Speaker 1: On today's show, Sophie Casia's online staus with an influencer
Speaker 1: gossip page, Karina Irby's first world travel problems, Sarah's Day
Speaker 1: gets baptized at Pentecostal church, and Sammy Robinson has sparked
Speaker 1: rumors she's dating a US influencer. Hello and welcome to Outspoken.
Speaker 1: It's your dose of the hottest influenza and pop culture
Speaker 1: news twice a week now. Sarah's Day and her husband
Speaker 1: Kurt Tills revealed they got baptized over the weekend. The
Speaker 1: ceremony took place at a Pentecostal church called Glow. Now,
Speaker 1: So if I wouldn't describe Glow as a traditional church, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right. The church is distinctly marketed as being a
Speaker 1: cool church for young people and instead of hymns and organs,
Speaker 1: they have these full indie rock bands performing Christian worship songs.
Speaker 1: The church also has a very slick social media presence,
Speaker 1: with posters and billboards for Glow popping up around the
Speaker 1: CBD and a lot of inner city suburbs of across Australia.
Speaker 1: And it's all about rebranding religion to a new demographic.
Speaker 2: So Glow says that Whilst they're a.
Speaker 1: Church for all generations, they find that it's a lot
Speaker 1: of young families and adults in their late twenties and
Speaker 1: early thirties who are in high attendance at these services.
Speaker 1: This sounds very different to the church we used to
Speaker 1: go to Sunday School at. I do remember a time
Speaker 1: amy where you refused to go in, and then we
Speaker 1: never had to go again. I think we only really
Speaker 1: went to general. We went to youth group for a while,
Speaker 1: and it was really only for the food. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: do a great spread at youth group. Maybe that's what
Speaker 1: Glow has, luring people in with food. Maybe not Sarah's
Speaker 1: Damien ever got healthy carrot sticks for something. I think
Speaker 1: they're luring people in with something else because it might
Speaker 1: surprise some of Sarah's followers to find out that Glow
Speaker 1: is actually a Pentecostal church. And The Age wrote a
Speaker 1: feature on glowback in twenty twenty and they describe the
Speaker 1: church as being a recent entrance into the field of
Speaker 1: successful Pentecostal megachurches.
Speaker 2: Like can I ask what is a Pentecostal church?
Speaker 1: I've only heard the word because isn't it the church
Speaker 1: that Scomo used to go to Yeah, there was a
Speaker 1: lot of controversy in the lead up to the election
Speaker 1: which did focus on Scott Morrison's faith and the fact
Speaker 1: that he was part of a Pentecostal church. And the
Speaker 1: most famous Pentecostal church is Heelsong and there has been
Speaker 1: a lot documented about that church. So back to your question, Amy, Basically,
Speaker 1: the movement is a form of Christianity and they believe
Speaker 1: that faith must be powerfully experienced and not something found
Speaker 1: merely through ritual or thinking. So its members believe that
Speaker 1: they are driven by the power of God moving within them.
Speaker 1: So controversially, the movement promotes speaking in tongues as well
Speaker 1: as supernatural healing and other manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2: And it is not always.
Speaker 1: Easy to determine if a church is a Pentecostal church
Speaker 1: because many don't include the word in their name.
Speaker 2: Is that because it's got a bad rap?
Speaker 1: I think so, because on Glow's website and social media
Speaker 1: channels they don't refer to themselves as a Pentecostal church.
Speaker 2: However, it does say.
Speaker 1: On the website that the movement believes in miracles. I
Speaker 1: feel like listeners have to take a shot every time
Speaker 1: you say Pentecostal I've ever heard.
Speaker 2: Well, if you think back to.
Speaker 1: All those images of Heillsong and everyone's got their hands
Speaker 1: up and everyone's very energetic, that's a sort of church.
Speaker 1: This is. I remember Guy Sebastian was a big part
Speaker 1: of Hillsong, Like I only heard about Hillsong because of
Speaker 1: him back when he was on Australian idol, And I
Speaker 1: think there was a lot of famous people connected to
Speaker 1: these sorts of churches. Another giveaway that Glow is a
Speaker 1: Pentecostal church is its heavy focus on baptism. So over
Speaker 1: the weekend, Sarah and Kurt revealed that they got baptized,
Speaker 1: and this stood out to me as Sarah in particular
Speaker 1: has spoken in the past about her faith and how
Speaker 1: it's something that she grew up with. It sounded like
Speaker 1: her family were heavily religious, so I was like, hold
Speaker 1: on a second, why wasn't she baptized as a child,
Speaker 1: And then when I looked into the Pentecostal faith, it
Speaker 1: made a lot more sense because Pentecostals believe that baptism
Speaker 1: is only for the believers, so they don't practice baptism
Speaker 1: in infants because they can't make that decision them and
Speaker 1: in order to be baptized, you have to repent your sins,
Speaker 1: you have to understand the faith, so all of the
Speaker 1: candidates must be adults, or at least at an age
Speaker 1: where they can make that decision themselves. Yeah. I did
Speaker 1: think it was weird because I assumed that she would
Speaker 1: have been baptized as a child. And I first saw
Speaker 1: Kurt share the update and I was like, Oh, he
Speaker 1: must be having to be baptized to join Sarah's faith.
Speaker 1: But then when I saw her in the little bathing
Speaker 1: pool as well, I was like, what was it just
Speaker 1: me or did you guys not realize that they actually
Speaker 1: fully went into a pool. Okay, that's also another giveaway
Speaker 1: that it's a Pentecostal baptism, because, as you say in
Speaker 1: the photos, Sarah showed herself being baptized in this large
Speaker 1: blow up pool and there was this Neon sign above
Speaker 1: it that said real, Bold and Love.
Speaker 2: It was this very cool kind of setup.
Speaker 1: There were even like lights and a video camera and
Speaker 1: Sarah was wearing a shirt that said brand new.
Speaker 2: And the reason it was done in.
Speaker 1: This big pool is because as part of the faith,
Speaker 1: you have to be submerged totally in water, so that's
Speaker 1: why she was so soaking wet. I have flashbacks to
Speaker 1: on The Simpsons where ned Flanders was trying to baptize
Speaker 1: Lisa and Barr and he took them down to the river.
Speaker 1: There is a scene also in My Big Fat Greek
Speaker 1: Wedding when Aiden, you know, from Sex and the City,
Speaker 1: gets baptized in a pool as well. Well. Yeah, because
Speaker 1: a lot of the time at Pentecostal churches they either
Speaker 1: have a special tank or an outdoor baptism pond. Obviously,
Speaker 1: this cool new church they've just got to blow up.
Speaker 1: Paul Well in the post, Sarah wrote an extra special
Speaker 1: Sunday today. After praying hard about this for a few years,
Speaker 1: today both Kurt and I got water baptized. It was
Speaker 1: such an honor to do something so special and powerful
Speaker 1: with my husband. She really is going down that route
Speaker 1: of Christian influence, isn't she with this latest update. Well,
Speaker 1: particularly because the Pentecostal faith is all about preaching the
Speaker 1: Word of God, and we have definitely seen an influx
Speaker 1: of her sharing that type of messaging on her page
Speaker 1: ever since her wedding, and I feel like perhaps she's
Speaker 1: been working on this in the background. I remember when
Speaker 1: Sarah shared a vlog of her buying her holiday house
Speaker 1: that her and Kurt were reading the Bible, and I
Speaker 1: thought at the time that was strange, But obviously there's
Speaker 1: a lot that they need to do in order to
Speaker 1: become to the point that they get baptized. Away from
Speaker 1: Sarah and Kurt with this issue, I just find the
Speaker 1: whole thing weird, Like how this share no, not the
Speaker 1: religion side, but the marketing side of this church. Because
Speaker 1: I looked at Glow's Instagram account, which Sarah actually didn't tag,
Speaker 1: Kurt tagged it, and they appeared to be spooking baptism.
Speaker 1: So there's this really weird video where this pastor is
Speaker 1: standing out the front saying, come on everyone, let's play
Speaker 1: the clip because I can't.
Speaker 2: Give it justice.
Speaker 3: We also let an incredible where celebrating all those that
Speaker 3: now baptizing at our Shire and West locations this morning. Guys,
Speaker 3: if you missed out five thirty pm at the City,
Speaker 3: you can get baptized.
Speaker 4: You, your family, anyone you know, just come on over.
Speaker 4: We can't wait to celebrate with you days.
Speaker 1: See that confuses because I thought, by hearing more about
Speaker 1: this religion that people had to be at a certain
Speaker 1: level of understanding to be baptized, particularly because they have
Speaker 1: to wait until they're an adult to accept it. But
Speaker 1: that's spooking as like a you know, come down, everyone's
Speaker 1: getting baptized today. It reminds me of on Oprah, like
Speaker 1: the Christmas special you'll get a car and you'll get
Speaker 1: you get baptized. Well, that's what I feel uncomfortable about
Speaker 1: because I feel like it's a total money making scheme.
Speaker 1: Because when I looked at the Instagram stories, you could
Speaker 1: see that there's professional lights and cameras setup. We've also
Speaker 1: clearly seen that in order to get baptized, you have
Speaker 1: to buy one of the you know, new new shirts
Speaker 1: to be baptized in.
Speaker 2: It feels like there's a lot.
Speaker 1: Of money passing hands in order to have this happen.
Speaker 1: You're also encouraged to invite lots of people you know,
Speaker 1: to come down what.
Speaker 2: You be baptized.
Speaker 1: The thing is, I don't think churches charged for baptisms.
Speaker 2: I think stay charged for a while. No, that's not true.
Speaker 1: They pass out a collection plate. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: money passing hands in churches, particularly if you want to
Speaker 1: hold an event there. It's like, oh, will you have
Speaker 1: to make a special contribution towards the church. People aren't
Speaker 1: getting these things for free well, in terms of these
Speaker 1: Pentecostal churches. So there was an article done on Hellsong
Speaker 1: and it said that Hillsong is said to bring in
Speaker 1: eighty percent of its revenue through music and other merchandise
Speaker 1: sales and the rest of the twenty percent is through
Speaker 1: the collection. So it's clear that there are money making
Speaker 1: schemes in place, and the marketing is very important to
Speaker 1: these churches, particularly because they're tapping into an audience of
Speaker 1: young people who are finding faith. Well, Hillsong is a
Speaker 1: very influential church. I mean, it's got the likes of
Speaker 1: the Karashians and Justin Bieber being a part of the church,
Speaker 1: and they obviously bring with them a lot of money
Speaker 1: and so too to people like Sarah and Kurt. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm sure that this Globe church is very happy to
Speaker 1: have them on their books. Well, it doesn't concern me
Speaker 1: because Hillsong has been called Australia's most powerful brand and
Speaker 1: a money making machine. It's also been called a cult.
Speaker 1: So I don't know, feel a bit uncomfortable with some
Speaker 1: of these mega churches popping up around the country and
Speaker 1: spooking themselves the way that they're doing on social media.
Speaker 1: Sarah was doing a speech at this church not that
Speaker 1: long ago.
Speaker 2: Remember she was interviewed.
Speaker 1: Well, I find it very odd that she does speak
Speaker 1: a lot about her faith, but she hasn't opened up
Speaker 1: about being a follower of the Pentecostal movement because it
Speaker 1: is incredibly unpopular due to the controversy around speaking in
Speaker 1: tongues and healing, particularly when you know, we spoke about
Speaker 1: in our recent Sera's Day's Deep Dive about how she
Speaker 1: copped criticism for saying that she healed her cervical displacier.
Speaker 1: Maybe she feels a bit uncomfortable because people might connect.
Speaker 2: The dots and the healing.
Speaker 1: Surely she's vlogged the baptism. I think she wouldn't. I
Speaker 1: feel like she'd been keeping far away.
Speaker 2: From that on that.
Speaker 1: Firstly, I do remember in that video about her healing
Speaker 1: her cervix quote unquote, that she mentioned that her mother
Speaker 1: prayed over her, and again that's a big part of
Speaker 1: that Pentecostal church. Secondly, on your point, Amy, I feel
Speaker 1: like if she does share it, this will be a
Speaker 1: big turning point for her channel and a big move
Speaker 1: for her to become more in the American influencer space.
Speaker 2: Hey guys, long time no speak.
Speaker 1: Sammy Robinson has sparked rumors she's dating US influencer and
Speaker 1: model Jay Alvarez.
Speaker 2: Sophie. What's got everyone talking?
Speaker 1: Well, Sammy has been holidaying in the US for a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks now. She's spent a lot of time
Speaker 1: parting at Coachella. She's also lined up a couple of
Speaker 1: meetings for her business one mile over there. But what
Speaker 1: has caught her followers attention is and afternoon she's spent
Speaker 1: with US influencer Jay Alvarez. So, for some background, Jay
Speaker 1: is a model, actor, and influencer. He has eight point
Speaker 1: two million followers on Instagram and he's modeled for brands
Speaker 1: such as Calvin Klein, Amani and Bonds. He's also appeared
Speaker 1: on the covers of GQ, Style Russia and also Esquire
Speaker 1: in Greece. Now, he is a travel blogger, so they
Speaker 1: have a bit in common, and he is known for
Speaker 1: sharing videos of himself traveling to very over the top
Speaker 1: luxurious destinations. So, whilst in La Sammy posted a photo
Speaker 1: at the beach and in the photo, it showed two
Speaker 1: shirtless men walking into the waves and in writing that
Speaker 1: really blended into the background. She tagged Jay and his
Speaker 1: friend and I feel like, even though it was a
Speaker 1: very subtle tag, that she wanted certain people to be
Speaker 1: aware of this aka her ex partner Jordan Simmy.
Speaker 2: See.
Speaker 1: I don't think it really is a subtle tag, because
Speaker 1: a subtle tag would be a blind tag, and then
Speaker 1: he could share it if he wanted to on his page.
Speaker 2: However, this was quite deliberate.
Speaker 1: I mean, we have seen an influx of influencers like
Speaker 1: Olivia Rodgers and her new partner Morgan Waterhouse doing the
Speaker 1: thing where they share photos from the same location. People
Speaker 1: are putting two and two together, but this seems very deliberate.
Speaker 1: It seems like she wants people to be talking about
Speaker 1: her and Jay. I mean, it does help her influencing career,
Speaker 1: considering he's got eight million followers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe she was at least.
Speaker 1: Hoping for a couple of extra follows from his end
Speaker 1: if he reshared. I don't know if it's that. I
Speaker 1: think it's more of a fuck you to Jordan's No,
Speaker 1: she would be trying to break into the US market.
Speaker 1: Her being in close proximity to Jay would be a
Speaker 1: big deal, particularly if she's having business meetings in the US. Well,
Speaker 1: Jay does have history of dating models and content creators,
Speaker 1: so I think that Sammy is definitely up his alley
Speaker 1: and his type. So his first public relationship was with
Speaker 1: a model called Chase Miller. He then dated another model
Speaker 1: called Alexis Wren, and when things ended between the pair,
Speaker 1: Alexis went on a Twitter rant about him, saying She's
Speaker 1: learned self love, self growth, and self trust. She then
Speaker 1: wrote stay away from fuck boys and finished with.
Speaker 2: He's got a small dick too. I actually I do
Speaker 2: remember this. That's pretty horrible to say that.
Speaker 1: Jay also briefly dated YouTuber Tanner Mojo, who is a
Speaker 1: big deal. She has five million followers, and they met
Speaker 1: on an influencer trip in Greece. In twenty nineteen, Jay
Speaker 1: also dated an Italian born fashion blogger, and controversially, he
Speaker 1: posted a nude photo of himself and his girlfriend along
Speaker 1: with a caption about how he desired to bang her
Speaker 1: on every piece of furniture in his.
Speaker 2: House now look.
Speaker 1: This post, of course, received backlash, with followers saying that
Speaker 1: he was discuss and desperate for likes, and he responded
Speaker 1: saying I can't believe anyone got offended by this.
Speaker 2: Next time I'll post the video.
Speaker 1: Gee, he really does seem to be Sammy's type, Like,
Speaker 1: she doesn't have great taste in men.
Speaker 2: What about Nick?
Speaker 1: Well, wasn't he a bit of a flog as well?
Speaker 1: I like Nick? Yeah, but I mean, as you say,
Speaker 1: Sammy on recent times has not had the best taste.
Speaker 1: She seems to like a fuck boy, which is what
Speaker 1: her Extraordan Simmy was all about. But she's in the US, Like,
Speaker 1: so what he's a fuck boy? Like she's not looking
Speaker 1: for a boyfriend. Well, I think he might just be,
Speaker 1: as you say, Amy, a bit of a holiday fleeing,
Speaker 1: a bit of a you know, someone to make the
Speaker 1: ex jealous, someone to move on and have fun with.
Speaker 1: I do wonder if they met at Coachella or maybe
Speaker 1: on RAYA. He probably slid into a DM so that
Speaker 1: she was in the US. The weirdest thing is that
Speaker 1: they aren't actually following each other on Instagram, even though
Speaker 1: Sammy tagged him. I actually think that speaks volumes. The
Speaker 1: fact that they're not actually following each other. Yeah, why
Speaker 1: would they be hiding it if there's nothing going on?
Speaker 1: But she to tags and wanted not to follow them.
Speaker 2: That's real, folks. Did he share the photo? Nah, he didn't.
Speaker 1: Or maybe things have already gone south and there's been
Speaker 1: a mutual unfollow Yeah. Maybe. Well let's watch this space
Speaker 1: bo It's going.
Speaker 3: To be quiet there.
Speaker 4: Anyway, we only had two passengers booked into first class
Speaker 4: and the passengers in question have just canceled, which is
Speaker 4: a dreadful shame.
Speaker 2: Hi, Penny, did you get the message? Yeah, such a
Speaker 2: pity they're canceled.
Speaker 4: No, no, no, no no, The message about helping is out
Speaker 4: in economy piers Off.
Speaker 1: Karina Herbie has shared a harrowing first world problem to
Speaker 1: where one point two million followers. While returning home from
Speaker 1: Hawaii kate what happened? The Molana Bikini owner shared on
Speaker 1: her Instagram story how she and her partner Ryan were
Speaker 1: essentially kicked out of their first class seats due to
Speaker 1: an apparent mishap from the airline. So basically, it all
Speaker 1: started when Karina asked if she could be upgraded to
Speaker 1: a first class ticket and the airline said that yes,
Speaker 1: it is possible, but they'd have to wait a few
Speaker 1: hours to be able to confirm it because there were
Speaker 1: some passengers on hold, but they hadn't actually paid for
Speaker 1: their tickets yet, So basically, she's pulled to Madison Bully
Speaker 1: and has asked for a complimentary upgrade.
Speaker 2: I assume because.
Speaker 1: She's an influencer and it would look better for the
Speaker 1: airline to give it to someone who can promote the service.
Speaker 1: Well that's what I actually thought, But Carna said after
Speaker 1: waiting a few hours, she got confirmation that the seats
Speaker 1: were hers, and she said she paid in full and
Speaker 1: waited to board the flight, and Karina described how happy
Speaker 1: she felt and how less anxious she was that she
Speaker 1: was able to actually get a bed that laid down,
Speaker 1: and she was having such a great experience, and the
Speaker 1: staff was so lovely. They'd even put a Hawaiian flower
Speaker 1: behind her ear, and they were getting served drinks and
Speaker 1: that was all until the lady from the front desk
Speaker 1: emerged into the plane and she said, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry, but the original occupants of these seats
Speaker 1: have shown up last minute. You're going to have to
Speaker 1: move to a different economy seats. So it's quite funny
Speaker 1: because Carna said her partner Ryan was literally sipping on
Speaker 1: a drink as this all was unfolding, and then Karina
Speaker 1: shed a very un Glamora shot of the couple sitting
Speaker 1: in the middle row, and she explained that they had
Speaker 1: a crying baby next to them and also a man
Speaker 1: watching open heart surgery next to her for nine hours.
Speaker 1: She finished up by saying, God, I love paying for
Speaker 1: first class but not actually getting to use it. No
Speaker 1: refund yet. I guess that'll now be homework for later
Speaker 1: first world problems. I know, but you do need to
Speaker 1: see the humor in the fuckery. I get that this
Speaker 1: is definitely a first world problem, and my sympathy is
Speaker 1: very low. However, can you imagine actually paying for these tickets,
Speaker 1: you know, gearing yourself up that you're going to enjoy
Speaker 1: the next couple of hours on this flight, and then being.
Speaker 2: Pushed back to cattle class. I'd be like, so close,
Speaker 2: but yet so far.
Speaker 1: It reminds me of Seinfeld that episode where Jerry gets
Speaker 1: put into first class and a Lane is back in
Speaker 1: cattle class, and you're seeing the two different types of
Speaker 1: experience they're having.
Speaker 2: It's almost like that.
Speaker 1: God, if it was me, i'd be absolutely spewing. I
Speaker 1: did find it interesting, though, because of course Influenzer updates.
Speaker 1: Au shared the story on her page, and a travel
Speaker 1: agent actually commented on the post. Now, this person claimed
Speaker 1: they had fourteen years of experience in the industry, and
Speaker 1: they said that they've worked on global booking systems for
Speaker 1: airlines and confirmed that the series of events Karina shared
Speaker 1: wasn't actually possible. So they said, you can't book and
Speaker 1: pay for seats on hold, and if other people were
Speaker 1: holding their seats then they'd have to be ticketed and
Speaker 1: paid for before check in opens. So the travel agent said, otherwise,
Speaker 1: the airline would just cancel out the seats so other
Speaker 1: people could book them last minute. So what are you
Speaker 1: suggesting has happened here?
Speaker 2: I'm not following.
Speaker 1: So this travel agent is suggesting that the likely scenario
Speaker 1: was that Karina asked for a free upgrade as you
Speaker 1: touched on earlier, and the check in staff would have said, okay, well,
Speaker 1: we'll just wait until check in closes to see if
Speaker 1: there are any no shows. However, this decision was a
Speaker 1: bit of a knee jerk because it's backfired and the
Speaker 1: people that actually paid for the seats have arrived super
Speaker 1: late and turned up because I highly doubt they'd be able.
Speaker 2: To be kicked off.
Speaker 1: If they'd paid for it in full, the other person
Speaker 1: would have just been told you're two. That does sound
Speaker 1: like a more likely scenario, especially because for Karina, she
Speaker 1: was obviously trying to garner some sort of sympathy for
Speaker 1: her because oh, we paid for these tickets. If she said, oh,
Speaker 1: we got upgraded first class and I'm back here no ever, i'd.
Speaker 2: Been like, Aha, that's so funny.
Speaker 1: And she kind of mentioned it too many times, like oh,
Speaker 1: and I suppose we'll have to do our homework and
Speaker 1: get a refund later. I'm sorry. If I paid for
Speaker 1: those tickets in full, I wouldn't be going easily. I'd
Speaker 1: be like, I want a refund on the spot, I
Speaker 1: want to be taken off the flight, and I want
Speaker 1: to get a new first class ticket on a different flight.
Speaker 4: I have had enough with people trying to hold me
Speaker 4: accountable and people online accountable for the mistakes that we make.
Speaker 1: Sophie Kesha has gone head to head with an anonymous
Speaker 1: influencer tea account. The Pajama Mogul rejected claim she's trying
Speaker 1: to stay relevant whilst hosting down at cheating rumors. Before
Speaker 1: we get into what's gone down, so can you give
Speaker 1: us a little bit of a background on Sophie's dating history.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Well.
Speaker 1: In October twenty twenty two, who Sophie Keasia shocked her
Speaker 1: followers by announcing her split from fiance Maddi Garrick, which
Speaker 1: we have covered in a lot of detail in our episodes.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 1: Despite saying that she wouldn't talk further on the topic,
Speaker 1: Sophie spoke out several times and insinuated that cheating was
Speaker 1: allegedly involved on Maddie's end. Now, this month, a photo
Speaker 1: was leaked of Sophie kissing AFLW player Sophie vander Heevil,
Speaker 1: which was taken from the footballer's be real account prior.
Speaker 1: The Sophie's were actually first spotted in Adelaide at Sam
Speaker 1: Smith's concert back in January. Now, kay, can you tell
Speaker 1: us what happened next? So influencer gossip account influencer t
Speaker 1: Oz posted an unverified rumor that claimed Sophie vander Heevil
Speaker 1: cheated on her last girlfriend with Sophie Kasha. The account
Speaker 1: claimed their source was a friend of vander Heevel's ex girlfriend.
Speaker 1: The account went on to claim that vander Heevel doesn't
Speaker 1: want to go public with Kasia because she doesn't like
Speaker 1: the image it portrays, and that the AFLW player is
Speaker 1: still playing both both sides. So that's Sophie, Kaisha, and
Speaker 1: the ex girlfriend. The account finished up by alleging Kasha
Speaker 1: was manipulating Vanda Heevil into going public and question whether
Speaker 1: Kaisha's desire to go public was to stay relevant. Now,
Speaker 1: it's important to note that the allegations influencer os Te
Speaker 1: shared are unsubstantiated rumors that are yet to be proven
Speaker 1: to hold any factual basis. And I feel like this
Speaker 1: is a big problem with these anonymous accounts posting anonymous rumors.
Speaker 1: It really is the wild West at the moment, and
Speaker 1: I am feeling for influencers with the vast amounts of
Speaker 1: these anonymous pages that are popping up because they're just
Speaker 1: posting information that has not been verified by anyone, and
Speaker 1: a lot of the time is sent in by anonymous trolls.
Speaker 1: I know with us, we get a lot of tip
Speaker 1: hofs and you go and look at the person's page
Speaker 1: and it's a burner account. Now, Sophie hit back at
Speaker 1: the allegations, writing, I understand you are trying to bait
Speaker 1: me here, and I'm taking it. I also understand you
Speaker 1: have a job to do and report on TEA. I
Speaker 1: acknowledge this is your platform and job, and you have
Speaker 1: a right to do with that as you wish, but
Speaker 1: I asked for you to do so truthfully. She continued,
Speaker 1: I can handle scrutiny and false things written about me, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: I'm used to it, and I'll copy that, but please
Speaker 1: be mindful of causing her when you're impacting other people
Speaker 1: and their families with information that is not true. I
Speaker 1: am not trying to be relevant in this scene. Post
Speaker 1: like this are what is.
Speaker 2: Creating it now.
Speaker 1: The account responded, writing, at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: this is an influencer tee page. Take what you will
Speaker 1: from the information. No influencer is ever going to read
Speaker 1: this and say, yep, you caught me. Thanks for exposing
Speaker 1: my gossip. Sophie did take the bait, responding again, no,
Speaker 1: you're correct, No one would do that. But comments that
Speaker 1: I'm trying to stay relevant, when in fact, I've spent
Speaker 1: seven months since my painful breakup in October trying to
Speaker 1: do the complete opposite. I repeat, if you want me
Speaker 1: to be irrelevant, then stop posting about me. I'm sure
Speaker 1: it would make a lot of people very happy. Now,
Speaker 1: Sophie didn't stop there, even though she was getting ready
Speaker 1: for a wedding. She took to her Instagram story to
Speaker 1: respond to the post further. And it was really just
Speaker 1: because throughout this Instagram story she was talking while trying
Speaker 1: to curl her hair with a hair straightener. I just
Speaker 1: couldn't stop looking at her. Oh, I don't know what
Speaker 1: she was doing to her hair. It was mesmerizing, wasn't it?
Speaker 1: Because I am someone who watches a lot of tiktoks
Speaker 1: on how to do your hair, and it's always very
Speaker 1: difficult to curl your hair using a hair straighter.
Speaker 2: But she wasn't quite able to get a handle of it.
Speaker 1: Was she was very distracted. She wasn't having much luck there.
Speaker 1: So Sophie started off by revealing that people around her
Speaker 1: are going to be very annoyed that she is responding,
Speaker 1: but she's been dealing with people saying false things about
Speaker 1: her for ten years, and she went on to confirm
Speaker 1: again that the information was not true. Let's wrote to
Speaker 1: a bit of what she said.
Speaker 4: When false things are written about other people in my life,
Speaker 4: whether that be family, friends, associates, just please be careful
Speaker 4: like these are real people with jobs and families and
Speaker 4: nanas who read things that are not true, and it's
Speaker 4: just not fair, and.
Speaker 1: Went on to say that since her breakup with Maddi Garrick,
Speaker 1: she's made a conscious effort to keep things private and
Speaker 1: is doing the complete opposite of trying to stay relevant.
Speaker 1: She said, I'm here to stay relevant with my work
Speaker 1: and my job and community and my businesses because that's
Speaker 1: my income. That's how I, as a single mother, raised
Speaker 1: my children. Now, at the end of the three and
Speaker 1: a half minute conversation, Sophie admitted to making mistakes in
Speaker 1: the past. Let's throw to what she said.
Speaker 4: I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I
Speaker 4: am well aware of the fact that I built this
Speaker 4: whole thing of being very public. I am well aware
Speaker 4: of that, and I am also well aware of the
Speaker 4: fact it sounds like the biggest contradiction and hypocritical of
Speaker 4: me to say that I am my private life that
Speaker 4: people think they know is only relevant because of pages
Speaker 4: that talk about it.
Speaker 3: There are so.
Speaker 4: Many things that are happening in the back of my
Speaker 4: private life that you'd have no idea. Okay, I don't
Speaker 4: talk about my private life anymore, and it's only relevant
Speaker 4: because people speak about it. That's not me. Absolutely No,
Speaker 4: the responses to this, they're going to say, oh, that's a.
Speaker 2: Bit rich coming from her. You know, she shared every
Speaker 2: bit of.
Speaker 4: Her life and she wrote a book and yeah, I did,
Speaker 4: and there's a lot of that I regret, and there's
Speaker 4: a lot of processes I've been going through realizing that
Speaker 4: I made.
Speaker 2: Some bad decisions.
Speaker 4: And I think as humans we need to be able
Speaker 4: to say that I have made some questionable decisions for sure,
Speaker 4: and there's certainly things absolutely I look back at and
Speaker 4: regret and hence why I don't do it anymore. So
Speaker 4: please be mindful of all this tea and this goths
Speaker 4: that you get sent in. It can be Joe blogs
Speaker 4: on the top of the hill going oh my god,
Speaker 4: this is happening. There's no substance to it, and it's
Speaker 4: not fair to implicate other people.
Speaker 1: Now, I feel like there's a lot to unpack there,
Speaker 1: and I want to start by talking about Sophie asking
Speaker 1: for privacy. I mean, she said it her. It is
Speaker 1: rather hypocritical to ask for privacy when she has based
Speaker 1: her career as an influencer sharing her life. Not to
Speaker 1: mention the fact that she released a book about her life. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: I feel like you can't have your cake and eat
Speaker 1: it too. You can't be living the high life of
Speaker 1: an influencer without sharing your life. And I'm sure there
Speaker 1: were people that she spoke about in her book not
Speaker 1: so favorably, that have family and friends and jobs and
Speaker 1: Nana's as she said in her statement, that might read
Speaker 1: that stuff and not like it. Well. Also, she's bringing
Speaker 1: out a second book. I mean, I understand that the
Speaker 1: second book is covering other people's experiences, but still it's
Speaker 1: piggybacking off her own experience. Oh, I'm very interested to
Speaker 1: see if Sophie's words match up with her actions when
Speaker 1: she does release the book on June sixth. I mean,
Speaker 1: the first time she released her book, she went on
Speaker 1: this big PR circuit and was on podcast talking about
Speaker 1: her private life and the private life of the people
Speaker 1: that she's dating. So it does seem very hypocritical, and
Speaker 1: I suppose her book is a big example of her
Speaker 1: making money off talking about her private life as well
Speaker 1: as the lives of others. She did seem rattled by
Speaker 1: all of this, though, she had a distinct red nerve
Speaker 1: rash up her neck, and that made me I couldn't
Speaker 1: help but feel a little bit sorry for her, purely
Speaker 1: because I think that some of these anonymous pages have
Speaker 1: taken it too far. I mean, I don't think that
Speaker 1: she has a leg to stand on because she is
Speaker 1: being incredibly hypocritical talking, you know, calling for privacy when
Speaker 1: she puts so much of her life out there. On
Speaker 1: the other hand, I don't think that people should be
Speaker 1: allowed to post pure speculation and lies.
Speaker 2: About your life.
Speaker 1: Oh, I totally agree that page has gone way too far.
Speaker 1: After watching her story, though, I can tell that she
Speaker 1: does have deep regret about being so open about her
Speaker 1: private life, and it would be hard not to, particularly
Speaker 1: with everything that's gone down in the last couple of
Speaker 1: months with her breakup. I was very surprised to hear
Speaker 1: her acknowledge that there was fall out from her book.
Speaker 1: We've never heard her actually address that fall out before. Well,
Speaker 1: A lot of people were speculating that there would be
Speaker 1: fallout because she spoke about Maddie in not the best way,
Speaker 1: because it was clear that Maddie was some backup plan.
Speaker 1: Because anytime that Alana, the pro soccer player that Sophie
Speaker 1: was dating, anytime that she dumped her, She rushed back
Speaker 1: to Day and then dumped Mattie the second she got
Speaker 1: a whiff of Alana. Well, Sophie did speak about how
Speaker 1: Maddie was pretty upset by the whole thing and it
Speaker 1: being in the book. I don't think Maddie had even
Speaker 1: read the book before it got released by the sounds
Speaker 1: of it. And call me jaded, but does anyone think
Speaker 1: that Sophie responding to these comments is a little bit calculated?
Speaker 1: I kind of feel like Influenza tee Oz had a
Speaker 1: bit of a point when it comes to Sophie staying
Speaker 1: relevant because she's got a book launch coming up, She's
Speaker 1: also rebranding her makeup company. She needs eyeballs to be
Speaker 1: on her, she needs people talking about her. What's funny
Speaker 1: you say that, because before she acknowledged these rumors on
Speaker 1: her Instagram story, she was getting ready for a wedding
Speaker 1: and she was showing off a lot of the Asuru
Speaker 1: products that are part of her business.
Speaker 2: So maybe it was a bit calculated.
Speaker 1: I am super interested, as I was saying before, to
Speaker 1: hear what she does do for her book promo, because
Speaker 1: the last time, as you said, she was sharing all
Speaker 1: these details about her quote toxic relationship with Alana Kennedy,
Speaker 1: and everyone is super interested to hear more about the
Speaker 1: fallout from her breakup with Maddie. And while she has
Speaker 1: slipped in a few nuggets here and there, everyone is
Speaker 1: waiting for her to dish all the details. And I
Speaker 1: think that that may be coming when she does launch
Speaker 1: this second book, and that's the reason why she has
Speaker 1: been staying so tight lip or she has a podcast
Speaker 1: with Mama Mia, and I feel like Mia Friedman's probably
Speaker 1: the first person that she will talk to definitely about
Speaker 1: her breakup with Maddie. Now, talking about these anonymous pages,
Speaker 1: I do think that they really are playing with fire
Speaker 1: because listeners will know that this podcast, we've had a
Speaker 1: few run ins with Sophie Keisher. I don't feel like
Speaker 1: we're her biggest fan here. But I really do think
Speaker 1: that these anonymous influencer pages are playing with fire.
Speaker 2: And it's clear that they are trying to.
Speaker 1: Attract followers with shock value, but the reality is that
Speaker 1: they are going to also be acting a lot of
Speaker 1: legal threats from influencers. Well, I do wonder if influencer
Speaker 1: te Oz actually did cop a legal letter, as they
Speaker 1: ended up deleting the posts and other content relating to Sophie,
Speaker 1: and this was off the back of Sophie responding to
Speaker 1: commentary on the account about her sending legal letters. So
Speaker 1: Sophie wrote to a commenter, the fake legal letter narrative
Speaker 1: is so tiring. I have issued two legal letters in
Speaker 1: my entire life from my Melbourne based lawyer and they
Speaker 1: were highly effective in stopping the action occurring. We have
Speaker 1: it all on file, including their responses. I am asking
Speaker 1: you to please stop. This is just such a fascinating topic,
Speaker 1: particularly the rise in these anonymous counts and the power.
Speaker 2: That they are yielding here.
Speaker 1: We actually do speak to Amber from Influencer Updates on
Speaker 1: our subscriber episode on Wednesday about this topic because I
Speaker 1: find it fascinating because she is one of the only
Speaker 1: pages that actually puts their face and name to the account,
Speaker 1: and she also does go with a very different approach
Speaker 1: because she loves influencer culture and she always is a
Speaker 1: lot kinder than some of these anonymous pages. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: so keen to share that interview. It is Amber's first
Speaker 1: ever interview on a podcast, so the first time you
Speaker 1: can hear from Amber directly about her experiences with influencer updates.
Speaker 1: AU Yeah, I can't wait for that one now. If
Speaker 1: you do want to subscribe, we have all of the
Speaker 1: details in our show notes, so you can subscribe on
Speaker 1: Apple or Patreon. I think that is all we have
Speaker 1: time for. Thank you so much for joining us. This
Speaker 1: episode was recorded on the traditional land of the Ghana
Speaker 1: people of the Adelaide Planes.
Speaker 2: We pay respect to Elder's past and present.
Speaker 1: And if you have enjoyed today's show, please make sure
Speaker 1: you are subscribed on Apple Podcasts and also Spotify and
Speaker 1: leave us a review. I have been loving the reviews lately.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for the support. Also, I love
Speaker 1: when people share photos of how they're listening to the podcast,
Speaker 1: so if you want to tag us and show how
Speaker 1: you listen to it, if it's on your walk, or
Speaker 1: you're making dinner, or you're cleaning the house. And also
Speaker 1: if anyone noticed that my voice disappeared.
Speaker 2: We haven't had a big fight. I just got called
Speaker 2: away for something for work.
Speaker 1: There's a pr disaster going on in the background, but
Speaker 1: we got through it.
Speaker 2: So well done.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.