Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the
Speaker 1: hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm
Speaker 1: Kate Torba and coming up on today's show, Mikayla Testa
Speaker 1: says she's done talking about the Paul family and how
Speaker 1: Amy Connor's morning routine ended up with a police investigation.
Speaker 1: But first, rumors are swelling about the state of Tammy
Speaker 1: Hembro's five month marriage after her husband Matt Sakowski, was
Speaker 1: absent from not only her Easter celebrations but her birthday.
Speaker 1: So speculation has been building since Tammy unfollowed her husband
Speaker 1: last month and removed the title missus Zakowski from her
Speaker 1: Instagram bio. I feel like it's this unfollow that has
Speaker 1: put a lot of us on ringwatch. Every time Tammy
Speaker 1: appears on her Instagram story and she's not wearing her
Speaker 1: massive diamonds our inbox is literally flooded with messages of
Speaker 1: people being like, oh my god, this confirms that they're
Speaker 1: not together and truth be told. In the past couple
Speaker 1: of weeks, she has appeared quite a number of times
Speaker 1: without her rings on, in saying that she has been
Speaker 1: wearing them as well. That's why It's so confusing because
Speaker 1: sometimes you're like, oh my god, she hasn't worn her
Speaker 1: ring for ages, and then suddenly this massive diamond will
Speaker 1: be in her next story.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: Also, she's always working out as part of her brand.
Speaker 1: She's always in gym gear, and it would be very
Speaker 1: difficult working out with those rocks on your hand. I
Speaker 1: mean I hardly ever wear my wedding rings when I'm
Speaker 1: home looking after my son because it's just too big.
Speaker 2: K Is that what you're trying.
Speaker 1: Look, they're not as big as ta me having bros.
Speaker 1: But I'm saying I get really uncomfortable with jewely on
Speaker 1: and if you're always washing your hands and you're looking
Speaker 1: after a baby. So I'm glad no one's watching the
Speaker 1: status of my rings.
Speaker 2: I always have mine on.
Speaker 1: I feel naked during the day if I don't, because
Speaker 1: I feel like I've lost it. I know some people
Speaker 1: sleep in their engagement and wedding bets.
Speaker 2: I draw the line at that.
Speaker 1: Oh I can't. I can't even sleep with like ear
Speaker 1: rings and I have to have everything taken out. But
Speaker 1: the thing is, if my marriage was under speculation and
Speaker 1: people were like, hang on a day together, I'd definitely
Speaker 1: be wearing them in my Instagram stories. I have noticed
Speaker 1: in a couple of their recent tiktoks where she was
Speaker 1: miming to break up songs where she was I don't know,
Speaker 1: trying to allude that something was going on. She did
Speaker 1: have her sleeves covering her hands. Yeah, I mean it's
Speaker 1: very odd behavior. I can see why people are so
Speaker 1: interested to know what's going on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and suspicion was.
Speaker 1: Really raised further over the Easter Long weekend when he
Speaker 1: was visibly absent from her celebrations and Tammy had what
Speaker 1: looked like a really wholesome Easter morning. I always love
Speaker 1: how she interacts with her kids. They're always dancing around.
Speaker 1: They were in matching pj's. I love how you say
Speaker 1: how she interacts with her kids, because I always feel
Speaker 1: a bit weird when you know that the influencer has
Speaker 1: propped up their phone to film something, and you can't
Speaker 1: help but feel like it's a little bit performative. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but the kids always look comfortable, so I get the
Speaker 1: vibe that the dancing also happens when the camera is off.
Speaker 1: I just think it's quite cute and a lot of
Speaker 1: the content that we've been seeing of late with her
Speaker 1: and her kids is content that she used to share
Speaker 1: when she was single and sparking a lot of those
Speaker 1: memories for me. So yeah, she did show a very
Speaker 1: wholesome morning. Her kids were eating Easter bunnies for breakfast
Speaker 1: and also hot Cross buns, and the video showed Tammy
Speaker 1: being every part of the doting mum, And it didn't
Speaker 1: take long for followers to start questioning, well, where is
Speaker 1: her husband, Matt Sakowski in all of this? So one
Speaker 1: follower wrote, I just don't get why Matt is never
Speaker 1: in the picks. It's weird and definitely shows something is
Speaker 1: going on with them. She seems doomed for any relationship,
Speaker 1: which is a bit harsh that comment. Another said, and
Speaker 1: the husband, what pjs did he wear? Whilst another said
Speaker 1: that photo of the pool is just stunning? But okay,
Speaker 1: why is Tammy a married, single mum? It does feel
Speaker 1: like Tammy is trying to make a point by sharing
Speaker 1: this Easter content because it's very obvious that he's not
Speaker 1: there and she knows people are going to comment, and
Speaker 1: it's not like she cleared it up in the comments
Speaker 1: and said, oh, Matt was away with his family at Easter.
Speaker 1: There was nothing or shared that she was facetiming him
Speaker 1: or anything like that, and it does paint him as
Speaker 1: being the baddie because she's essentially saying, well, he's absent
Speaker 1: from these very wholesome family activities. And what makes it
Speaker 1: even more complicated is the fact that Matt has taken
Speaker 1: this social media hiatus, so as his followers, we really
Speaker 1: don't know what he's been up to, what state is in,
Speaker 1: what's going on. Yeah, I think people were expecting to
Speaker 1: see him at the Easter celebrations, particularly because Tammy had
Speaker 1: shared this TikTok five days earlier where she was gushing
Speaker 1: about how amazing their relationship was and it was so
Speaker 1: great for her kids to see this special type of
Speaker 1: love between the two of them. Yeah, So she captioned
Speaker 1: the video a family where my kids see just how
Speaker 1: much he loves their mum. And in the video, Tammy
Speaker 1: and Matt were cuddling whilst Tammy's daughter Posey looked on
Speaker 1: and then eventually joined in on the cuddle. And that
Speaker 1: video attracted over three million views and over half a
Speaker 1: million likes because it was the first time that we'd
Speaker 1: seen Matt in Tammy's content since that unfollow and there
Speaker 1: seemed to be a sense of relief from some of
Speaker 1: Tammy's followers. In the comment section. One follower wrote, so
Speaker 1: glad to see this, so much talk about your relationship
Speaker 1: being on the rocks, whilst another said, oh they've made up.
Speaker 1: How cute. Matt was also nowhere to be seen on
Speaker 1: Tammy's birthday. So on Tuesday A, Tammy turned thirty one,
Speaker 1: and she marked the occasion by not only launching a
Speaker 1: new business, but changing up her which is always a
Speaker 1: telltale sign of a breakup. I think she went red
Speaker 1: when she broke up with Matt Paul from memory, Oh
Speaker 1: did she well? This time she has swapped her platinum
Speaker 1: blonde bob for long hair extensions, and I have to
Speaker 1: say she looked like the og Tammy. I feel like
Speaker 1: she was trying to show Matt what he was missing
Speaker 1: out on, potentially because I think the long hair suits
Speaker 1: her really well.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean it was so telling because after getting her
Speaker 1: hair done, she arrived at her office and she shared
Speaker 1: an Instagram story of this massive bunch of flowers and
Speaker 1: I could tell they weren't from Matt because they weren't.
Speaker 2: The woolies chuck out once.
Speaker 1: They were actually a really nice bunch, and she wrote
Speaker 1: grateful for the girlies in my life making me feel
Speaker 1: so special today. Thank you for all your birthday love.
Speaker 1: This seemed like a direct dig at Matt. Yeah, because
Speaker 1: she's literally pointing out to her followers the girlies are
Speaker 1: getting around me. My husband is clearly mia from these
Speaker 1: birthday celebrations. She also shared a birthday photo dump and
Speaker 1: wrote blessed with another year and again Matt did not
Speaker 1: appear in any of the photos and he didn't like
Speaker 1: the post. He also didn't upload a birthday post for her,
Speaker 1: which I feel like if you're a social media couple,
Speaker 1: like a big social media couple in the public eye,
Speaker 1: this is important to do because last year he shared
Speaker 1: a series of photos of them together and wrote happy
Speaker 1: thirtieth birthday, My beautiful fiance. Can't wait for the next
Speaker 1: thirty and thirty more years with you.
Speaker 2: I love you.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not hard to put up an Instagram story,
Speaker 1: particularly if just say this is all innocent and he
Speaker 1: is back in Melbourne for work. Wouldn't you make it
Speaker 1: a bigger deal to confess your love for your wife
Speaker 1: on social media, particularly when there are so many rumors swirling.
Speaker 1: I mean, you wouldn't go away on your wife's birthday either,
Speaker 1: if you're just newly married. I mean, there would have
Speaker 1: to be some big reason. Now, as for this new business,
Speaker 1: Tammy launched a new supplements company with her sisters Amy
Speaker 1: and Emily on her birthday called Selfish SUPs. And this
Speaker 1: line has launched straight into five hundred and twenty chemist
Speaker 1: warehouse stores across the country. And I noticed that Matt
Speaker 1: was originally following the supplement's brand, but now he has
Speaker 1: done the dirty unfollow and he doesn't follow it, and
Speaker 1: they don't follow him. Jesus not looking good at all.
Speaker 1: And fans were even more convinced that this relationship is
Speaker 1: on the rocks when Matt popped up at his co
Speaker 1: host Anna at McAvoy's birthday dinner. So Anna turned thirty
Speaker 1: three on the twenty first of April, a day before
Speaker 1: Tammy's birthday. On the twenty second, unfortunate timing, I know,
Speaker 1: and Anna uploaded a photo dump of her birthday dinner
Speaker 1: showing that Matt was amongst the close friends in attendance. Now,
Speaker 1: the dinner was celebrated at the Conservatory Crown in Melbourne,
Speaker 1: Matt's hometown, so it all but confirms that he spent
Speaker 1: the Easter weekend in Melbourne and not on the Gold
Speaker 1: Coast with his wife and step kids. Now followers work
Speaker 1: quick to respond in Anna's comments section, One wrote, so
Speaker 1: did Matt make it to Tammy's b day as well,
Speaker 1: to which someone replied, guessing not with a laughing face.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's very awkward for Anna McAvoy, but maybe
Speaker 1: don't post the photo that Matt's in now. There is
Speaker 1: a bit of a twist in this story because it
Speaker 1: appears as though Tammy and Matt have patched things up,
Speaker 1: because Tammy went on a recent trip to Melbourne with
Speaker 1: her sisters to promote their new supplements company, and she
Speaker 1: was spotted at an NFL draft party with Matt. Now,
Speaker 1: Matt is a huge NFL fan, and we've actually had
Speaker 1: a number of attendees from the event DMUs photos of
Speaker 1: the couple together. Now, One anonymous party goer said they're
Speaker 1: very much still together, whilst another said that Tammy looked
Speaker 1: pissed off during the event and not overly pleased with Matt.
Speaker 1: It does appear as though Tammy potentially met Matt at
Speaker 1: the event, and prior to her being there, Matt was
Speaker 1: apparently avoiding speaking to any women. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: that is a wise idea from him. We do remember
Speaker 1: that time back last year when he was on that
Speaker 1: brand trip with that jet company, the private jet Yeah,
Speaker 1: and he was spotted speaking to some influences. I think
Speaker 1: he was playing darts and he was put in a
Speaker 1: team with some women, and people snapped some photos and
Speaker 1: said it looked like he was flirting with them. It
Speaker 1: sounded pretty innocent. But Matt also has recently popped up
Speaker 1: in and get Ready with Me video that Tammy shared
Speaker 1: on her TikTok a couple of days ago, and it
Speaker 1: showed him for a split second kissing her cheek. So
Speaker 1: again he has popped up in her content, and Matt
Speaker 1: has also since hit out about his social media hiatus,
Speaker 1: saying this, Okay.
Speaker 3: Guys, so I took a little pause or break, whatever
Speaker 3: you want to call it from social media. I haven't
Speaker 3: been on in a while because I just got over
Speaker 3: just the I know it's not everyone, so I'm not
Speaker 3: blaming everyone, but there's a lot of people out there
Speaker 3: that comment negative stuff and they want to see people
Speaker 3: do like they want to see people fail, and they
Speaker 3: want to see things fail. So I was just over
Speaker 3: being like seeing that sort of stuff. It's fucking depressing.
Speaker 3: So I took a break. I'm back now I'm going
Speaker 3: to post regularly as normal. So I'm happy you guys
Speaker 3: should be.
Speaker 1: If this isn't gas lighting at its finest, I don't
Speaker 1: know what is. I totally under stand that it would
Speaker 1: be tough to be in the public eye and have
Speaker 1: your relationship scrutinized in the way that they have. But
Speaker 1: I'm getting a bit sick of them airing their dirty
Speaker 1: laundry across social media, in sense of them constantly unfollowing
Speaker 1: and then following, and then being surprised that people want
Speaker 1: to talk about it, or that people are intrigued and
Speaker 1: interested at what's going on, particularly when Matt has a
Speaker 1: relationship podcast, like you know That's your bread and Butter.
Speaker 1: I mean, he barely talks about his relationship with Tammy.
Speaker 1: He just kind of uses it as a little bit
Speaker 1: of a clickbait in the titles. Now, do we actually
Speaker 1: believe that he took a social media hiatus due to
Speaker 1: the negativity or do we think that he took a
Speaker 1: social media hiatus because the couple has been arguing. Oh,
Speaker 1: I definitely think where they's smoke, there's fire, and there
Speaker 1: clearly has been some falling out between the pair and
Speaker 1: they're back together again. I just think they need to
Speaker 1: both grow up and stop having it play out on
Speaker 1: social media. I find it funny because once they're back together,
Speaker 1: it's us against the world, but then during their arguments,
Speaker 1: it's like, get the fuck away from me, don't even.
Speaker 2: Follow my page.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna block you from absolutely everything.
Speaker 4: I am literally on the toilet, but I have something
Speaker 4: to say, so I'm just going to say it. You
Speaker 4: are not gonna hear me speak about Anna Paul Addas
Speaker 4: Paul ever again.
Speaker 2: After this video.
Speaker 4: This is the last time I'm speaking about these people.
Speaker 1: Mikayla Tester has announced she's done speaking about the Paul family.
Speaker 1: The revelation came a day after she released a shocking
Speaker 1: voice note Anna Paul sent her. My jaw is still
Speaker 1: on the floor after hearing this voice note. It was
Speaker 1: another receipt from the Millionaires and Billionaires group chat that
Speaker 1: Mikhayla Tester, Anna Paul and Adams Paul were a part of.
Speaker 2: I still can't get over the name of that group chat.
Speaker 2: That says it all, doesn't it?
Speaker 1: It does Now. According to Michayla, Anna allegedly instructed the
Speaker 1: group to troll Addis's ex girlfriend, Alice Patterson after she
Speaker 1: pressed charges against him, which resulted in Adams Paul pleading
Speaker 1: guilty to statutory rape. Let's take a listen, don't save
Speaker 1: this voice message, but we should make fake accounts of
Speaker 1: this is all that.
Speaker 5: We should make fake TikTok accounts and just comment on
Speaker 5: her appearance on her tiktoks, the mean shit, all the
Speaker 5: things that she would be insecure about.
Speaker 2: We should just go into.
Speaker 5: Detail and comment that hate so she knows that she
Speaker 5: is really that ugly, like those the type of comments
Speaker 5: that make you stay awake at night, those types of
Speaker 5: comments where you're like, my arm's.
Speaker 2: Really fat, it's my nose really that ugly?
Speaker 5: Like we should really go in really specific.
Speaker 1: I mean pretty wild that someone who has based their
Speaker 1: personal brand on kindness is saying this stuff behind the scenes.
Speaker 1: It's pretty shocking, particularly going to the extent of saying, hey,
Speaker 1: let's make up all of these troll accounts to literally
Speaker 1: pray off any insecurity that this young girl had. I mean,
Speaker 1: she was only seventeen at the time. She was underage
Speaker 1: as well, and these are adults doing this to a kid.
Speaker 1: It's utterly shocking, because I mean, this is the worst
Speaker 1: of the worst. I wonder if Mikayla just stumbled across
Speaker 1: this voice note and didn't realize she had it until now,
Speaker 1: because it is a real trump card that I thought
Speaker 1: perhaps she would have liked to use on her podcast. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm surprised we didn't hear it on the podcast first
Speaker 1: and off the back of sharing the voice note on
Speaker 1: her story, Mikayla threatened Anna that it was just the
Speaker 1: tip of the iceberg. When it came to the receipt
Speaker 1: she still had on her she wrote, I've got miles more,
Speaker 1: so stop lying because I'll post them all. You probably
Speaker 1: thought I'd ran out by now, huh. Now. In an
Speaker 1: unexpected turn of events, Ruka Salt announced on Friday night
Speaker 1: that she would no longer be posting about the Paul
Speaker 1: family because it was having a detrimental effect on her health. Now.
Speaker 1: She has been a very strong ally to Mikayla. She
Speaker 1: was the one who alleged first that Anna Paul's dad,
Speaker 1: Hans was homeless. Yeah, She's been very vocal about the
Speaker 1: polls and in her personal life. She is currently trying
Speaker 1: to feel pregnant and says that the stress of the
Speaker 1: situation has caused her to lose her period. She finished
Speaker 1: up by writing, I'll be supporting all the girls from
Speaker 1: the sidelines from now on now. On Saturday, Mikayla surprisingly
Speaker 1: followed suit, announcing on her Instagram story that she's also
Speaker 1: no longer going to be speaking about the Paul family.
Speaker 1: She said that there won't be a fourth episode of
Speaker 1: her podcast because she's proven herself enough. Instead, she said
Speaker 1: she'll be taking legal action and getting justice.
Speaker 2: Via the court.
Speaker 1: She also importantly added that Anna Paul is not suing
Speaker 1: her for defamation because she knows that she can't. And
Speaker 1: it was quite cheeky because she pointed out that she'll
Speaker 1: be resuming daily vlogging on her TikTok, just like she
Speaker 1: did back in twenty twenty two, and she added, and
Speaker 1: what I said in those voice notes, I deserve those
Speaker 1: seven million followers, or should I correct myself six point
Speaker 1: one million now. She also urged her followers to go
Speaker 1: follow Alice Patterson on Instagram and TikTok because she is
Speaker 1: another victim that is continuing to.
Speaker 2: Tell her story now.
Speaker 1: She did back up her written statement with a TikTok
Speaker 1: funnily enough, which she filmed on the toilet. I cracked
Speaker 1: up when she said that. And also I could just
Speaker 1: see the flush button behind her during a lot of
Speaker 1: the video. It was a very fancy flush, you know what.
Speaker 1: It was pretty flattering lighting as well. I feel like
Speaker 1: that had something to do with it. She was taking
Speaker 1: the video from sky. Wheatley always used to post from
Speaker 1: the toilet on her story. Well, sometimes they say if
Speaker 1: you're talking to a camera, do it in the spot
Speaker 1: where you feel most comfortable. Clearly, the toilet is a
Speaker 1: spotwherel a lot of people feel comfortable.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, Mikayla said that the show was over, and she
Speaker 1: reiterated a lot of what she said in her Instagram story.
Speaker 1: She said that the whole ordeal had left her boarding
Speaker 1: and also hiding indoors. It also seemed like it was
Speaker 1: an opportunity for Mikayla to get on the front foot
Speaker 1: in terms of that voice note with Anna Paul, because
Speaker 1: everyone was starting to ask, well, what did you say
Speaker 1: back to her? So Mikayla shared Anna's voice note for
Speaker 1: TikTok because last time she only put it on a story.
Speaker 1: And then she added her response in Let's listen to
Speaker 1: what Mikayla and Addis replied back in twenty twenty one
Speaker 1: to Anna, I don't.
Speaker 6: Know if I told you, don't say this postmasage too,
Speaker 6: but I made a fake account.
Speaker 2: I think I told Atis I made a fake.
Speaker 6: Account like the other day, because she did a video
Speaker 6: where she did wing diyeliner. And I know she's like
Speaker 6: really insecure about people telling her that she's copying me,
Speaker 6: because every time she does something that I do, everyone
Speaker 6: already pounces on her and tells her that. But I
Speaker 6: made a fake out. I commented it, and then I
Speaker 6: went back and looked an hour later, and her whole
Speaker 6: video was deleted too.
Speaker 5: Pretty much just like make accounts all day on a
Speaker 5: bank roll, like I've got them on payroll.
Speaker 6: Just make accounts and common shit all day on every
Speaker 6: piece of her social media.
Speaker 1: Is this what these people spend their whole time doing.
Speaker 1: I mean, you see their daily vlogs. Maybe they need
Speaker 1: to be a bit more honest. I spent the next
Speaker 1: two hours just creating a ton of control.
Speaker 2: Again, this was never in the Daily Blog.
Speaker 1: Michaela went on to say that she was a demon,
Speaker 1: but Anna Paul was the devil, and she said her
Speaker 1: behavior was the result of spending too much time with Anna.
Speaker 1: She also said the difference was that the polls had
Speaker 1: painted Alice out to be this crazy ex girlfriend and
Speaker 1: she didn't personally know Alice, whereas Anna actually did know her.
Speaker 1: That is a good point because I feel like the
Speaker 1: wall was being pulled over Michayla's eyes. So let's be honest,
Speaker 1: most of us hate our partner's ex girlfriend.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean we'll also have to remember these people's ages.
Speaker 1: I mean that's clearly something that none of us would
Speaker 1: ever ever do.
Speaker 2: These people are in their early twenties.
Speaker 1: I'm not making excuses for what they're doing, but it
Speaker 1: is very juvenile behavior.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And Mikayla's been really upfront and taken accountability for what
Speaker 1: she's done. She's always said, look, I haven't been a
Speaker 1: good person in this. I should have spoken out, I
Speaker 1: shouldn't have participated alongside the polls, And she did say
Speaker 1: that again in her TikTok.
Speaker 2: There's been a lot.
Speaker 1: Of speculation that perhaps Michayla and Veruka had finally been
Speaker 1: gagged by Anna Paul's legal team, but Michayla finished by
Speaker 1: saying this.
Speaker 4: Everything I said is the truth. There is no legal
Speaker 4: action from Anna. There won't be because she knows everything
Speaker 4: I say.
Speaker 7: Is the truth.
Speaker 4: And Anna have a lot worse receipts than that voice message.
Speaker 4: I could have used that in episode one of my podcast,
Speaker 4: but I didn't. I've got some golden receipts and she
Speaker 4: knows I'll pull those out in court and all of
Speaker 4: her little money that she would have spent towards suing
Speaker 4: me for defamation would have gone down the dream.
Speaker 2: That's why she never bothered.
Speaker 1: What I'm reading into this is perhaps they've agreed to
Speaker 1: a bit of a truth.
Speaker 2: There's so much.
Speaker 1: Back and forth happening at the moment, this airing of
Speaker 1: dirty laundry, these voice notes. Maybe Anna has gone to
Speaker 1: Michayla and said, look, if you say anything else about me,
Speaker 1: I'm going to release X, Y and Z. Like maybe
Speaker 1: there's a been a black about going on, and Mikayla's
Speaker 1: been like, okay, I've had my say, let me release
Speaker 1: this last one and that's where I'll finish things.
Speaker 2: See.
Speaker 1: I actually think that Mikayla has taken a step back
Speaker 1: and realize that the more she talks about the situation,
Speaker 1: the more it's diluting the serious message, and it is
Speaker 1: becoming this petty slinging match and we're forgetting the real issue,
Speaker 1: which is Adis Paul's behavior. And I actually think it's
Speaker 1: really good that she's decided to take this offline now
Speaker 1: and actually follow it up legally. And when you think
Speaker 1: about the way a lot of these news stories break
Speaker 1: and everyone's attention, this story has been going on for
Speaker 1: over a month now, it was two months actually, well
Speaker 1: two months, and I think that they've realized that it's
Speaker 1: as terrible as it is to say, the people's interest
Speaker 1: in it is drying up. Everyone was there for the
Speaker 1: dirty details. I think that they've also realized they've done
Speaker 1: enough damage to Addis and Anna's reputation. I mean, you
Speaker 1: only have to look at Anna Paul's Coachella videos to
Speaker 1: see her comment section is flooded with people telling.
Speaker 2: Me how to get off. We don't want to hear.
Speaker 1: I think that they've realized that they've done all that
Speaker 1: they can and now it's time for them to move
Speaker 1: on happily with their own lives. I mean, Mikayla, she's
Speaker 1: obviously trying to build a successful vlogging career on TikTok,
Speaker 1: and her popularity is that it's peak at the moment.
Speaker 1: So she doesn't want to be a one trick pony
Speaker 1: and only showed that she can condemn this family. She
Speaker 1: wants to show a different side of herself. Well, she
Speaker 1: almost has to follow in Anna Poule's footsteps now and
Speaker 1: just ignore the whole situation and move on and be positive,
Speaker 1: which I think she's trying to do by sharing her
Speaker 1: daily vlogs. I think she realizes that people are getting
Speaker 1: a little bit tired of hearing the same thing about
Speaker 1: Anna Poul over and over again.
Speaker 2: And I mean, I'm quite enjoying. I've been enjoying it.
Speaker 1: For two months, but it gets difficult to keep following.
Speaker 1: You're like, hang on, I've missed that bit, and then
Speaker 1: this person's talking about it, and this person's talking about it.
Speaker 1: I wonder if Anna Poul will just take it longing
Speaker 1: down though, or you know, because the voice note has
Speaker 1: done her a lot of doubt, she's going to continue
Speaker 1: to ignore. I mean, she's still posting that nothing's happened
Speaker 1: on snapchat. I think that they're all going to get
Speaker 1: back to ignoring, and you know, the damages that Anna
Speaker 1: Poul has lost a million followers. She should have lost more.
Speaker 1: I think if anyone listening to this podcast is still
Speaker 1: following her, give her he unfollowed. Also, it's done so
Speaker 1: much reputational damage. I know she's not an influencer who
Speaker 1: works with a ton of different brands, but no brand
Speaker 1: is going to want to touch her with a ten
Speaker 1: foot pole. It's also done huge damage to her skincare brand.
Speaker 1: Pol You say that, but she was still invited to
Speaker 1: the Grand Prix. There's still eyeballs on her. I think
Speaker 1: it will take a while for her to sign a
Speaker 1: big brand deal again. But I mean, if you had
Speaker 1: a brand, would you want to work with her?
Speaker 2: No, I wouldn't.
Speaker 1: But I don't think that she's canceled. I don't think
Speaker 1: in this day and age that influencers can be canceled anymore.
Speaker 1: I actually think that this has made her more famous
Speaker 1: infamous as it be, and I think she'll be back.
Speaker 1: I think now that she's been pushed down at tall
Speaker 1: pubby syndrome, she's been cut down.
Speaker 2: She will return.
Speaker 1: She'll return without Adas by her side, which you will
Speaker 1: be very difficult for her because it's quite apparent how
Speaker 1: close they are.
Speaker 7: Hey, everyone. I just wanted to take a moment to
Speaker 7: speak openly and honestly about video I posted that's been
Speaker 7: taken out of context and caused a lot of confusion
Speaker 7: and her.
Speaker 1: A three second clip of Amy Connor doing a salute
Speaker 1: before heading off to work has resulted in the TikToker
Speaker 1: receiving death threats, being stood down from work and a
Speaker 1: police investigation. Kate, before we get into it. For our
Speaker 1: listeners who aren't familiar.
Speaker 2: With her, who is Amy Connor Well.
Speaker 1: She's actually better known as Ames online and she's a
Speaker 1: thirty nine year old registered nurse and mum from the
Speaker 1: south coast of New South Wales. We actually interviewed her
Speaker 1: on our Christmas special last year and Aims started out
Speaker 1: creating content on TikTok as a way to stay sane
Speaker 1: during the pandemic and also as a way to be
Speaker 1: creative while she was on maternity leave, and she very
Speaker 1: quickly cultivated an engaged audience by sharing fly on the
Speaker 1: Wall style content of life at home with four children.
Speaker 1: She now has one point two million followers on TikTok
Speaker 1: and at one hundred and forty three thousand on Instagram. Now,
Speaker 1: despite taking off as an influencer. Aimes still works casual
Speaker 1: ship as a nurse, and she is far from being
Speaker 1: a problematic influencer. Her content is very positive, wholesome and fun.
Speaker 1: She's probably best known for creatively repurposing leftover food from
Speaker 1: her kid's meals. So I was absolutely shocked and confused
Speaker 1: when these accusations came out. And she's just an all
Speaker 1: round legend. I have to say she's a lovely person.
Speaker 1: When Amy and I interviewed her for Christmas, she was
Speaker 1: so generous with her time. She's so smart. I love
Speaker 1: the fact that she still has a career whilst working
Speaker 1: as an influencer and also as a mom. And I
Speaker 1: never thought we would be discussing some scandal involving Aims
Speaker 1: on our podcast. I mean, I think she's even joked
Speaker 1: about it on her TikTok before, when she said she
Speaker 1: listened to Outspoken because she just loves hearing all.
Speaker 2: The drama that she's not involved in.
Speaker 1: Let's get into what actually happened, because I feel like
Speaker 1: there is a lot of miscommunication and crosswise. So two
Speaker 1: weeks ago, Aime shared a video to TikTok documenting her
Speaker 1: morning routine as a casual pulner and in a now
Speaker 1: deleted clip from that video, Ames did a military style
Speaker 1: salute with her left hand in the mirror before heading
Speaker 1: off to work. Now off the back of that video,
Speaker 1: Ames was accused by some followers of performing a Nazi
Speaker 1: style salute, and the gesture is associated with Adolph Hitler
Speaker 1: and is performed by extending the right arm from the
Speaker 1: shoulder into the air. Yeah, and screenshots of Ames with
Speaker 1: her arm in the air started circulating on TikTok and
Speaker 1: other forums. Next came doctored versions of the video where
Speaker 1: the salute was reversed to make it look like a
Speaker 1: Nazi salute, and Ames ended up editing the salute out
Speaker 1: of the original TikTok she uploaded, but the damage was
Speaker 1: already done.
Speaker 2: In an interview with.
Speaker 1: News dot com do Au, Ames explained that she edits
Speaker 1: her own TikTok footage and she didn't think anything of
Speaker 1: the salute when she uploaded the video, so she was
Speaker 1: left absolutely shocked when people started making accusations. The sad
Speaker 1: thing is that Ames was simply salute fellow healthcare workers,
Speaker 1: and she said in this interview that it was taken
Speaker 1: out of context. People were reversing it and playing it backwards,
Speaker 1: so it looked like the opposite of how I did it.
Speaker 1: She said, I see the image and I'm scared of it.
Speaker 1: The screenshot terrifies me. I'm having nightmares because this is
Speaker 1: not me and that is not what I was doing.
Speaker 1: When I see it in my head, I start shaking.
Speaker 1: And she went on to say that she can understand
Speaker 1: why people have gotten the wrong impression by the altered
Speaker 1: images online or the out of context screenshots. This is
Speaker 1: a very serious accusation to make against someone, particularly because
Speaker 1: in January last year, it became illegal in Australia to
Speaker 1: perform a Nazi salute in public. Now. The law was
Speaker 1: introduced off the back of the rise in anti semitism
Speaker 1: in Australia, and the accusation has been taken very seriously
Speaker 1: because Ames ended up being stood down from New South
Speaker 1: Wales Health while the matter was being investigated. After her
Speaker 1: work was contacted, the police were then contacted to investigate. Now,
Speaker 1: according to Ames, the salute has been cleared by the
Speaker 1: police and the nursing board and the only reason she's
Speaker 1: unable to return to work is because she violated social
Speaker 1: media policies by filming herself and coworkers at work. Oh wow,
Speaker 1: so they've said you're all clear of this accusation, but
Speaker 1: hold on, we've noticed that you shouldn't actually be posting.
Speaker 2: About your job full stop now.
Speaker 1: New South Wales Police have also confirmed that they commenced
Speaker 1: an investigation after reports of an offensive video posted on
Speaker 1: social media. Following inquiries, no further police action is expected.
Speaker 1: My heart's been feeling really heavy for Ames over this
Speaker 1: whole ordeal because I think it has been completely taken
Speaker 1: out of context and it really shows how a screenshot
Speaker 1: can be manipulated and made to look a hell of
Speaker 1: a lot worse than it actually is. Now. On Easter Saturday,
Speaker 1: Ames posted an apology on social media. It was really
Speaker 1: difficult to watch because she was visibly distressed and shaking
Speaker 1: in it. She denied the gesture was a Nazi salute.
Speaker 1: She also took a note out of Mikayla Tester's book
Speaker 1: and read from notes on her phone.
Speaker 2: Here's some of what she said.
Speaker 7: Hey everyone, I just wanted to take a moment to
Speaker 7: speak openly and honestly about a video I posted that's
Speaker 7: been taken out of context and caused a lot of
Speaker 7: confusion and her I've decided to use notes to make
Speaker 7: sure I don't miss anything and offend anyone Further, in
Speaker 7: that clip I made that was intended to be a
Speaker 7: soldier's salute, but a screenshot of that moment has been
Speaker 7: circulated and accused of being a Nazi salute. I want
Speaker 7: to be absolutely clear that was never my intention, and
Speaker 7: I do not in any way support or condone hate
Speaker 7: or extremism of any kind.
Speaker 1: Now, Ames went on to apologize to military members for
Speaker 1: any offense she caused. She said that she realized it
Speaker 1: was not her place to use the gesture, even in
Speaker 1: a lighthearted way, and in Ames's apology video, she also
Speaker 1: confirmed that the incident had been reported to the police
Speaker 1: and she's been cleared of any wrongdoing. What shot me
Speaker 1: the most was hearing Ames talk about the impact that
Speaker 1: the incident had had on her personally. She reveals she's
Speaker 1: been receiving very concerning messages and even death threats against
Speaker 1: her and her family, and she later confirmed that there
Speaker 1: is now an open police investigation going on because she
Speaker 1: fears for her own personal safety. Well for Ames, because
Speaker 1: she does live her life so publicly online and people
Speaker 1: could easily piece together where she lives. This threat would
Speaker 1: feel very real for her exactly, you'd feel so vulnerable
Speaker 1: with four young kids. Now, it's important to know that
Speaker 1: Ames made a deliberate decision not to apologize to the
Speaker 1: Jewish community. In an interview with news dot com do Au,
Speaker 1: she explained that she didn't want to apologize over something
Speaker 1: that she didn't do. She said, I didn't want it
Speaker 1: to sound like I was admitting to guilt. I started
Speaker 1: at my forehead, which is how a traditional soldier salute starts.
Speaker 1: I was apologizing for that, but I wasn't doing a
Speaker 1: Nazi salute. It'd be so easy to take out of
Speaker 1: context again and the people would say, why are you
Speaker 1: apologizing to them if you didn't do it.
Speaker 2: I think this was a very clever move by Ames.
Speaker 1: From a PR perspective, you should never admit guilt or
Speaker 1: apologize for something that you didn't actually do. If she'd
Speaker 1: release this official statement saying I apologize to the Jewel
Speaker 1: Wish community for the offensive salute that I did, it
Speaker 1: then just gives the media free reign to run with
Speaker 1: the story saying an Aussie influencer has apologized.
Speaker 2: For doing a Nazi salute.
Speaker 1: You're right, but since then a leading member of the
Speaker 1: Australian Jewish community has come out and condemned Ames's video.
Speaker 1: Doctor Diva Abramovich, who is the chairman of the Anti
Speaker 1: Defamation Commission and a leading force behind the national push
Speaker 1: to ban public displays of the Nazi salute and swatsticker,
Speaker 1: wrote in an opinion piece for The Nightly online publication.
Speaker 1: He said, for Holocaust survivors, that outreached arm is not
Speaker 1: a symbol of fitness or fun. It is the gesture
Speaker 1: that marched six million Jews and millions of others to
Speaker 1: their death. A gesture that once accompanied cries of Hail Hitler,
Speaker 1: is now edited into a day in the Life montage
Speaker 1: and seen by millions of followers. That is not just
Speaker 1: poor judgment, It is a symptom of dangerous ignorance. This
Speaker 1: is the outcome when history is not taught, when Holocaust's
Speaker 1: education is sidelined, and when genocide is flattened into a trend.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: He went on to say that the intent behind the
Speaker 1: video was irrelevant because intent does not eraise impact, whether
Speaker 1: accidental or deliberate, Performing a Nazi salute in any context
Speaker 1: is an act that reopens wounds and desecrates memories. He
Speaker 1: also went on to say it's not about cancel culture
Speaker 1: or punishing someone forever. It's a matter of collective responsibility.
Speaker 1: He wrote, because when influencers can post genocidal symbols without
Speaker 1: grasping their weight, we have failed, not just as a
Speaker 1: Jewish community, but as a nation. It is a deeply
Speaker 1: distressing time for the Jewish community as a whole at
Speaker 1: the moment. And I completely respect what doctor Abramovich had
Speaker 1: to say on the matter.
Speaker 2: As someone who.
Speaker 1: Isn't Jewish, I really can't begin to imagine how upsetting
Speaker 1: the whole incident has been and how triggering it would
Speaker 1: be in saying that, I believe the upset has been
Speaker 1: unfairly caused by a lot of trolls who seem to
Speaker 1: have manufactured this drama in an attempt to bring aims down.
Speaker 1: I do feel like her gesture has been taken out
Speaker 1: of context and also blown into something it was never
Speaker 1: into to be, And I think we need to be
Speaker 1: very wary because manipulating footage and taking screenshots out of
Speaker 1: context to try and push a narrative against an influencer
Speaker 1: is incredibly dangerous, particularly when it's this serious. It's a
Speaker 1: criminal offense and labeling someone as a Nazi is life changing.
Speaker 1: It's completely unfair and disrespectful to the Jewish community as
Speaker 1: well to use them as a means to start a
Speaker 1: witch hunt against an influencer. They're going through enough as
Speaker 1: it is. I just feel like there's so many people
Speaker 1: who are that desperate to bring down particular influencers that
Speaker 1: they don't like, that they're willing to stop at nothing.
Speaker 1: And it's really unfortunate that Ames edited the salute out
Speaker 1: of the vlog because I've seen it and it has
Speaker 1: been completely taken out of context, and the screen shots,
Speaker 1: as you said, have been manipulated. They've made to look
Speaker 1: completely different, and unfortunately people are now going off the
Speaker 1: screenshots which are misleading, and the fact that this woman
Speaker 1: and her young family are receiving death threats is a
Speaker 1: polling yeah, as Ames said in an interview that people
Speaker 1: accusing her of a crime don't understand the magnitude of
Speaker 1: their actions now. Ames said that she would be taking
Speaker 1: time offline over the Easter long weekend. She did return
Speaker 1: last week to thank everyone for their love and support.
Speaker 1: She also revealed that she has called Lifeline for support
Speaker 1: over the weekend, and she said it's not the first
Speaker 1: time she's actually used Lifeline services before. She actually called
Speaker 1: them when she was going through a difficult time when
Speaker 1: she was twenty five.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 1: She did return to social media on Sunday, sharing a
Speaker 1: week bit slice recipe and seems to be back to
Speaker 1: her usual positive and fun content. The thing is when
Speaker 1: you actually look at Ames's comment section and the reality
Speaker 1: is that the people who know her and follow her
Speaker 1: for her positive content, they haven't brought into any of this.
Speaker 1: And that's a dangerous thing about TikTok. The people can
Speaker 1: stumble across content who don't know the creator and take
Speaker 1: it out of context. Yeah, I'm glad that Ames has
Speaker 1: the backing of her community, but there are still news
Speaker 1: articles now with her name and Nazi.
Speaker 2: Attached to it.
Speaker 1: You can't get rid of those that The damage has
Speaker 1: been done, and it makes me really annoyed that people
Speaker 1: have to go out of their way to try and
Speaker 1: destroy other people's reputation just because they might not like
Speaker 1: them online. Like, Okay, I'm all for holding influences to
Speaker 1: account when they do the wrong thing, but to take
Speaker 1: something out of context and make it into something that
Speaker 1: it's not to punish someone what because they repurpose their kids' leftovers.
Speaker 1: We need to look at ourselves as a society and
Speaker 1: be like this has just gone too far. It's like
Speaker 1: someone saw this and thought, oh, this is an opportunity
Speaker 1: to take advantage and take this out of context.
Speaker 2: We need, generally what it feels like.
Speaker 1: We need to look at people's intentions and their character.
Speaker 1: I mean, when Elia Musk got up and did that
Speaker 1: hand gesture, you could see why people jump to conclusions. Yes,
Speaker 1: excauted his character, but in this instance, this.
Speaker 2: Is a nurse, a mother of four, and.
Speaker 1: Someone who shares positive content and uplifting content. Well, that
Speaker 1: is where we're going to leave things today. Thank you
Speaker 1: for listening to another episode of Outspoken. If you do
Speaker 1: enjoy the show, we would love it if you could
Speaker 1: leave us a review. Also share where you're listening to
Speaker 1: the podcast from This podcast was recorded on the traditional
Speaker 1: land of the Ghana people of the Adelaide Planes. We
Speaker 1: pay respect to elders past and present.