering with preexisting respiratory problems should be self-isolating if they aren't already," Dr Aragona Giuseppe, a GP and medical advisor at Prescription Doctor, told Insider.
"Those with asthma who contract the disease will have to take precautionary measures. If symptoms worsen or they have difficulty breathing they should seek medical attention immediately."
Having asthma does not make it more likely you will catch the coronavirus
Dr Diana Gall, a doctor at Doctor-4-U, told Insider having asthma is not a reason to panic, but the vast majority of deaths attributed to COVID-19 have been in elderly people and people with underlying health issues, which includes asthma.
"If you were to pick up a respiratory infection, it can exacerbate your asthma symptoms and could leave you struggling to breathe," she said. "It does not mean you are more likely to catch the virus is you have asthma, but sufferers of the condition should take extra care to make sure they don't get infected."
She added asthma sufferers should follow government and WHO guidelines and avoid unnecessary interactions with people, stay away from public venues such as bars, cinemas, and restaurants, wash their hands regularly, and not touch their eyes, nose, or mouth with unclean hands.
"You don't necessarily have to remain self-isolated, you should still be able to go for walks or pop to the shops to pick up essentials, but be sure to keep your distance from other people," Gall said.
"Keep following your usual asthma action plan, including taking the preventer inhaler, and keep your reliever inhaler at hand in case you begin to start to struggle to breathe. If you are having an asthma attack, call 999 for an ambulance and inform them you have coronavirus symptoms."
Beauty influencers like NikkieTutorials, James Charles, and Jeffree Star are some of the biggest creators on YouTube.
They, as well as hundreds of others, make up the YouTube beauty community, where millions of people subscribe to see makeup tutorials, product hauls, and more.
In recent years, the YouTube genre has also become synonymous with drama, as numerous creators have found themselves involved in scandals and fights.
For decades, people turned to beauty books and makeup counters to learn cosmetic skills. Today, however, searching for a makeup technique online will yield thousands, if not millions, of results.
Back in 2007, makeup artists and beauty fanatics began sharing their tips and tricks on YouTube. The community has grown tremendously since, fostering some of the internet's biggest stars in the process — think James Charles and Jeffree Star.
Of course, there's more to the genre than eye-shadow tutorials and Sephora hauls. In recent years, beauty YouTubers have also become known for their scandals and feuds, which often overshadow the community as a whole.
Here's everything you need to know about the beauty community on YouTube, which is turning many makeup artists into millionaires.
But because Nelson's YouTube channel became inactive after just four videos, creators like Michelle Phan, Lauren Luke, Marlena Stell, and NikkieTutorials are often considered to be the founders of YouTube's beauty community, starting their channels in 2007 and 2008.
Their videos are often a lot more personal than those posted by YouTubers years ago. For example, the biggest stars rarely post in-depth tutorials today, but instead share videos in the style of "chit chat get ready with me," where they talk about their lives while doing their makeup.
Every beauty vlogger on YouTube makes videos for a different demographic. James Charles, for example, is especially popular among young viewers, whereas NikkieTutorials makes videos for a slightly older audience.
That being said, it doesn't matter if you're a professional makeup artist or a cosmetic enthusiast — there are beauty videos for everyone on YouTube. After all, many people who watch beauty YouTube don't actually wear makeup at all.
With the rise of stars like Bretman Rock— who infuses comedy into his beauty videos — many of today's videos and creators are accessible to a wider audience than those popular over 10 years ago.
How is beauty YouTube changing the beauty industry?
The beauty industry was valued at $532 billion in 2019. That number could largely be attributed to beauty YouTubers, who influence their subscribers to purchase products they recommend, and celebrity makeup lines, like Kylie Cosmetic — which led the reality-television star to become a billionaire.
But money isn't the only way YouTube has helped the beauty industry to flourish. For example, it's becoming rarer for people to stick with a few tried-and-true beauty products. Instead, many people now own stockpiles of products, many of which they might not ever use, inspired by YouTubers.
YouTubers have also changed the way many people shop for makeup. For example, lines form outside Morphe stores whenever Jeffree Star releases a new makeup line, as his products typically sell out right away.
As a result, numerous fights have erupted between YouTubers and sometimes brands, especially in recent years. In 2017, for example, a feud between NikkieTutorials, Jeffree Star, and Too Faced Cosmetics began, after Star revealed that the brand had underpaid NikkieTutorials for their collaboration makeup line.
Scandals also play a big part in YouTube's beauty community. Not only have multiple YouTubers — including Star and Charles — been accused of everything from racism to lying about their makeup skills, but some have also faced criticism for selling faulty products.
Jaclyn Hill, for example, launched her namesake beauty brand, Jaclyn Cosmetics, with a line of lipsticks in May 2019. As customers began to receive their orders from the brand in June of that year, many said they had received damaged products, some of which were said to cause infections.
Hill received much criticism after the launch, which continues to this day, as some people believe she rushed production of the products or possibly sold old ones— which she's denied — to make a profit.
How much money can you make as a beauty YouTuber?
Few beauty vloggers disclose their incomes. Still, their YouTube videos often give glimpses into the realities of their lives.
In recent years, celebrities have both collaborated with beauty vloggers and, at times, created their own videos. Kylie Jenner is one of the most frequent celebrity faces seen in the community, as she often uploads makeup videos to promote her brand, Kylie Cosmetics.
Her sister Kim Kardashian West, on the other hand, has appeared in videos with YouTubers like James Charles and Jaclyn Hill. Similarly, Lady Gaga has appeared on NikkieTutorials' channel, and Kesha has starred in one of Manny MUA's videos.
As mentioned earlier, celebrities have helped the beauty industry transform into the money-making machine it is today. As a result, numerous stars have created their own cosmetic lines to cash in on the craze.
At the time of writing, celebrities who have their own beauty brands include: Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, Kesha, Drew Barrymore, Kim Kardashian West, Kylie Jenner, Victoria Beckham, Millie Bobby Brown, and Jessica Alba.
Who should you follow?
Whereas only a few beauty YouTubers existed a decade ago, there are now hundreds to watch online. Here's who you should check out:
Influencers face challenges just like everyone else going through this social distancing period while the COVID-19 coronavirus is spreading across the world.
In influencer residences like the Hype House, FaZe House, and Jake Paul's Team 10 house, it's pretty much business as usual.
We spoke to internet experts about whether these houses will stick together during this time, what the health risks of living in big groups are, and what these online stars are currently weighing up.
A challenge everyone is navigating right now is where their career fits into the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, and how the recommended social distancing to halt it affects their day to day jobs. This includes influencers, particularly those whose content stream relies on them hanging out with their friends in communal properties like the Hype House, FaZe House, and Jake Paul's Team 10 house.
As government recommendations for self-isolation get more strict, influencers are going to have to weigh up the benefits of sticking together with the health risks associated with living in big groups. For example, California, where the vast majority of influencers reside, was put into a state-wide lockdown by governor Gavin Newsom on Friday.
How influencer houses are handling social isolation so far
Some influencer houses have residents full time, like the FaZe House and Clout House. Others are a bit more come-and-go, like the Hype House, which only has a handful of permanent residents. The rest of the 20 or so members can rent out rooms as and when they please — as long as they make videos for the duration of their stay.
"The main risk when being around a lot of people in close proximity is the virus likely being passed across from person to person," Doctor Aragona Giuseppe, a GP and medical advisor at Prescription Doctor, told Insider.
"This then promotes further spreading as once all these people leave, on their journey home they would most likely spread it on to others in close proximity on public transport, and so on and so forth."
Dr Diana Gall from online medical service Doctor-4-U told Insider the risk becomes even greater if one or two people are flaunting the fact they are not following the self-isolation advice and are continuing to expose themselves to the virus in the outside world.
"Coronavirus can live on hard surfaces for up to three days if they are not disinfected properly and can spread easily through human-to-human contact such as dining together or sitting on the sofa watching television or gaming for more than 15 minutes," she said.
"In a shared house, there are many high-risk touchpoints such as toilets, door handles and light switches, as well as less obvious ones such as kettles, phone chargers, washing machines, cookers, and television or gaming controls."
'If just one strays, they will be opening up the possibility of infecting everyone'
Alex Ruani, a doctoral researcher in nutrition science education at University College London, and Chief Science Educator at The Health Sciences Academy, told Insider that while there are no official guidelines about living in groups, anyone doing so should be extra cautious — not just for themselves, but to protect their housemates too.
"Influencers hold their mobiles in their hands for several hours daily," she added. "This means they need to treat mobiles as an extension of their hands and sanitize them regularly, too."
Stacy Jones, the CEO and founder of Hollywood Branded Inc, told Insider she hopes the millions of eyeballs on these influencers will stop them taking unnecessary risks. Florida spring breakers, for instance, were ridiculed online when they went ahead with their holidays despite the government and the World Health Organization urging people to stay inside as much as possible.
"I'm not gonna let it stop me from partying": Some spring break visitors in South Florida lamented the restricted access to beaches and entertainment as public health and government officials race against the clock to curtail the spreading coronavirus. https://t.co/8gBUuhcskwpic.twitter.com/LQKBQO5SwG
"Regardless of how many people are living together in an influencer house, if they actually agree to just stay together, and not see people outside of the house at all, they can stay completely safe," said Jones.
"However, if just one strays, they will be opening up the possibility of infecting everyone. It's a big burden to put on some very young minds who likely feel invincible."
She said it is actually the influencers' creativity that will determine whether they remain popular during social distancing.
"The reality is, these influencers can make content anywhere. Including locked in a house together," she said. "The limit is on their being around people outside of the house, and trying to do collaborations with individuals who aren't already with them."
Giuseppe said digital natives like influencers and bloggers will probably suffer as they try to stay interesting to their audiences, who will have more content to choose from than ever before — TikTok's engagement increased 27% in just one month between February and March, according to Glossy.
"Those who earn a living through apps such as TikTok will just have to take the hit, or learn to do videos on their own," she said.
"They should not be risking the health of themselves and others to make a quick buck online."
'A lot of people would appreciate that distraction right now'
Chris Boutté, a YouTuber and mental health advocate, told Insider there are definitely pros and cons of young people congregating together in influencer houses, because "it's better to be living with people than not with people" right now.
He also thinks a bit of normality is exactly what people need, as regular TikTok and YouTube content helps distance people from the difficult realities they might be facing in their own lives.
"A good example is Danny Gonzales — he released a video yesterday, and he made this slight little comment about how he had a flu, but he did his regular stuff, then at the very end he talked for a minute or two about the importance of social distancing," he said.
"I wish more influencers would do that — do their regular content, then maybe at the end do a little PSA. I think a lot of people would appreciate that distraction right now."
Influencers and celebrities also have to think about the fact everyone is watching them right now, he said. For example, Vanessa Hudgens was heavily criticized when she insinuated it wasn't that big a deal that people were going to die from COVID-19 on an Instagram live. If influencers aren't seen to be taking health measures seriously, it could damage their reputations considerably.
It could even be a "career-ender," Boutté said.
"I'm hoping right now some people mature faster than they usually do," he said. "Like, as much as Trisha Paytas is pissing everybody off right now, at least she's not running around in public or anything."
More established houses will probably stick together
Business Insider's Amanda Perelli reported Rihanna's new TikTok collab house, Fenty Beauty House, temporarily closed because of coronavirus concerns. Brandon Relph, the CEO of Studio BE, has some theories about what's going to happen to the others.
"If everyone from the FaZe clan went home and left the house for a month, it would survive because the content they make is all gaming, which is easy to make no matter where you are," he told Insider. "You can still do that together even if you don't live together."
He said he can see the more established houses staying intact because the stars have careers outside of it. The Hype House, however, might have more problems staying relevant. He said a situation like this might confirm Andy Warhol's theory of everyone having their 15 minutes of fame.
"It's going to be a matter of seeing who survives the recession and which creators are still around in six months," he said. "And even if we took the recession out of the equation, it's going to be interesting to see who is still relevant anyway. When people rise so quickly, it says to me they can fall very quickly as well."
Influencers set an example, whether they want to or not
Jones said she can see influencer houses surviving the isolation period just fine because they provide creators with key things they need to grow their audiences: attention and a group setting.
"The bigger issues the influencer houses have seem to be more about infighting and having some very young people who haven't run a business before," she said, "who all need a lot of focus and attention on them trying to find ways to be in business together, rowing in the same direction — and not fighting for control."
She added TikToks and fun YouTube videos are a helpful distraction for those who are isolated from their loved ones, anxious over illness or food supplies, and stressed over the mass panic buying which is leaving shop aisles apocalyptically empty.
Influencers can also help educate young people, who may have misinterpreted the health advice or been given the wrong information by the media.
"Tweens, teens, and college students are not understanding the fact that they may be carriers of the virus," Jones said. "The news has reported to such a high degree that this younger demographic is not really in danger of actual death, that people are choosing to ignore social distancing."
The message has not spread far enough that younger people are putting their own parents, grandparents, or loved ones with compromised immune systems, at risk by just being outside more than they have to be.
"Influencers in these houses should be reminding their followers of the risks, and also serve as examples," said Jones. "The more influencers who show that they are out and about and frolicking around, the higher the likelihood that their followers will mimic their actions."
Insider has contacted the Hype House, FaZe Clan, and Team 10 for comment.
Tana Mongeau's fans were angry at her again for her behavior on her show "MTV No Filter."
Last week they were calling her "rude," but this week they criticized her for how she acted around her friend, Trevor Moran, who is a recovering alcoholic.
The group went out to let off some steam, but viewers found it uncomfortable seeing Moran in that situation.
Mongeau responded with a long thread on Twitter saying recovery is very important to her and MTV was to blame for how the show was edited.
It's barely been a week since Tana Mongeau's fans were calling "rude" and "entitled" for the way she handled her asthma diagnosis, and how she treated her manager Jordan Worona in her show "MTV No Filter."
The latest episode has just aired, and fans are already troubled by her behavior again — this time because of excessive drinking around her friend Trevor Moran who is a recovering alcoholic.
After a fiery argument with Worona, Mongeau and her friends decided to have a night out. One of the group, Ashly Schwan, explained that Moran had recently relapsed and how they all want to be there for him. A discussion in Mongeau's house allowed Moran to be open about his struggles, and all of the group appeared to be supportive in his decision to stay sober, labeling 2020 as a year of "transformation" and "rehabilitation."
However, that didn't last long and the group thought they'd go wild for one night so Mongeau could forget about her health woes, falling out with Worona, and her breakup with fellow YouTuber Jake Paul.
Moran came along for the night out, despite some apprehension from Mongeau.
"The first one to literally pass out wins," Mongeau said, passing drinks in front of Moran. Moran said he felt very uncomfortable and had to walk away for a time out. Schwan went to go talk to him outside, and he told her he felt claustrophobic and had to leave.
YouTuber Teaspill retweeted this clip of the show from MTV's Twitter account saying "this... is very uncomfortable." People responded criticizing Mongeau, saying the clip was "disrespectful,""inconsiderate," and "disgusting."
"As a recovering addict/alcoholic ... this is one of the WORST things you can do to a friend trying to get into sobriety,"one fan tweeted. "My heart hurts for him."
"I feel so bad for him,"another wrote. "If they were really his friends they wouldn't have done that or try to make him feel like that!"
Mongeau responded shortly afterwards on Twitter in a long thread, saying she would clarify things further in an upcoming video, but was extremely upset by the way MTV had edited the show.
"I have cared about @TrevorMoran and his recovery more than anything in the world and have done EVERYTHING in my power to be there for him," she said.
"F--- waking up to an edit of ANYTHING that makes it look like I didn't. Even in my DARKEST times shooting the show there was never a point where I'd encourage Trevor to fall [off] the path or not be there for him in the best way I knew possible. Jesus I'm so upset [right now] at that."
She added she had only just recovered from the criticism she received last week and how she hates the drama surrounding her in the public eye right now. She also said a lot of her true feelings were cut from the show.
"Recovery and addiction are two things I'm VERY passionate about as they are two things I've dealt with very seriously," she said. "I was never discrediting asthma. I was never discrediting the importance of health. I can't believe I have to say this."
Former Big Brother star turned Instagram influencer Skye Wheatley received a lot of angry comments on her latest prize giveaway post.
She promoted a competition where entrants could win £10,000 ($11,700) with three photos of her and her son posing in a supermarket among empty shelves.
Some said Wheatley was being "insensitive" and that she should take the post down. Others said the post was "tone deaf" and that she should be "ashamed" of herself.
One fan said she could no longer follow Wheatley because the photos were "completely unnecessary and hurtful."
"I go to bed tonight with both myself and my partner uncertain if we have a job tomorrow," they wrote. "Everything we have worked so hard for gone (like it is for many more ) in a heartbeat. When I see these empty shelves it breaks my heart to think of a world that once was, one that will return but one that will now be a very uncertain place for our children to grow up in.
"For that reason alone I find these photos so upsetting. There is no kindness in poking fun at such heartache. All the very best to you at this difficult time."
A post shared by 𝒮𝓀𝓎𝑒 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒲𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓎🦄🌈⚡️ (@skye.wheatley) on Mar 22, 2020 at 2:08am PDT on
After the backlash, Wheatley edited the caption on her post, urging people to spread positivity and be kind while everyone is struggling.
"Please be kind to one another, please send love not hate, please focus on the positives and be aware of the negatives but shift your energy to the light not the darkness," she wrote. "Obviously there is a lot of sadness in the world but PLEASE keep your minds and bodies strong with love not hate."
She told followers to scroll past the post if it didn't "sit well" with them, and instead to "fill your soul with things that will make you happy during this time."
"Anger isn't helping the world right now," she said.
A lot of the latest comments on Wheatley's post are now full of support, thanking her for the opportunity to provide for their families during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"Much love to you Skye," one fan wrote. "You do you and block the haters. Honestly."
"Your story just made me cry," said another. "The people posting negative comments are probably also the ones buying and hoarding everything off those shelves. Everyone needs to lighten up!"
Insider has contacted Wheatley's management for comment.
First, they visited senior living locations, then went to a Target to help people out. Many were shocked at their kindness, and some were on the verge of tears.
"I love how toilet paper can make people's day," said Stuart.
In October 2019, a YouTuber duo known as MoreJStu bought all the toilet paper in a store — totalling around $5,000. The stars Justin Stuart and Andrew Scites, who have a following of 5 million, stocked up to build a giant fort.
Stuart and Scites realized they still had thousands of rolls leftover from their challenge, so they loaded up their van and drove around giving it out to people in Colorado Springs.
"For our first stop, we are going to go to a few senior living locations," Stuart said.
"Because we know it's a little more difficult for senior citizens to get the needed supplies such as toilet paper, and we want to be able to help them out first."
The next stop was a grocery store parking lot where they gave out packets to anyone they saw. Everyone was extremely grateful, and some were even close to tears at the surprise giveaway.
"I love how toilet paper can make people's day," said Stuart.
Finally, they stopped off at a Target storefront and loaded all the packets of toilet paper onto the floor for people to grab.
"You saved my family," one mother told them. Others responded in disbelief, asking "Are you sure?" when the YouTubers insisted they were giving it away for free.
"What's the catch?" one group asked.
"There is no catch," Scites responded. "We're just making a YouTube video."
Scites spoke to CNN about their giveaway, and how three months ago people would have thought they were crazy if they were just handing out toilet roll in the street.
"But after giving it out now, people were on the verge of tears, telling us we saved their families," he said. "It was really unexpected, but it was awesome to be able to bless people that way."
Though she can no longer work out at the gym, MacDonald has been sharing at-home fitness routines and lifestyle tips with her followers.
MacDonald recommends not just staying fit physically, but also taking care of your mental health through meditation, learning, and getting adequate sleep.
Joan MacDonald rose to Instagram fame following an incredible fitness transformation in which she lost over 60 pounds. She lost the first 45 pounds in just six months.
Not only did MacDonald lose the weight, but she changed her whole lifestyle, from what she ate to how she spends her time. She now has five small meals a day instead of her previous three, eating a mixture of meat, grains, and veggies.
Now, like all individuals over 65, MacDonald is in one of the highest-risk groups for falling severely ill amid the coronavirus outbreak. To practice social distancing, she recently canceled a trip from her home in Canada to Mexico, where she was visiting her daughter.
Yet MacDonald is not letting it get her down, telling Insider, "I believe when you surround yourself with strong people, you yourself will become stronger. I'm learning just because I can't be with others in person I can still connect via Skype and WhatsApp. It helps. Nobody is alone."
MacDonald has also been sharing videos of her at-home workouts with her Instagram followers, showing how she, and they, can stay fit without hitting the gym.
A post shared by Joan MacDonald (@trainwithjoan) on Mar 18, 2020 at 2:58pm PDT on
She told Insider she believes everyone, and not just older individuals, should try and get exercise during this confinement period.
"Movement and eating well has no age limit. It can be easy to get scared, there are many things that are uncertain and out of our control," she said. "But your daily habits and the care you give yourself is something you can control."
A post shared by Joan MacDonald (@trainwithjoan) on Mar 23, 2020 at 6:57am PDT on
Her best tip to help you keep moving is: "No matter if you are at home or out and about, stick to a schedule. When you follow a schedule it ensures you will keep building on those daily habits. I like to work out in the morning around 8 a.m. and having it on my schedule ensures that I get it done."
Among the top things she does every day to stay healthy, MacDonald moves by either going for a walk, a run, or by doing an at-home workout routine. She also gets adequate sleep by waking up and going to bed at the same time every day. She uses the meditation app Headspace to help manage negative thoughts and hold on to positive ones. Finally, she learns new things every day.
A post shared by Joan MacDonald (@trainwithjoan) on Mar 5, 2020 at 5:38am PST on
"I think one of the keys to staying happy and excited about life is to stay young at heart. Dream, imagine, and stay open. The days will come and go sooner than you think. Don't take this precious life for granted," she said.
MacDonald said that her healthy lifestyle has helped her cope in this trying time. "My commitment to fitness helped me build a schedule into my life. Even though there is some unsettling news out there right now I still have things to get done. It helps shift my focus," she said.
The social-media influencer Larz told his followers he was in a hospital after catching the coronavirus. The news came just a few days after he filmed himself licking a toilet seat in a public bathroom as part of a bizarre "Coronavirus Challenge."
The 21-year-old from California tweeted "I tested positive for Coronavirus,"according to the Daily Mail, but his Twitter account @GayShawnMendes has now been suspended.
He also uploaded a video to his Instagram account that appears to show him lying in a hospital bed and "doped up" on medication. His Instagram page is also full of badly edited photographs of him hanging out with celebrities, so his claims should be taken with a pinch of salt.
A post shared by LARZ (@larz) on Mar 25, 2020 at 6:27pm PDT on
The challenge started as an obvious ploy for attention from the TikTok and Instagram influencer Ava Louise. She filmed herself licking an airplane toilet seat, adding the caption: "Please RT this so people can know how to properly be sanitary on the airplane."
She told Insider she did it for "clout" because she didn't want the coronavirus getting more attention than her. She added that "hot blondes" could recover from anything so there was "no harm done."
"You're all so f---ing stupid," she said. "There's a reason coronavirus is taking out people over 50, because you're all idiots who ruined our country, our economy, and raise clout-chasing idiots like me, the person you all hate so much."
Please RT this so people can know how to properly be sanitary on the airplane 🥰😅 pic.twitter.com/x7GX9b4Lxc
— Ava Louise (ig @avalouiise) (@realavalouiise) March 14, 2020
Another tasteless — and dangerous — prank some young wannabe influencers are taking part in is coughing on produce in supermarkets, according to the New York Post.
One 26-year-old man, named Cody Pfister, was charged with making a terrorist threat after filming himself licking a shelf of toiletries in Walmart on March 11, the Daily Mail reported.
YouTuber Mark Rober gave everyone a lesson in how quickly and widely invisible germs can spread around.
He conducted an experiment on a classroom full of third-graders by dusting an invisible powder called Glo Germ onto the hands of the teacher and one student.
He told the teacher to shake hands with three random students at the start of the day then checked up on how far the powder had spread by lunchtime with a UV light.
The light revealed powder had made its way onto the floor, door handles, desks, sinks, the phone, and other children's hands and faces, even though they were pretty diligent about washing them.
"What's crazy is germs can live on a hard surface like this for up to nine days," Rober said. "And so you can see how important it is to disinfect things a sick person regularly touches."
Even people who are careful to wash their hands often can be caught out by touching things like their phones, where hundreds of germs reside.
Rober said the ultimate defense against catching a virus is to not touch your face.
"Your eyes, nose, and mouth are like the single weak spot on the Death Star when it comes to viruses," he said. "That's the only way they can get in to infect you."
The UV light showed that it's not just children who touch their faces either — the teacher had Glo Germ powder light up all over her forehead, nose, and chin too.
Rober tried it himself and was extra careful not to touch his face. However, he was shocked to see the powder light up all over his features as well.
"On average we touch our face 16 times an hour, which is why washing hands is so important," Rober said. "It's impossible to catch a virus directly through your hands ... The problem is we use our hands to help the virus out by constantly giving it a ride to our figurative Death Star exhaust ports."
David Dobrik can't make his usual high octane vlogs right now because of the state-wide lockdown in California and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
He has posted two blooper videos to his second channel David Dobrik Too in the past week.
In his latest one, Dobrik is hanging out with the Vlog Squad at his LA home, and surprises Kevin Hart with a massive snake.
Dobrik added a note at the end of the video saying the spread of the coronavirus has made it "basically impossible" to film his usual stunts, pranks, and get footage of his friends partying.
"You're going to have to bear with me on the vlogs for a little bit," he wrote. "Regular posts will be back as soon as quarantine is over and I can get Zane back into the bars."
He signed off by saying "Love y'all. Stay safe."
Online stars like YouTubers and TikTokers are trying to meet a higher demand than ever for content while so much of the world is stuck indoors.
At the same time, they have to weigh up the health risks of hanging out with their friends to make the content their fans want.
Stacy Jones, the CEO and founder of Hollywood Branded Inc, told Insider influencers' success right now will depend on how creative they can be despite these challenges.
21-year-old New Jersey college student Ava Louise has stirred up a lot of controversy with her "coronavirus challenge" TikTok that showed her licking an airplane toilet seat.
Louise told Insider she created a fake challenge to trick mainstream media outlets into covering her, and considers her attempt successful, given the widespread backlash she received for the stunt.
She also told one of her best friends, an aspiring influencer who goes by "Larz," to copy her challenge – and he then pretended to test positive for the coronavirus, posting an old video of himself in the hospital.
The "coronavirus challenge" has become a trending topic during the coronavirus quarantine, giving weight to accusations that Gen Z-ers aren't taking the pandemic seriously enough. Two viral videos show aspiring influencers licking toilet seats – and one of the seat-lickers then said he tested positive for the coronavirus because of it.
But the challenge is really nothing more than a social media stunt, engineered by 21-year-old New Jersey college student Ava Louise. With more than 175,000 Instagram followers and a top 10 TikTok hit with her song "Skinny Legend Anthem," Louise is technically, at this point, a legitimate influencer.
She told Insider that her goal with the "coronavirus challenge" video was to "capitalize off this pandemic" and achieve "a whole new level of fame." Considering that her TikTok, and the resulting backlash, made it into The New York Times, Louise considers her attempt a success. Here's how she made it all happen.
For some background on Ava Louise, she first appeared on "Dr. Phil" in February 2019.
Back when Louise was still an aspiring influencer, she appeared on "Dr. Phil" for the first time to portray all the worst tropes of Gen Z. She told the TV host that "the world needs" a celebrity figure such as herself, although many elements of the appearance were scripted.
The show brought on two of Louise's "concerned friends" to say that her goals of social media fame were causing her real-life friendships to suffer. During her appearance, Louise also says she'd rather die "hot than ugly."
Ava Louise posted her original "coronavirus challenge" on TikTok on March 14.
In the video, which Louise captured on an airplane, she leans down to lick the toilet seat – imagery that become iconic, as the video racked up views and negative attention from the likes of Meghan McCain, who tweeted to "Put her a-- in jail!"
TikTok removed the original video for "violating our Community Guidelines" shortly after Louise posted it, although she says re-uploads from other TikTok users have received tens of millions of views. The original is still up on her Twitter account.
Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/1238915362470625292?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Please RT this so people can know how to properly be sanitary on the airplane 🥰😅 pic.twitter.com/x7GX9b4Lxc
She confirmed to Insider that the seat was bleached before she licked it, she cleaned up after herself so that she wouldn't trasmit bodily fluids to anyone else, and she hasn't gotten sick yet from the stunt, which she was the first to perform under the moniker "coronavirus challenge."
Ava Louise wanted her stunt to go viral, and she says the backlash mainly comes from "boomers," while people her own age find it funny.
Louise told Insider that she's received a lot of comments from "all these people over 40 who all have like 'Make America Great Again' as their cover photo on Facebook and their picture of them with like a 'MAGA' hat on and sunglasses" telling her that she should get the coronavirus, or saying that she'll kill her grandparents.
"I don't like my grandparents and I don't have a relationship with them so I don't give a s--- what happens to them," Louise told Insider. "Very impressionable older people who don't understand meme culture or trolling latched onto this."
She also said she's received thousands of positive comments from other Gen Z-ers who think her "coronavirus challenge" stunt was funny and agree with her take on "boomers."
"I'm one of the only ones brave enough to say it publicly, because we get dragged," she said. "The same older people dragging me are actually putting people in harm's way. They're gonna go to the grocery store and cough on people."
She also made a response video to the backlash and said "Darwinism is doing its job" by "knocking out" boomers.
In the video, Louise announced she would run for president on a platform of hating old people. It has a high dislike-to-like ratio on YouTube, where she has more than 5,500 subscribers.
"[Boomers are] actually hurting people," Louise told Insider. "People die from the laws put in place by boomers. They refuse to be inclusive because they're so stuck in their mindset. So I'm looking at this like 'Good. Darwinism. Take them out so we can have a new kind of society.'"
When another influencer tried the "coronavirus challenge," some assumed it was a copy-cat attempt.
The influencer who went by "@gayshawnmendes" on Twitter and Larz on YouTube previously took part in one "challenge" that landed a Texan man with a 30-day jail sentence. Larz joined the trend of licking unopened ice cream and put it back in the freezer at the grocery store.
But Larz and Louise are actually "best friends," she told Insider, and she told him to repeat her "coronavirus challenge" for more viral fodder. He posted his version to his Twitter, which has since been suspended from the platform, but his attempt is still in other videos online.
Larz pretended that he tested positive for the coronavirus after his attempt, but it was seemingly another ploy.
Larz posted a video of himself in the hospital along with caption "I got diagnosed with Coronavirus," but the footage was recycled from a past, unrelated hospital visit, according to Louise.
In the video, Larz just says "Hey guys, I'm really doped up on my meds right now."
Louise told Insider that the two believe Larz's Twitter account was suspended because of his video, due to a mass number of people reporting his account after they realized him testing positive for the coronavirus was a lie.
In the meantime, Ava Louise reappeared on "Dr. Phil" to say she'd cough on people if she was really infected with the coronavirus.
The TV host questioned Louise, who traveled to Miami, Florida to party over her spring break, about whether she's concerned about spreading the coronavirus to her elders.
Louise responded that she thinks Dr. Phil is part of the Illuminati and that she doesn't believe the coronavirus is a real problem, in part because she didn't get it while partying and doesn't know anyone who did. She reiterated this theory to Insider.
"We were all blacked out on the beach, our immune systems were down from all the partying," she said. "And everyone was fine. I'm looking at this and I think this is an overreaction."
And the influencer is using her newfound fame to promote new music she's working on.
Louise is working on music again, and she's posted teasers of an upcoming track that will involve her dissing the pornstar Lana Rhoades – who previously cyber-bullied Louise for having sex with her now ex-boyfriend, Logan Paul's "Impaulsive" podcast co-hast Mike Majlak.
Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/1243358026666356737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw New song OTW billboard HIT pic.twitter.com/xYqHVneweF
Her previous song, "Skinny Legend Anthem," has been used by the most popular TikTokers (including reigning TikTok queen Charli D'Amelio) for its memorable lines "I'm skinny, I'm winning, and all you b----es are ugly."
The number of transgender YouTubers on the platform is growing all the time.
Among daily vlogs about their lives they also educate their viewers on trans rights, transitioning, and their personal journeys.
Insider spoke to two YouTuber couples and two solo creators about why they share so much with their audiences and what they hope people take away from their videos.
All trans creators have different approaches, but one clear message is spread by them all — you don't have to fit any narrative to be transgender, and everyone is so much more than their gender identity.
Jamie Raines and Shaaba Lotun met at school when they were 16 years old, as Shaaba puts it, "before Jamie was Jamie." When Jamie started medically transitioning to male, what started out as best friendship turned into love.
Jamie initially started a YouTube channel to document his transition, filming how testosterone changed his body and what surgeries he was going to have.
It's now turned into a more educational channel Shaaba often appears on, where they answer questions about their relationship, react to trans memes, and fight prejudice with humor when they read out hate comments. The channel, Jammidodger, now has 386,000 subscribers.
Fighting ignorance helps fight hate too
The hope is that people take away a feeling that things can get better if they are struggling with their own gender identity, Jamie told Insider. He also wants people who aren't clued up on trans issues to grow a desire to understand, as that's where he believes a lot of the prejudice comes from — ignorance and no intention of changing.
"I think as soon as people kind of flip that switch, they're like, actually, everybody is just human, and it wouldn't hurt me to just want to learn about other experiences," he said. "So I think if people leave having listened to what's been said and kind of process it in their own way and have a little bit more understanding, that would be amazing."
I just want to share as much as I possibly can, because I don't want people to go through what I went through
There are more transgender YouTubers on the platform by the day, sharing their lives with their subscribers while fitting in educational videos about trans rights, the realities of medical and surgical transitions, and their own deeply personal journeys.
"I always think to myself, whenever I put anything out, 'Would I want to see this?'" Finlay Games, a YouTuber, speaker, and writer, told Insider. "And if the answer is absolutely yes, then even if I cringe, I upload it. I just want to share as much as I possibly can because I don't want people to go through what I went through."
Jamie and Shaaba's story: 'There are so many more dimensions to someone than the gender identity'
Jamie and Shaaba, both now 26 and from Essex, dated in secret until their parents found out about three months in. While Jamie's family has always been supportive, Shaaba's parents initially really struggled with the idea of her dating a transgender boy.
"I was sort of given an ultimatum, either family or Jamie," Shaaba told Insider. "I ended up making a decision and they sort of kicked me out. We didn't really speak for five years, but it meant that Jamie and I grew a lot closer together and we learned a lot about each other."
Shaaba moved into Jamie's parents' house and their relationship was kicked into hyper-drive. About a year in, they already knew they wanted to be together forever.
They were surprised that I had a deep voice and a beard and, it sounds weird, but I think it impressed them
Then, two years ago, they were approached by UK broadcaster Channel 4 for a program called "Bride and Prejudice," which followed couples who were having trouble getting their families to accept their relationships.
"It wasn't great at the time," said Jamie, looking back. "But we were able to have conversations we wouldn't have otherwise had. And since that point, things have really improved with Shaaba's family accepting our relationship."
Shaaba's mom has now done "a complete 180" and is helping to plan their wedding that is taking place this September. Jamie thinks one factor in helping Shaaba's family accept him was how different he looked when they finally saw him again.
"They were surprised that I had a deep voice and a beard and, it sounds weird, but I think it impressed them," he said. "Like it made them feel more comfortable with the whole thing."
A post shared by Jamie Raines (@jammi.dodger) on Mar 19, 2020 at 12:54pm PDT on
Jamie posted his first YouTube video eight years ago, from the week he started taking testosterone. He couldn't find many transgender YouTubers from the UK, so wanted to add his voice for anyone who might be going through the same thing. He knows he would have appreciated a channel like his when he was growing up because he only found out what the word "transgender" meant when he happened to watch a documentary when he was a teenager.
"I think there's something that's echoed by the whole trans community, and the whole LGBTQ community in general," he said. "People in their twenties and older wish that they'd had things like YouTube and social media when they were kids because it just wasn't talked about."
If they help one person, their job is done
Shaaba started appearing in the videos after a while and they decided to grow the educational side of their content a bit more.
"We shared the broader experiences to help people like my family for example, who may not have been accepting, but who might find some sort of solace or help in knowing that they weren't alone in going through what they were going through," Shaaba said.
"When I started being a bit more front-facing on Jamie's channel and we started talking a bit more openly about the relationship struggles that we faced, it was crazy. I completely underestimated the amount of people who were going through a similar thing every day."
Some of the best comments Jamie and Shaaba get from viewers are from those who were apprehensive, worried, or angry when a loved one came out, and have realized what it really means to be trans through their videos.
"We've always said that if sharing our story can just help one person feel like they're not alone or one person be more accepting of their own family members, then our job's done," Shaaba said. "I know that sounds so cliché, but it's true."
Jamie recently received his gender recognition certificate in the post which the couple filmed for their channel in a video called "This Marks The End of My Transition." He still struggles with being vulnerable on camera, he said, and was quite uncomfortable about posting something so intimate.
"It's still really scary," he said. "But I wanted to share it because when I first tried to apply for a gender recognition certificate, I didn't even know really what it was or how to go about it or that something like that existed and what it meant."
It's not just about people going into toilets, it's actual humans, and it makes a real difference to real lives
With conversations about trans issues being so heavily politicized, he wanted to show how it can be stripped back into how simply being known as the correct gender can change someone's life.
"It shows just how much it means on a human level," he said. "It's not just about people going into toilets and everything, it's actual humans, and it makes a real difference to real lives."
Jamie unexpectedly started to cry when he saw the piece of paper that confirmed he is now legally recognized as male, which Shaaba said: "encapsulates my absolute favorite essence of being on the platform and vlogging."
"You have no idea how you're going to react," she said. "So it's actually really fun to be able to almost document that journey for yourself. Like Jamie had no idea that it would mean so much."
A post shared by Jamie Raines (@jammi.dodger) on Feb 19, 2020 at 9:36am PST on
Being vulnerable online of course has its downsides too. As subscriber numbers grow, so does the possibility of attracting the wrong kind of attention. Jamie tries to combat the inevitable hate comments and trolling by laughing at it most of the time. He films videos reading out his most ridiculous comments, or looking at the weirdest transphobic memes and videos on the internet.
"I think humor is always a really good way to combat stuff that can be a bit upsetting or too serious sometimes," he said. "I don't see it as a personal attack. It's funny. I just think it is a really angry person who often can't spell very well just having a rant on the internet."
It's also a challenge to put up boundaries. For example, you wouldn't go up to a stranger on the street and ask them how they have sex with their partner.
"There's a huge difference between like curiosity and increasing understanding, and I do draw a line," Jamie said. "I will talk about stuff that increases understanding but I will not talk about things that just fulfil curiosity."
'There are so many more dimensions to someone than their gender identity'
Jamie said some fans occasionally get angry with him when he doesn't open up the entirety of his private life to them. But he and Shaaba both stress that even if they were completely honest about everything, it wouldn't necessarily reveal anything about the transgender existence at all.
"Just because you know a bit about Jamie's story, doesn't mean that you actually understand trans people overall, because of how individual the journey is," Shaaba said.
"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out all the ways that it could be done, but us revealing to you how we have sex isn't going to help you understand how trans people, in general, go about it."
A big misconception of being trans is that it's all-consuming. Jamie discusses trans issues a lot, but he also does plenty of videos that have nothing to do with the LGBTQ community — he talks about being in an interracial relationship, lets Shaaba cut his hair, and does try-on hauls.
"People think that being trans is the only thing you ever talk about, like it consumes you all day every day," Shaaba said. "But that's so not the case. I know it sounds silly, but sometimes I'll forget that Jamie's trans. He'll mention something and I'll be like, 'Oh yeah.'
"There are so many more dimensions to someone than their gender identity."
Charlie and Lauren's story: 'I thought I could have a laugh with him, and we've been laughing ever since'
Scottish couple Charlie and Lauren had a very modern "social media love story." They've been together just over a year, and only because Lauren, 21, decided to direct message Charlie, 22, on Twitter one night after she'd had a few drinks.
"I don't know why because he wasn't really my usual type," Lauren told Insider. "It was the jawline I think. And then he was just so funny, I thought I could have a laugh with him. And we've been laughing ever since."
Charlie responded because he and Lauren had been liking each other's tweets flirtatiously for a while, and he was "just quite a cheeky chappy at that point."
"She messaged something quite explicit and intriguing, and I was like, alright then, let's see what she's all about," he told Insider. "I thought she was out of my league, so that's why I thought she was just drunk messaging me and wouldn't respond in the morning. "
There are no stupid questions
Charlie and Lauren started their YouTube channel Trans Life & Wife about four months ago, after many requests from their social media fans, and have grown a following of 55,000 in that short time. They're also up for a Cosmopolitan Influencer of the Year award.
When asked to describe their channel, Lauren said: "it's informatively funny."
"We talk about subjects that a lot of people might be a little bit scared to talk about or might be a little bit hesitant to talk about," she said. "And we're also answering all the questions that people are too scared to ask but we're doing it in an informative, funny, safe environment."
A post shared by Lauren Faulkner (@lauzyfaulks) on Mar 3, 2020 at 11:19am PST on
The couple thinks their explosion on YouTube is a result of how genuine they are. They don't edit out "Lauren picking her nose" or pretend to have a picture-perfect life. Charlie said he is also not easily offended, so his audience can pretty much ask him anything about his transition, body, and sex life.
"I'm not triggered by anything, so people can ask direct questions about private parts, what happens in bed, and I'll just answer it," he said. "I don't dance around it. People like that."
Some of the most common questions the couple get from viewers are "Is Lauren a lesbian?" (she isn't) and "Will Charlie get bottom surgery?" and "Do you use dildos?"
"I'm being honest, these are the main ones we get," Charlie said. "They don't want to know what your favourite color is ... A lot of it is about parts and how our parts fit together."
'I think we just bring a bit of fun and lightness to it'
Like Jamie, Charlie has this open attitude because he knows he would have wanted a channel like his when he was questioning his own gender identity. Watching trans YouTubers when he was younger use terms he didn't yet understand made it harder for him to access the information.
"They talked in such a trans slang, they used all these words I didn't understand, all these acronyms that made no sense," he said. "Like you can say 'T,' but you need to explain testosterone, or people can say 'top surgery,' but what actually is that? It felt like you had to be part of a club to know what they were talking about."
He said he hopes people see him as a kind of transgender "Guide for Dummies," who explain things in a black and white way with some added humor.
"I think we just bring a bit of fun and lightness to it," he said. "Because I'd always been so scared of coming out because of how negative everybody made out the response was."
A post shared by Charlie Allan 🏴 (@charlieallan164) on Nov 16, 2019 at 3:54pm PST on
For the most part, Charlie has received relatively little negativity in his real life, he said. His online life is another matter.
Charlie's top surgery was paid for by a GoFundMe campaign where he asked his followers to send him just £1. He managed to raise £6,000 for the procedure in just four days. While this showed just how much his fans cared for him, it also got the attention of hateful trolls.
I just want people to know you don't have to fit a narrative to be trans
"We'll fight hatred or transphobic comments with sarcasm because it completely takes their power away," said Charlie.
"I don't come in offended. I understand it can hurt you but you can only really beat them if you don't let them get to you."
Lauren said they have pretty much blocked everyone that might leave a hate comment by now anyway. And even if they do get the occasional one, they would rather delete it than give the troll the attention they desperately crave.
The couple like to tackle some of the biggest misconceptions about transgender people. Charlie, for instance, wore dresses, makeup, and hair extensions when he was younger, which he said made him feel like he was playing a role.
"Other YouTubers said they'd felt like this since they were this young, they'd had short hair their whole life, and I thought, 'Well, that can't be me,'" he said "But it can be you. I just want people to know you don't have to fit a narrative to be trans."
Ruby Rose's story: 'A YouTuber who every now and then puts my transition in the forefront'
Ruby Rose Price has been on YouTube for a long time. She'd been watching videos since the platform's genesis when she was 10 years old, then set up her own channel in 2008 as a place where she could be creative.
"I'm glad that I did start up a new channel before deciding to transition openly," she told Insider. "There was only about a year and a half between setting up this one and actually coming out online. I'm just sort of glad that I was able to separate, if you want to put it that way, the two identities of my life."
Among some daily vlogs, music reviews, and other creative projects, Ruby said she also tries to educate people on the lesser-known aspects of being trans. She vlogged her gender reassignment surgery, filmed post-op updates, and explained voice therapy. One of her most popular videos discussed male to female dilation.
"I had so many people messaging me, saying 'I didn't even know that this was a thing that trans people have to do,'" she said. "And that's my most viewed video, so clearly it was important for people to learn about."
'I do hope that people actually learn something'
She hopes her viewers gain a sense of what transgender people have had to go through in order to get to where they are now, she said.
"I do hope that people actually learn something," she said. "Even if they take away just one tiny bit of new knowledge, like the time frame or something that I mentioned in a video. I hope that people understand how big those usually are or how slow certain processes can be."
Ruby only has around 2,000 subscribers so far, but viewers often message her for advice when they are going through their own transition. She finds it empowering that she's now the kind of person she might have needed when she was growing up.
However, even the most vocal LGBTQ activists can burn out if they discuss their personal stories all the time, especially as there is still so much hate waiting for them online. That's why it's also important to Ruby not to focus on trans topics all the time.
"It's not out of place for me to make a sitting down and chatting about music video or actually throw out an instrumental cover or whatever," she said. "That's one of the things that I've always tried to be, just a YouTuber who every now and then puts my transition in the forefront."
Trans people exist and are here to stay
As for the comments, Ruby said there are three types she normally gets: supportive ones, sexually objectifying ones, and then the inevitable prejudice from transphobes questioning her existence. There is no point in engaging with it directly, she said, because her life shouldn't be up for debate in the first place.
"I became very good at laughing at it in a sense," Ruby said. "I got into the habit of whenever I got a comment along those lines, I would screenshot it, post it to social media and just put some sort of witty response, and then just delete the comment."
It's now pretty rare Ruby actually has hate directed towards her in the comments, which she hopes is a reflection of her work educating and "making people aware that trans people exist and are here to stay. "
"I've had people thanking me for making videos, saying 'I really needed to hear this,'" she said. "Or just thanking me for sharing the journey, stuff like that. Most recently, it's just an outpouring of positivity, which I can't complain about really."
Finlay's story: 'When people see that it saves lives, that's what changes minds and hearts'
Finlay tells his story through his YouTube channel FinnTheInfinncible with a different perspective he thinks is desperately needed online.
"We need more older people in the media, which is why I don't ever shut up," he said.
Finlay had just gotten sober and stumbled across trans issues on YouTube for the first time when he was 37. He didn't think he could possibly be transgender because everyone else who was coming out was so much younger than him.
There are many ways to be transgender; there's many ways to find this out.
"I came to realize that actually that's not the case," he told Insider. "There are many ways to be transgender; there's many ways to find this out. And that's why I started sharing my story."
He started his channel, which now has 13,000 subscribers, to show there are a huge amount of narratives transgender people can follow. He also wants to show how it makes total sense some people only realize who they are later in life.
"When we were growing up, being trans wasn't around at all," he said. "We've lived all of our lives really confused, no idea what's going on, and now all of a sudden this knowledge is out there and we're all going, 'Yes, that's it.'"
A post shared by Finn (TheInFinncible) (@finntheinfinncible) on Mar 26, 2020 at 6:11am PDT on
Although Finlay's channel began with documenting his transition, he now thinks of it as motivation for anyone to overcome challenges and rewrite their story.
"I lived until 37 years of age with huge mental health problems, an identity crisis, and I was told all my life I was never going to amount to anything because of the state I was in," he said. "I got clean and sober, found out I was trans, and it was scary as hell to come out, but I did and I changed my life."
He steers clear of what he calls the "political issues," partly because he thinks plenty of younger people are approaching trans rights, but also because he thinks "the best way to change minds is just to be you."
"I think that is a much better way of activism," he said, "Showing the struggles we face as trans people are just the same as any other humans: We want to be happy, we want to feel comfortable, we want to be successful."
Transitioning is not cosmetic, it's life-saving
Finlay's partner Chris, for instance, didn't believe transgender people should have their medical and surgical transitions paid for by the NHS before they met. Now, through understanding Finlay's story of mental health, self-harm, and drinking, he knows transitioning saves lives.
"When people see that it saves lives, that's what changes minds and hearts," Finlay said. "Just seeing people getting on with their life and realizing that all the stuff they've been told about trans people isn't true at all. We're just like everyone else we just had a different start in life, and that's it."
A common question Finlay encounters time and time again is how he can be both gay and transgender. A lot of people still get gender and sexuality mixed up, he said, and think, "If you're going to be gay, why didn't you just stay a woman?"
"People don't realize what they are actually saying when they say these things," Finlay said. "You get a lot of misinformation like that, and unfortunately there's a lot of hate that comes with a YouTube channel."
Finlay removes the incredibly hateful and offensive comments, but leaves some of them up because it shows what trans people are up against.
"When it comes out to people being gay or being trans there is still a lot of stigma out there," he said. "So to me, leaving those comments, the ones that are really painful, shows what we actually face."
'I'm not as alone as when I came out'
Finlay does believe things have changed enormously for trans people since he came out, and he hopes his new book that documents his lower surgery will help people push acceptance even further.
"You can find yourself so much easier than you could a few years ago," he said. "I couldn't see myself anywhere a few years ago. Now when I go on YouTube and there are quite a few people my age and upwards and it's really nice because I'm not as alone as I felt a few years ago when I came out."
Overall, Finlay just hopes people see him as authentic. His aim in sharing his story isn't for views but to help other people through whatever tough day, week, or year they are having.
"You can overcome the most difficult and hugest mountain and there is a beautiful horizon ahead," he said.
The future is bright for trans YouTubers
Jamie and Shaaba never expected the YouTube channel to become sustainable enough to be their jobs, but they're grateful it's worked out that way. They want to collaborate more in the future and show more of their own lives, like getting married and having children however they choose to, to "share wider messages of acceptance," Shaaba said.
"Just showing you can be successful and trans, you can hopefully at some point have a family, and being trans doesn't have to stop you from living what other people would consider a normal and happy life," she said.
"Hopefully if we can achieve the goals that we want to achieve and document that process along the way, it will help reassure people that being trans is just another way of being."
Jamie said this will be for the benefit of people who aren't in the LGBTQ community as well, fighting the misconception that trans people are a "weird otherness of a person" to be probed and interrogated at every turn.
One thing is for sure: Whatever twists and turns those are, Jamie and Shaaba will be at each other's side.
"I certainly felt when I was younger that I was never going to be able to put up with somebody and live with somebody for the rest of my life," Jamie said. "We've both said that each other is the only person we can put up with for a long amount of time and still have stuff to talk about and still enjoy being around each other."
Charlie and Lauren will also be having fun regardless of what they come up against.
"We just work together really well," Lauren said. "We definitely compliment each other. And I feel like we've had to deal with a lot for only being together a year. I feel like we've done everything that we would need to do to work as a couple."
Their goal is to do some collaborations with other YouTubers soon, hopefully adding a transgender woman's voice to their videos to spread more awareness.
I get to live the rest of my life as the person I was always supposed to be
"I don't want to talk about it," Charlie said. "Just because I'm transgender, doesn't mean I'm an expert in how the other way works. I know about it, but I'd want a trans woman to explain it."
Ruby just wants to get the momentum of her channel back, posting consistently, even if it's her "talking mostly gibberish" for a few minutes.
Finlay, meanwhile, will continue to spread the message that there is no need for anyone to suffer through denying who they are. He said he sometimes finds it difficult being an older trans guy and looking back at the years he lost being scared and confused. But he wants people to know he is happy now and they can be too.
"I wish so much I'd had my boyhood and I feel sometimes I've transitioned straight into a balding middle-aged man with grey hair," he said. "But the other side of that is I get to live the rest of my life as the person I was always supposed to be."
As more people worldwide stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19, there's a new 'added pressure' to stay fit, according to Claire Mysko, the CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).
Experts and many who have struggled with eating disorders say the proliferation of at-home fitness content poses a problem to their community.
Some influencers say they feel a unique responsibility to be mindful of the content they put out during this time.
Ryan Sheldon started to feel a certain kind of stress creep up on him in the last couple of weeks. As 23 US states have issued stay-at-home orders and others have mandated varying levels of quarantines to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheldon, a model who says he will always be recovering from his eating disorder, began to wonder if he would have to exercise more than usual to stay as fit as the athletic bodies he saw on his Instagram feed.
"I got this sinking feeling in my stomach and I didn't notice it at the time, but as I kept scrolling, it got greater and greater," Sheldon, who is an ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), told Insider. "I started thinking immediately, 'Well maybe I should add an extra hour to my workout because I want to look like that.'"
Sheldon wasn't alone in his anxiety. The number of at-home workouts posted on Instagram increased more than five times on March 18, compared to the amount shared just a few days prior, according to a representative for the app. While it's great to have free and easily available exercise options as fitness studios and gyms shut down due to the pandemic, experts and many who have struggled with eating disorders say the proliferation of this content can pose a problem for mental health.
From the popular pushup challenge (or "see 10 do 10" challenge), which encourages friends to post a video of themselves doing 10 pushups, to celebrities sharing their own workout plans on apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, there's a new "added pressure" to stay fit, according to Claire Mysko, the CEO of NEDA.
The "broader public" needs to keep in mind that "there's a community that's really at-risk," says the CEO of NEDA.
A post shared by Ryan Sheldon (@realryansheldon) on Mar 24, 2020 at 8:30am PDT on
Erin Morrissey, who runs the blog and brand Erin Lives Whole, likes to share her workout routines with her followers, in addition to recipes and lifestyle content on YouTube and Instagram. But Morrissey, who previously spent time in both inpatient and outpatient eating disorder recovery programs, and says she has struggled with over-exercise, has also felt this content catching up to her. "I've been feeling incredible pressure from everyone, because everyone's talking about what the latest free workout is, or what's the best thing to do to burn calories while I'm home," Morrissey told Insider.
While most people around the world fear falling ill or infecting others with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, Morrissey and Sheldon are part of a large community facing this additional challenge. In the US alone, at least 30 million people struggle or have struggled with an eating disorder, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
"There is this trend right now of comments, and memes, and resources, that really are focusing on messages about fear of gaining weight," Mysko told Insider. Many are making "flippant comments about how people are going to gain" weight while stuck at home, she said. This might be a joke for those who haven't dealt with disordered eating, but Mysko said those jokes aren't funny at all. "It's really important for the broader public to understand that there's a community that's really at-risk, and particularly susceptible to having these comments be damaging," Mysko said.
Meghan Watson, a Toronto-based psychotherapist who specializes in eating disorders, said that weight-gain jokes and memes may be defense mechanisms. "A lot of my clients who use that kind of humor, even as they struggle themselves to get through this, it's really a way to cope with the anxiety and the stress of not being able to use your regular routine," Watson told Insider, noting that it was symptomatic of a pervasive diet culture, which registered dietician and author Christy Harrison says "worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue."
"I just feel like in so many ways, this has become a way to kind of allow diet culture to just really to grow and expand very insidiously," Watson said.
The pandemic itself presents greater than average hurdles for those with eating disorders.
A post shared by DANIELLE [IS ANXIOUS + CURVY] (@danielleisanxious) on Mar 29, 2020 at 6:24am PDT on
Eating disorder recovery will always be harder than usual during a crisis like COVID-19, according to Watson. Staying focused on body-positivity is already "hard enough without a pandemic, without job loss, and food insecurity, and real chronic anxiety, and fear of sickness," she said.
In a BuzzFeed News essay, writer Addy Baird reflected on how the coronavirus has challenged her own eating disorder recovery. "We're without normal access to recovery groups, and in the line of fire for all sorts of triggering situations and conversations while socially distancing and quarantining. There's constant talk about food," Baird wrote. "There's no more in-person therapy — but there is a constant discourse about at-home workouts."
Baird's experience echoes Mysko's fears for her community. "There are added stressors for our community just around isolation and social distancing," Mysko said, because eating disorders "thrive on isolation."
And in a time when nothing is certain, eating disorder sufferers say they find themselves limiting food or increasing exercise to feel in control. "What a lot of people feel like they can control is how much they eat," Watson said, "and how to make themselves feel whole using food."
The notion that people should be "using this time" wisely to organize closets or get ahead on projects is also problematic, according to Mysko. "There are a lot of well-intentioned comments and content focused around using this time," she said. "The trait of perfectionism and the pursuit of achievement is already so much a risk factor and a factor in so many eating disorders."
Some influencerssay they feel a unique responsibility to be mindful of the content they put out during this time.
A post shared by Cameron Rogers (@freckledfoodie) on Mar 21, 2020 at 6:34am PDT on
Morrissey, whose 140,000 followers look to her for her recipes as much as her stories of eating disorder recovery, said influencers should feel an additional obligation to their audiences right now. "We have a real responsibility because whether or not you have 2,000 followers or you have 100,000 followers, it doesn't matter: There's someone watching you," she said. "People take things very seriously as to what influencers say. They don't necessarily take it with a grain of salt."
Cameron Rogers, a New York City-based health, wellness, and food influencer who runs the Freckled Foodie blog and brand said she made sure to remind her followers that "this doesn't have to be a time where we're so consumed by what we're eating." Rogers said she believes the "concept of gaining weight or losing weight is the last thing we should be focused on right now."
Rogers also said that in light of the overwhelming workout content available, she wants her followers to rethink their understanding of working out. "While I think movement is really important — I set a goal of 15 minutes of movement a day, whether it's going for an isolated walk, stretching in my bedroom, doing a HIIT [high intensity interval training] workout class in my apartment — it doesn't have to be intense," she said.
New York City-based registered dietician and blogger Sammi Haber Brondo, who runs the Instagram account @veggiesandchocolate, said she wants her followers to remember that "it's okay to cut yourself some slack."
"My main message that I've really been trying to get across is just one meal, or one day, or even a few weeks, is really not going to affect your health overall," Brondo told Insider. "It's the big picture that matters most. If your eating and your exercise looks different for a few weeks, that's okay."
If you feel yourself getting anxious, take a moment to "curate your feeds."
Mysko recommends that people unfollow any social media accounts that threaten their mental health. "I think it's of the utmost importance in this moment that you can curate your feeds," she said. As this pandemic continues, Mysko said it's important to "look for, and be proactive about finding, resources and social media accounts that support your recovery, and have a more holistic approach to what it means to be healthy in this moment."
She also hopes people will realize that "anxiety is exhausting," and it's okay to step away from the concept of fitness. "We don't need to be so hyper-focused on movement and exercise and working out when what we might need is more rest and time for reflection, and taking a pause," she said.
Sheldon, who said he has also had many friends complain about the overwhelming social media content, said he hopes influencers and others will start to realize that mental health is more important than any type of exercise. "Everybody's talking about working out," he said, "but nobody's talking about the mental state that you're in while you're stuck at home."
YouTube beauty star NikkieTutorials appeared to throw shade at Ellen DeGeneres on a Dutch talk show, according to translations of the interview.
"Let me say that there's a big difference between this show and Ellen DeGeneres, and I'm saying that in favor of this show," de Jager said, according to a translation by YouTuber Sebastian Williams, a native Dutch speaker.
While the interview was in February, English translations of the clip circulated online on Sunday after Williams posted a video about it.
YouTube beauty star and makeup artist NikkieTutorials threw some shade at Ellen DeGeneres in a February interview on a Dutch talk show, according to translations of the interview.
Nikkie de Jager visited "The Ellen Show" in January after she came out as transgender in an emotional video earlier that month. In February, she joined Matthijs van Nieuwkerk on his talk show, "De Wereld Draait Door." The host asked about her visit to DeGeneres' set, and de Jager was honest, saying that her experiences with the two shows strongly differed.
"Let me say that there's a big difference between this show and Ellen DeGeneres, and I'm saying that in favor of this show," de Jager said, according to a translation by YouTuber Sebastian Williams, a native Dutch speaker. "It's nice that you say 'hi' before the show. She didn't."
Van Nieuwkerk asked if DeGeneres was "cold and distant," and de Jager agreed. But the YouTuber also acknowledged that it was an "honor" to be on "The Ellen Show.""It was a huge honor to be on that stage with Ellen, but it wasn't as nice as I thought."
De Jager did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
While the interview was in February, English translations of the clip circulated online on Sunday after Williams posted a video about it, which has more than one million views as of Monday afternoon.
Trisha Paytas is facing criticism once again for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.
In a recent video, the YouTuber said only older people and those with health conditions should be isolating themselves, and it is "crazy" so many restaurants are shut because the coronavirus is "just the flu."
Viewers commented on the video, saying ignorance like this is the reason the coronavirus is spreading so rapidly in the US.
By that, she meant people who don't cook because so many restaurants are closed right now due to lockdown measures.
While munching on the Korean fried Cheese in her car that she managed to pick up, Paytas said she doesn't think the coronavirus pandemic is that big a deal.
"It is just the flu," she said. "And yes, the flu can kill anybody, those with weakened immune systems, older people, people with pre-existing health conditions ... So logic would tell me those people should stay at home in quarantine."
Trisha has been spreading dangerous misinformation about the coronavirus
She said she didn't mind quarantine because she only really goes out to eat. But she said it's "crazy" to shut restaurants, and panicking is worse than the actual COVID-19 disease.
"It is a flu, if you do get it you're not going to die," she said. "I get if you're older, you're more susceptible at higher risk ... Literally everyone I've talked to who's informed says it's just a flu, it goes away."
She continued, saying she obviously doesn't want to spread diseases around, but "the virus tells us not to fear, there is nothing to fear," and compared getting the coronavirus to being diagnosed with HIV.
"Even if you get an STD ... Even if you have a disease that sounds like the end of the world, it's not," she said.
While it is true that older people are at a higher risk and there are many common health conditions that may increase risk of death from the coronavirus, such as heart disease and lung conditions like emphysema and asthma, healthy people have died from it too.
Nearly 30% of US coronavirus cases have been people between 20 and 44, according to the CDC, with nearly one in five hospitalizations being for people in that age group too. One 21-year-old woman from the UK with no preexisting health conditions died in March.
"To all the people out there that thinks it's just a virus please think again," the woman's mother wrote on Facebook. "Speaking from a personal experience this so called virus has taken the life of my 21 year old daughter."
The World Health Organization has also warned young people that they are "not invincible" and if they test positive for the coronavirus, it "could put you in the hospital for weeks or even kill you."
Viewers haven't held back in criticizing her
People have been criticizing Paytas for spreading misinformation that could be harmful, or even deadly. The video currently has 14,000 dislikes to just 3,000 likes.
"It's honestly scary at this point because this isn't trolling," one person wrote in the comments. "This is just pure ignorance."
Others said Paytas is "just mad because the coronavirus isn't about her," and that ignorance like this is the reason the coronavirus is spreading so rapidly in the US — a current count puts the figure at 164,000 confirmed cases, with 3,000 deaths in 50 states.
"Nobody is safe," one person commented. "Look out for yourself and the people around you."
A parenting blogger with nearly half a million Instagram followers sparked a wave a backlash when she posted that she, her husband, and her 5 kids were choosing to leave New York City in an RV amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite leaving a day before the CDC issued its domestic travel advisory asking New York residents to stay put, Naomi Davis' explanation for fleeing the city was met with hundreds of negative comments.
"After two full weeks in the apartment, we made the family decision to drive out west so we can have a little more space (namely some outdoor space for the kids) for a little while," she captioned her announcement.
After two weeks spent quarantined in their Upper West Side apartment, an Insta-famous family of seven decided to flee the city and take an RV out west. Naomi Davis, who goes by "@taza" on Instagram and has more than 465,000 followers, posted this decision in full to her account, alongside a photo of her, her husband, and their five kids.
"My heart is breaking for what is happening in New York where I live and around the world right now," Davis wrote. "And after two full weeks in the apartment, we made the family decision to drive out west so we can have a little more space (namely some outdoor space for the kids) for a little while."
The backlash was immediate, and additional media coverage of the post turned hundreds of angry comments into thousands. Davis has since restricted comments on the post, and there are a few people offering support, but the overwhelming majority of responders are shocked and horrified by the decision.
A post shared by Naomi Davis | Love Taza (@taza) on Mar 28, 2020 at 12:57pm PDT on
Davis' rationalizations for leaving New York have been met with criticism from commentators and public health experts alike
"While I recognize the importance of supporting one another during times such as this one, your decision to leave literally THE largest hotspot [sic] in the United States is putting many other people at risk," reads one comment with nearly 4,000 likes. "If everyone makes the decision to leave New York City, other states' healthcare systems are quickly going to be overburdened by the number of cases, just as New York's is now."
Davis specified in the post that she and her family chose the RV "to avoid hotels and people," but public health experts interviewed by BuzzFeed News echoed the disapproving comments, calling the decision "highly irresponsible."
A day after Davis wrote that she and her family left, the CDC issued a domestic travel advisory that asks residents of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to refrain from non-essential travel for 14 days.
"Potentially spreading covid further by traveling is not brave," another comment with more than 3,300 likes says. "I fully understand the decision, but it's not brave."
After two days, Davis left an update on her post in the comments section, which further summarizes her decision-making and justifies the family's move by saying "We are NOT like some people who ignored advice while in New York and then traveled in crowded public spaces to somewhere with fewer restrictions so they could pretend like this new Coronavirus isn't happening."
She also says that her family gathered supplies ahead of their exit from the city so that they wouldn't have to stop and acquire them, and reiterated that they would "eat, sleep, and spend all our time" in the RV on the way to a home they are planning to quarantine in somewhere "out west."
"During our next phase of quarantine I want you to know we will not be going out, not to stores, or parks, or even around the block," Davis wrote in the update. "We have friends who have been kind enough to stock the home where we will be staying and prep it for us."
The update didn't impress most of the people who continued to comment on Davis' own comment, with one person writing "You are not being 'ripped' apart for a decision you made. You're being held accountable for a decision you made in your own self interest [sic] in mind and disregard for others. Every single piece of advice from the CDC/WHO said to stay home. Yes, you're held to a higher standard because you influence half a million people and ultimately you displayed negligence for others."
Davis didn't respond to Insider's request for comment.
"Something Navy" blogger and fashion influencer Arielle Charnas is receiving backlash online for leaving New York City shortly after testing positive for COVID-19.
Charnas first sparked controversy when she received one of the limited COVID-19 test swabs from a doctor friend.
Since testing positive, Charnas has posted content from her Manhattan apartment and from a rental property in the Hamptons.
Comments on her Instagram criticized her decision to relocate before the 14-day quarantine period ended.
Arielle Charnas, the influencer behind the fashion blog "Something Navy," is sparking more controversy online after leaving New York City for the Hamptons in the wake of her positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
Charnas first received backlash when she shared her health journey with her 1.3 million followers, posting an Instagram story in which received flu and COVID-19 test swabs from a doctor friend — despite telling her followers that she did not qualify for one of the limited tests.
"THE LATEST COOL NEW PERK FOR INFLUENCERS — getting tested quickly for coronavirus, while everyone else waits," New York Times Reporter Kenenth Vogel tweeted in response.
"Still fuming that something navy went and used one of the like 5 tests we have," Twitter user @alainapol22 wrote in a post.
"Influencers are always getting everything first," writer Michael Williams added.
Later that day, Charnas told her followers via an Instagram post that she would no longer be sharing content about her health, and she would continue to post her typical lifestyle content.
A post shared by Arielle Charnas (@ariellecharnas) on Mar 17, 2020 at 6:33am PDT on
A day later, however, Charnas posted a follow-up note in which she revealed that she'd tested positive for COVID-19.
In the post, she addressed her access to the limited COVID-19 tests, writing that she was "lucky," and widespread access to care should be a "#1 priority."
Since testing positive for COVID-19, she's continued to update her followers on her activities via Instagram and TikTok — prompting more criticism.
These bloggers are killing me.
NYC blogger Arielle Charnas posted to 1.3 million followers on March 18 that she had tested positive for COVID-19. On March 26, she announced that she and her husband were symptom-free and headed to their home in the Hamptons indefinitely.
Charnas' Instagram posts, stories, and TikTok videos since getting diagnosed reveal that she spent time with her family in their Manhattan apartment before leaving the city to recover in a Hamptons rental home. Posts on Charnas' Instagram show her taking walks outside with her daughter and posing in front of a Hamptons rental home with the caption "fresh air."
A post shared by Arielle Charnas (@ariellecharnas) on Mar 26, 2020 at 12:32pm PDT on
The decision to leave New York before 14 days of quarantine — the recommended period of time for those exposed to the virus — had passed received swift backlash online from commenters calling the decision "selfish" and "disappointing."
A Twitter thread by writer Sophie Ross documents and critiques Charnas' activity since the positive diagnosis.
"[Charnas] literally LEFT her palatial manhattan apartment so she could get Hamptons content," Ross wrote.
On 3/26, only 8 (EIGHT!!!) days after being diagnosed with COVID (NOT 14), Arielle and her family leave for the Hamptons to “quarantine.” Mind you, Arielle is “COVID positive.” She literally LEFT her palatial manhattan apartment so she could get Hamptons content. pic.twitter.com/caMUrGFV11
After the video, she immediately takes this opportunity to post an #ootd of her with the caption “fresh air.” People are big mad. Not only is she literally putting peoples lives at risk, but she’s setting a horrible example for her 1.3 mill followers (even if they’re mostly bots) pic.twitter.com/qo96FPklov
"As a nurse, I'm super bummed you couldn't stay quarantined for the whole 14 days past positive testing," one follower wrote in a comment before the comments feature was turned off on the post. "Your privilege does not excuse you from following simple rules to contain yourself. And you influence a lot of young people."
"Do you realize you have a very contagious and, for many, deadly disease? Do you realize that going out and about puts at risk, let's say, the people in your building that need to take the elevator after you?" another added. "Do you realize this is not the best message?"
Charnas did not return Insider's request for comment.
Something Navy's Arielle Charnas apologized to her followers in a tearful Instagram Story and post, after facing backlash for leaving New York City amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Charnas told her followers that she had tested positive for COVID-19, but headed to the Hamptons with her family two weeks later.
Charnas said that she followed the Centers for Disease Control guidelines in making her decision and that she and her family had waited 14 days before leaving New York City to quarantine elsewhere.
Arielle Charnas, the fashion influencer behind the brand Something Navy, responded to criticism she faced for fleeing New York City during the coronavirus outbreak.
After she told her followers on March 18 that she had contracted COVID-19, commenters and Twitter users began to criticize the influencer for having access to one of the few tests available in New York City at the time.
But she soon faced even more backlash when she posted later in the month that she'd left the city to quarantine at a home in the Hamptons with her family. Followers criticized the decision, fearing that she could have brought her germs with her and infected others outside of the city.
"I apologize to anyone that I unintentionally harmed in the course of my decision making," she wrote in her Instagram post on Thursday. She also said that she and her family, including her young children, had been receiving death threats.
Charnas explained that while many online thought she had broken quarantine guidelines or put others at risk, she followed the CDC guidelines in making her decision, and that she and her family had waited 14 days after the onset of symptoms before leaving New York City to quarantine at a rental home in a suburban area.
"We are and have always been committed to taking proper precautions, again through our ongoing conversations with medical professionals, to leave Manhattan without coming into contact with any individual from point A to point B," she said.
Because of the dense and ever-growing cases of COVID-19 in New York City, Charnas said this seemed like the safest option, once her family was symptom-free and had been quarantining for two weeks. "I'm confident this was the right move to reduce potential spread," she said.
Despite this, commenters and medical professionals have spoken out against influencers like Charnas continuing to travel, suggesting that they are broadcasting dangerous information to their millions of followers.
One commenter wrote, "You left your primary home to go to your holiday home. You've risked making others sick by doing that." Doctor turned influencer Darien Sutton told The New York Times:"When I see these influencers travel around, I think they're setting a really poor example of how to appropriately act during a pandemic. You have to hold yourself accountable for the possibility of transmitting this virus to people who are more vulnerable, and there's no way to be 100 percent sure you don't have the virus."
In an Instagram Story, Charnas cried while apologizing to her followers. "I'm sorry for anyone that I've offended or hurt over the last couple of weeks. We're just trying to navigate through this difficult time, as I'm sure so many people are," she said. "I'm just sorry if I let down my community in any way."
