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Leave Abbie Chatfield Alone · Outspoken the Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the
0:06
Speaker 1: hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm
0:10
Speaker 1: Kate Torber. I'm Amy Torber. And I'm Sophie Torber. And
0:13
Speaker 1: coming up on today's show, rumours are swirling that the
0:16
Speaker 1: Hembrough Sisters supplements brand is closing down. Abby Chatfield's tearful
0:21
Speaker 1: plea to the media and Victoria Devine documents her return
0:26
Speaker 1: to Botox. But first... Chloe Zep has all but confirmed
0:30
Speaker 1: her breakup with Mitch Orville. Earlier this week, she posed
0:33
Speaker 1: for a mirror selfie with her ringless left hand deliberately
0:37
Speaker 1: on display. If that wasn't enough, she also shared an
0:41
Speaker 1: unprecedented video of her singing. Yeah, this was really surprising
0:45
Speaker 1: because over the last six or seven years, there's been
0:47
Speaker 1: whispers that she has this amazing singing voice. Back in 2019,
0:51
Speaker 1: there was actually speculation that she used to sing the
0:53
Speaker 1: theme song of her YouTube channel. It was actually someone
0:56
Speaker 1: else that sings it. And she's always really shied away
0:59
Speaker 1: from showing off her voice online. It was always Mitch
1:01
Speaker 1: who would post these random snippets of her singing, but
1:04
Speaker 1: this time it was Chloe herself posting it. Let's throw
1:07
Speaker 1: to some of her singing. I found a love that
1:14
Speaker 1: would chase after me And every.
1:17
Speaker 2: Heartache that it would be Feels every break in this
1:23
Speaker 2: space in between How it.
1:25
Speaker 1: Loves me Why do I always find it so awkward
1:31
Speaker 1: when people post these phone videos of themselves singing and
1:34
Speaker 1: they're almost acting like the camera isn't there, but they're
1:36
Speaker 1: like really going for it? It's a bit like content
1:39
Speaker 1: creator Millie Ford. She posts all of those hilarious comedy videos. Recently,
1:43
Speaker 1: she's been posting more of herself singing. And I think
1:45
Speaker 1: a few years ago, she even dropped this single. But
1:48
Speaker 1: it's so weird because I'm used to going to her
1:50
Speaker 1: page to see comedy content. And then I'm like, wait,
1:52
Speaker 1: is this taking the piss or is this actually her
1:54
Speaker 1: legitimately singing? like she's good as well. Yeah, I totally
1:58
Speaker 1: get what you mean when you're not expecting it from someone.
2:00
Speaker 1: And Chloe Zep has been pretty quiet on social media.
2:03
Speaker 1: I mean, the start of this year, we spoke about
2:05
Speaker 1: how she's having a bit of a trad wife resurgence,
2:08
Speaker 1: but she hasn't seemed very comfortable to be in front
2:11
Speaker 1: of the camera, but she held herself together really well
2:13
Speaker 1: to perform this song. It felt like she purposely put
2:16
Speaker 1: this out to make a statement. So The song in
2:18
Speaker 1: question is a worship song called Founder Love by Seven
2:22
Speaker 1: Hills Worship. And the song is about the discovery of
2:25
Speaker 1: God's consistent love. particularly for those feeling broken, lost, or
2:30
Speaker 1: in a challenging season. So it seems like it sums
2:33
Speaker 1: up where Chloe Zep is now.
2:34
Speaker 3: Is this the.
2:35
Speaker 1: Modern day Pinterest breakup quote? Are we now going to
2:37
Speaker 1: see influencers alluding that something's going on by them breaking
2:41
Speaker 1: into song? I mean, I hope so because it's a
2:42
Speaker 1: lot more entertaining, particularly if they have got good voices.
2:45
Speaker 1: I mean, it rivals miming in your car to a song,
2:48
Speaker 1: I think. That is the modern day Pinterest quote to me.
2:51
Speaker 1: As for Mitch, he is posting as normal. He's sharing
2:54
Speaker 1: about his adventures with his two sons at the moment.
2:57
Speaker 1: He hasn't really thrown any shade Chloe's way.
2:59
Speaker 3: As women, gut health is so important.
3:03
Speaker 2: So that's why having a gut health drink in our
3:06
Speaker 2: selfish range was literally so important to us.
3:10
Speaker 1: Rumors are swelling that the Hembrough Sisters supplement brand is
3:13
Speaker 1: closing down. It was only a year ago that the
3:16
Speaker 1: social media moguls launched Selfish Supps. However, there are some
3:20
Speaker 1: troubling signs emerging already. And what adds even more fuel
3:24
Speaker 1: to this fire is the latest speculation comes fairly fresh
3:28
Speaker 1: off the back of Tammy Hembrough shutting down her activewear label, Sasky.
3:32
Speaker 1: So Tammy announced the closure to her followers in December
3:35
Speaker 1: last year, but she didn't give a single reason as
3:38
Speaker 1: to why it was closing. Shortly after that, a photo
3:42
Speaker 1: of an eviction notice on the front of Sasky's collection
3:45
Speaker 1: office went viral. At the time, Tammy denied she owed rent.
3:49
Speaker 1: I actually don't know how this activewear brand has been
3:53
Speaker 1: operating for so long, I have never come across anyone
3:56
Speaker 1: in the wild wearing it. Yeah, I just assumed maybe
3:59
Speaker 1: it was popular in Queensland or maybe in the US
4:02
Speaker 1: because Tammy has a big following over there, but clearly
4:06
Speaker 1: it wasn't that popular. Now it's interesting because some eagle-eyed
4:09
Speaker 1: followers think they've spotted some signs that Selfish Supps is
4:12
Speaker 1: following a similar demise as Sasky. So just like what
4:16
Speaker 1: happened with Sasky, Selfish Supps' account has suddenly stopped posting content.
4:21
Speaker 1: despite previously posting almost daily. So the last time the
4:25
Speaker 1: account posted was on the 11th of December. Now that
4:27
Speaker 1: is very fishy. Considering the brand celebrated its first birthday
4:32
Speaker 1: on the 22nd of April, which also happens to be
4:35
Speaker 1: one of the co-founders, Tammy Hembrough's birthday, you would think
4:38
Speaker 1: that they would have had some type of celebratory campaign shared.
4:42
Speaker 1: or at the very least a post signifying that they
4:45
Speaker 1: had turned one. I mean, if that wasn't a big
4:47
Speaker 1: enough red flag, Tammy and Emily have both also recently
4:51
Speaker 1: removed Selfish Supps from their bios. However, it is now
4:55
Speaker 1: back in Tammy's bio since fans pointed out online that
4:58
Speaker 1: it was missing. It's sort of like when people would
5:00
Speaker 1: call out the fact that she had unfollowed her husband
5:03
Speaker 1: and then she was back following him again. I just
5:05
Speaker 1: don't get why she continuously does stuff like that. It's
5:08
Speaker 1: just like these little Easter eggs for people to find.
5:10
Speaker 1: And it's like, well, do you want people to find
5:12
Speaker 1: out this information until you put something out publicly? I
5:15
Speaker 1: can't say I'm shocked that this brand potentially might be
5:18
Speaker 1: closing down because who in their right mind thought it
5:21
Speaker 1: was a good idea to call this supplement brand selfish
5:23
Speaker 1: in the first place? Like I wouldn't want to walk
5:25
Speaker 1: in and be like, yes, I'll have them selfish supplement
5:27
Speaker 1: because I'm just so vain and selfish. That's how the
5:30
Speaker 1: branding came across to me. Also, not to mention the
5:33
Speaker 1: fact that all of the hats they were passing out
5:35
Speaker 1: looked a bit like MAGA hats because the colors were
5:38
Speaker 1: like red and white. It's also a very oversaturated market.
5:42
Speaker 1: I know that Tammy has made a name for herself
5:45
Speaker 1: in the fitness space. But I think that there are
5:47
Speaker 1: a couple of question marks developing over how healthy her
5:50
Speaker 1: lifestyle actually is. And I think what's made this whole
5:54
Speaker 1: speculation even more interesting is the structure of this business,
5:57
Speaker 1: because from the get go, it was promoted as Tammy,
6:01
Speaker 1: Emily and Amy Hembrough's brand. So they are the faces
6:04
Speaker 1: of the business and they're listed as the founders. However,
6:08
Speaker 1: it turns out that there is actually a secret joint partner.
6:11
Speaker 1: So after doing some digging, I discovered that Selfish Supps
6:14
Speaker 1: isn't just run by the Hembrough's. So on the back
6:17
Speaker 1: of its packaging, it lists an entity called CBG times
6:21
Speaker 1: Hem Ventures. Now, as the name suggests, Hem Ventures represents
6:25
Speaker 1: the Hembrough sisters, while CBG appears to be represented by
6:29
Speaker 1: a key figure behind one of Australia's biggest supplement brands.
6:32
Speaker 1: So his name is Kieran Leahy, and he is the
6:35
Speaker 1: CEO of supplement brand Vita Glow that was founded by
6:39
Speaker 1: his wife, Anna. Now, he is also the CEO of
6:42
Speaker 1: a company called Type B, as well as the co-founder
6:45
Speaker 1: of Lumina Life Science. And it's interesting because it seems
6:48
Speaker 1: like the Hembrows and Kieran have gone out of their
6:51
Speaker 1: way to conceal the partnership, but his name is actually
6:53
Speaker 1: listed as the director and a person of significant control
6:57
Speaker 1: on corporate records linked to selfish supps. I mean, it
7:00
Speaker 1: makes sense because when Selfish Supps first launched, it was
7:04
Speaker 1: rolled out nationally in Chemist Warehouse from day dot. I mean,
7:07
Speaker 1: you need to have connections for that sort of thing
7:09
Speaker 1: to happen. Yeah. I mean, I know the Hembros are
7:11
Speaker 1: big names in the social media space, but this sort
7:14
Speaker 1: of luxury is only usually afforded to a company with
7:17
Speaker 1: a pre-existing commercial partnership. I mean, I remember at the
7:19
Speaker 1: time people were like, hang on, is this brand owned
7:21
Speaker 1: by Chemist Warehouse? But obviously it's not. This connection perfectly
7:25
Speaker 1: explains why this happened. Not to mention why their supplement
7:29
Speaker 1: formulations are standardized because a lot of people have been
7:31
Speaker 1: talking about the ingredients in them and they are a
7:34
Speaker 1: standardized formalization. I also thought their marketing campaign was rolled
7:38
Speaker 1: out pretty professionally. I mean, I know you guys joked about,
7:42
Speaker 1: I mean, I know you guys said that you didn't
7:43
Speaker 1: like the name of the brand and also we mentioned
7:45
Speaker 1: the MAGA hats, but other than that, they have been
7:48
Speaker 1: very spot on with their promotion. They've been posting consistently
7:51
Speaker 1: on social media. They've had a few pop-ups here and there.
7:54
Speaker 1: They've also had consistent blogging on their website, which to
7:57
Speaker 1: me shows that they're getting into SEO. That blogging actually
8:00
Speaker 1: stopped in January as well. To me, it's apparent that
8:03
Speaker 1: this business is slowly closing down. Clearly the higher ups
8:07
Speaker 1: have seen that it's not lucrative and it's not worth
8:10
Speaker 1: continuing with it. So they've pulled the money on all
8:13
Speaker 1: of the marketing and the social media. They don't want
8:15
Speaker 1: to invest any more in it. And potentially this is
8:18
Speaker 1: why Emily and Tammy have remove Selfish Supps from their
8:22
Speaker 1: bio because they're pissed off that the company is pulling
8:25
Speaker 1: the pin on it and saying, no, that's it. I mean,
8:27
Speaker 1: I'm not actually sure that they're pulling the pin necessarily
8:30
Speaker 1: because this fresh information about the new director makes a
8:34
Speaker 1: sudden shutdown a bit less likely considering that there is
8:37
Speaker 1: someone there that has serious business expertise behind it. In
8:40
Speaker 1: saying that though, operators like Kieran are very strategic and
8:44
Speaker 1: they pivot fast. So potentially it could be a case
8:47
Speaker 1: of cutting an underperforming brand or even maybe rebranding it
8:51
Speaker 1: and repositioning it quickly. So we could potentially see some
8:55
Speaker 1: other influences popping up as the faces of Selfish Supps.
8:59
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think that would be the case.
9:00
Speaker 1: I think that they would either try and relaunch it
9:03
Speaker 1: with reformulated products or try and reposition themselves in the market.
9:08
Speaker 1: Another interesting thing people have pointed out is the fact
9:10
Speaker 1: that Selfish Supps are currently half price and they always
9:13
Speaker 1: seem to be on sale at Chemist Warehouse. I'm also
9:16
Speaker 1: a little bit skeptical about that considering it's very common
9:19
Speaker 1: with chemist's warehouses pricing behavior. Like they always have things
9:22
Speaker 1: half price. I think if stock starts disappearing from the shelves,
9:27
Speaker 1: we'll know it is definitely shutting down. I just wonder
9:30
Speaker 1: how invested all of the Hembrough sisters are in Selfish
9:33
Speaker 1: Supps because when the brand first launched, they were doing
9:36
Speaker 1: a tour around some of the cities and Tammy would
9:39
Speaker 1: often not be in attendance or she'd come later. It
9:42
Speaker 1: seemed quite clear that she didn't really care about it
9:44
Speaker 1: and also she there wasn't much fanfare. Like I think
9:47
Speaker 1: people were expecting hordes of their followers to turn up.
9:50
Speaker 1: But when you saw photos of it, there was just
9:52
Speaker 1: like a handful of people. I think this is what
9:54
Speaker 1: makes this whole thing so awkward because you've got Sasky
9:57
Speaker 1: shutting down because obviously it wasn't generating enough sales. Now
10:01
Speaker 1: only a year into the supplement brand, it seems like
10:05
Speaker 1: it may be shutting down again because there's not that
10:07
Speaker 1: public support, which is so interesting when you consider that
10:11
Speaker 1: Tammy Hembrough has 17 million followers on Instagram. Her sisters
10:15
Speaker 1: also have a lot of followers. Is it a case
10:17
Speaker 1: that they're not as influential as we thought? Or is
10:21
Speaker 1: this a trend for influencer brands? Are people just not
10:24
Speaker 1: interested in buying influencer brands anymore? As someone who follows
10:27
Speaker 1: Tammy Hembrough, I'm following her for the drama. I'm not
10:31
Speaker 1: following her to purchase her clothes, to buy supplements with
10:34
Speaker 1: her name on it. And I think a lot of
10:36
Speaker 1: people are in the same boat. We're here for the drama.
10:38
Speaker 1: we're not here to buy. I mean, I'm in that
10:40
Speaker 1: same boat, but I do think that this plays into
10:42
Speaker 1: a larger trend that people no longer want to support
10:45
Speaker 1: influencer brands. They're not interested in them. I mean, as
10:48
Speaker 1: you said, Sophie, earlier, the supplement space is so oversaturated.
10:51
Speaker 1: You've got the beauty space that is oversaturated and those
10:55
Speaker 1: are usually the markets that influencers tap into. And I
10:58
Speaker 1: think they're just competing against too many people because the
11:00
Speaker 1: influencer market is also oversaturated. I think that we're also
11:04
Speaker 1: just savvy consumers now. We can tell when influencers have
11:09
Speaker 1: just slapped their name on a brand that they haven't
11:11
Speaker 1: really had much to do with. In saying all of that,
11:13
Speaker 1: there are actually influencer brands doing really well. Think Tony
11:17
Speaker 1: May by Laura Byrne, One Mile by Sammy Robinson, Fate
11:21
Speaker 1: by Britt Saunders. And the reason they're doing well is
11:23
Speaker 1: because they stand alone. They don't need the influencers backing.
11:27
Speaker 1: And that's because they've actually been built up from the ground.
11:30
Speaker 1: They haven't just slapped their name on it. I mean,
11:33
Speaker 1: Tony May was created by Laura Byrne before she had
11:35
Speaker 1: a following from The Bachelor. She was a jewelry maker.
11:38
Speaker 1: You can tell it's very authentic to her. Same with Fate,
11:41
Speaker 1: same with One Mile. Yeah, they don't rely on that
11:44
Speaker 1: influencer being in every ad campaign. Think about One Mile.
11:47
Speaker 1: It's not like Sammy releases every outfit and she's in it.
11:51
Speaker 1: They have models. You don't even really think of it
11:53
Speaker 1: being Sammy Robinson's brand. Don't you think the Australian Financial
11:57
Speaker 1: Review's Young Rich list is going to be very interesting
11:59
Speaker 1: this year? Because Tammy Hembrough has always ranked very highly.
12:03
Speaker 1: I think she's got an estimated wealth of around $ 50 million. However,
12:07
Speaker 1: if Selfish Supps shuts down and you've got Sasky shut down,
12:12
Speaker 1: What does that do to her projected earnings? I wonder
12:14
Speaker 1: what financial documents the influencer or their manager actually has
12:17
Speaker 1: to pass over to the AFR to prove their standing.
12:21
Speaker 1: Because I remember hearing PR specialist Sam Mangan talking about
12:25
Speaker 1: it and he was questioning the validity of some of
12:28
Speaker 1: these rich lists because he's like, you can just say, oh,
12:31
Speaker 1: I've earned X amount. Like you don't actually have to
12:33
Speaker 1: prove anything.
12:34
Speaker 3: It's not like you're going to give a screenshot of
12:36
Speaker 3: your bank account, are you?
12:37
Speaker 1: And it's obviously incredibly advantageous for the influencer to position
12:41
Speaker 1: themselves with that amount of money because then you have
12:44
Speaker 1: people wanting to invest in their business. It comes with
12:47
Speaker 1: a whole bunch of benefits.
12:51
Speaker 2: It's exhausting when in the last week I've just done
12:54
Speaker 2: some breakfast radio and I went to the Devil Wears
12:56
Speaker 2: Prada premiere.
12:58
Speaker 1: Abby Chatfield has issued a tearful plea to the media,
13:02
Speaker 1: begging them to leave her alone. The desperate appeal comes
13:05
Speaker 1: after the Daily Telegraph ran with a headline claiming the
13:09
Speaker 1: ARN board didn't back her for the permanent Kiss FM role.
13:13
Speaker 1: It's been a big couple of weeks for Abby. For
13:15
Speaker 1: the last fortnight, she's been filling in as a temporary
13:18
Speaker 1: host on the defunct Kyle and Jackie O show. And
13:20
Speaker 1: during that time, she was forced to publicly apologize to
13:23
Speaker 1: Harrison Boone after he launched a defamation lawsuit against her.
13:28
Speaker 1: So For those who haven't seen it, the former maths
13:30
Speaker 1: contestant claimed the podcaster spread constant lies and slander about
13:34
Speaker 1: him that damaged his reputation and livelihood. Now, the defamation
13:39
Speaker 1: case has been in the works since October last year.
13:42
Speaker 1: He actually launched his own claims fresh off the back
13:46
Speaker 1: of Abby being forced to pay her former high school
13:49
Speaker 1: friend $ 79, 000. after he successfully sued her for defamation. Well,
13:54
Speaker 1: he raised the funds through a GoFundMe account. So this
13:57
Speaker 1: was something that the public were getting on board with.
14:00
Speaker 1: Doesn't it seem like once someone has success in suing
14:03
Speaker 1: someone for defamation, then all the sharks come out and
14:06
Speaker 1: everyone wants to get a piece of the pie? Well,
14:08
Speaker 1: that's exactly what it seems like here. And it appears
14:11
Speaker 1: the pair have come to a resolution during mediation. So
14:14
Speaker 1: while it's unclear whether Abby had to pay Harrison anything,
14:18
Speaker 1: it's obvious she was forced to publicly apologize. And on Wednesday,
14:21
Speaker 1: Abby shared a statement to her Instagram story that read,
14:25
Speaker 1: on the 26th of April, 2025, I published on my
14:28
Speaker 1: Instagram page, certain fake and defamatory statements about Harrison Boone.
14:33
Speaker 1: I unreservedly withdraw those comments and apologize to you for
14:36
Speaker 1: the harm, hurt and distress caused to him and his
14:40
Speaker 1: family by reason of the publication of these fake statements. Now,
14:43
Speaker 1: the post in question related to Abby labelling Harrison a
14:47
Speaker 1: sexist and alt-right freak who supports fascism and stands by
14:51
Speaker 1: Nazi ideology. It is important to point out that we
14:54
Speaker 1: are not suggesting any of these allegations are true. Now,
14:58
Speaker 1: a few days later, the Daily Telegraph ran with the headline,
15:02
Speaker 1: ARN board will not back Abby Chatfield for permanent Kiss
15:06
Speaker 1: FM role. The publication claimed the ARN board did not
15:10
Speaker 1: want to give her the permanent position. The Daily Telegraph
15:13
Speaker 1: reported it was told that management under CEO Michael Stevenson
15:17
Speaker 1: operates with editorial freedom, but the board is not supportive
15:21
Speaker 1: of Chatfield on a full-time basis. The article went on
15:24
Speaker 1: to say that the network will reportedly continue to use
15:28
Speaker 1: temporary presenters while it considers longer-term talent arrangements for its
15:32
Speaker 1: breakfast program. Now, after all of that, the journalist Peter
15:36
Speaker 1: Jenkins then went on to imply that ARN didn't back
15:39
Speaker 1: Abby because of the recent controversies that she's been involved in. Now,
15:44
Speaker 1: the journalist Peter Jenkins then went on to imply that
15:47
Speaker 1: ARN didn't back Abby because of the recent controversies that
15:51
Speaker 1: she's been involved in. When Kyle was still trying to
15:53
Speaker 1: fight for his job, I actually said to a friend,
15:56
Speaker 1: how sensational would a radio show With Kyle Sanderlands and
15:59
Speaker 1: Abby Chatfield B, like everyone has said previously, oh, you know,
16:03
Speaker 1: Jackie needs to hold him to higher standards. Can you
16:05
Speaker 1: imagine these two discussing topics? I don't think she'd want
16:08
Speaker 1: to align herself with someone like Kyle Sanderlands. She wouldn't,
16:11
Speaker 1: but she could actually do a really good job sticking
16:14
Speaker 1: it to him. I mean, I would definitely listen to that. Now,
16:17
Speaker 1: off the back of this article, in a now deleted video,
16:21
Speaker 1: Abby told the media that they had won and begged
16:24
Speaker 1: them to stop. Let's take a listen to some more
16:26
Speaker 1: of what she said.
16:28
Speaker 2: I'm really tired. I'm really exhausted. I am completely broken
16:35
Speaker 2: and I just want to tell the media that you
16:38
Speaker 2: have won. So you can stop now. You've won. Are
16:44
Speaker 2: you happy? I don't know how much one person is
16:51
Speaker 2: supposed to take of this, but in the past year,
16:58
Speaker 2: The media have gotten particularly vicious and relentless towards me,
17:03
Speaker 2: and of course they've always been this way, particularly trash
17:06
Speaker 2: news outlets. But it's becoming increasingly clear that even previously
17:11
Speaker 2: reputable sources are beginning to attempt to profit off the
17:20
Speaker 2: cash cow that the trash media outlets have created, that is,
17:26
Speaker 2: Abby Chatfield. And what I mean by that is that continuous,
17:33
Speaker 2: what I would call, in my opinion, unfair reporting and
17:38
Speaker 2: twisting of facts and exaggeration of facts and use of
17:43
Speaker 2: photos of me in articles that have nothing to do
17:46
Speaker 2: with me, attaching my face and my image to controversies
17:53
Speaker 2: that don't exist or don't involve me or have been exaggerated.
17:58
Speaker 2: That gets them clicks. And then anything that I do
18:03
Speaker 2: from then on, they've created this caricature of me. And
18:07
Speaker 2: then that caricature gets clicks. Even if I'm walking down
18:10
Speaker 2: the street, they can twist it.
18:13
Speaker 1: That was really difficult to listen to. You can see
18:16
Speaker 1: how broken she is in that clip. And when she
18:19
Speaker 1: went on to address the article about ARN specifically, she
18:23
Speaker 1: actually started tearing up, but then stopped herself. And she
18:27
Speaker 1: explained that she had now begun policing her own facial
18:30
Speaker 1: expressions because she doesn't want the media to use photos
18:34
Speaker 1: of her crying to then use next to irrelevant articles
18:38
Speaker 1: about her. I have noticed this every time I go
18:41
Speaker 1: into the Daily Mail, there is some freeze frame shot
18:44
Speaker 1: of Abby Chatfield mid-sentence screaming, looking angry. I feel so
18:50
Speaker 1: sorry for her. I actually like when I saw this video,
18:53
Speaker 1: I was deeply concerned for her. And I just was like,
18:56
Speaker 1: can these fuckers just leave her alone? I get it
18:59
Speaker 1: that she obviously gets clicks, but it's going too far.
19:03
Speaker 1: I mean, she has spoken about her mental state previously.
19:07
Speaker 1: It's clear she's struggling and people continue to be vile
19:11
Speaker 1: to her. I saw one of those comedians who's been
19:13
Speaker 1: doing impressions of her, pretty poor impressions, I must say.
19:16
Speaker 1: She recently shared a video of her taking the piss
19:18
Speaker 1: out of this. I was like, What is wrong with society?
19:21
Speaker 1: Like she has said, please, can you just stop? I mean, Amy,
19:24
Speaker 1: as you pointed out, it is all about clicks and
19:26
Speaker 1: that's exactly what Abby said. So she pointed out that
19:29
Speaker 1: the media was already trying to create controversy out of
19:33
Speaker 1: nothing the second that she got hired in this temporary
19:36
Speaker 1: role because she showed a screenshot of this article that
19:39
Speaker 1: first went out with the headline that read, Abby Chatfield's
19:42
Speaker 1: pushed to be the next Jackie O. Now that article
19:45
Speaker 1: was accompanied by this photo of her sticking out her
19:47
Speaker 1: tongue And it was posted on social media. I remember
19:50
Speaker 1: seeing it and thinking, oh my God, I feel so
19:53
Speaker 1: bad for her because there were already 3000 comments under it.
19:57
Speaker 1: And when I clicked on, the comments were exactly like
20:00
Speaker 1: I feared. They were so awful about her. I feel
20:04
Speaker 1: like there's almost a group of men, a particular type
20:07
Speaker 1: of man who sees it as a bit of an
20:09
Speaker 1: Olympic sport to troll her in the comment section. And
20:12
Speaker 1: anytime she comes up, they just really enjoy laying into her. Yeah.
20:15
Speaker 1: And it's very clear that the media are rage baiting
20:18
Speaker 1: and they're getting exactly what they want. So after claiming
20:22
Speaker 1: Abby was striving to be the next Jackie O, they
20:25
Speaker 1: then conveniently ran with the narrative that she had no
20:28
Speaker 1: future as a permanent replacement. And Abby put it perfectly.
20:32
Speaker 1: And she said, well, there's the setup and there's the
20:34
Speaker 1: fall from grace. And they know that that will get clicks.
20:37
Speaker 1: And they're implying that she has had some failing and
20:39
Speaker 1: hasn't performed well enough. Let's take a listen to more
20:42
Speaker 1: of what she said.
20:44
Speaker 2: This impacts my income. This impacts my mental health. This
20:48
Speaker 2: impacts my social life. This impacts so much the way
20:53
Speaker 2: that they write about me relentlessly. and the way that
20:56
Speaker 2: neutral behaviors, such as taking a job for two weeks
20:59
Speaker 2: and it lasting two weeks, there's no story there. They
21:03
Speaker 2: dig and dig and dig and try and find a
21:05
Speaker 2: way to make it seem like I've done something wrong
21:08
Speaker 2: yet again.
21:09
Speaker 1: It's definitely what the reporting implies, but anyone who knows
21:13
Speaker 1: Abby Chatfield and has actually followed her career trajectory knows
21:18
Speaker 1: that she had a radio gig not so long ago
21:21
Speaker 1: that she actually chose to leave because she didn't like
21:24
Speaker 1: the lifestyle of of radio. So she has just jumped
21:28
Speaker 1: into this role for two weeks, wanting to take it
21:30
Speaker 1: on board as not a long-term thing. I mean, she
21:34
Speaker 1: said countless times it was just a fun thing for
21:36
Speaker 1: her to do. It's quite clear she doesn't want to
21:38
Speaker 1: do it full-time because she already turned down a great
21:40
Speaker 1: gig she already had on radio. But unfortunately, there are
21:43
Speaker 1: people that don't follow her career closely that are just
21:47
Speaker 1: going to go, oh, sucked in. You can already imagine
21:49
Speaker 1: all the comments that would have been on social media
21:52
Speaker 1: Because there were so many people tearing her down originally
21:54
Speaker 1: when they said she wanted to be the next Jackie O.
21:57
Speaker 1: I mean, the pile on this week has just been disgusting.
21:59
Speaker 1: Abby shared a headline that the Daily Mail ran with
22:02
Speaker 1: this week, which was, do you know who I am?
22:05
Speaker 1: Aussie influencers branded entitled for Q jumping at the Devil
22:09
Speaker 1: Wears Prada 2 premiere in Sydney. Now, a photo of
22:13
Speaker 1: Abby looking irritated accompanied the article. And the kicker is
22:17
Speaker 1: it wasn't Abby who jumped the queue at all. It
22:20
Speaker 1: was her friend, male podcaster Mitch Turi. Funny how they
22:24
Speaker 1: don't plaster his face online and use Abby's because they
22:27
Speaker 1: know that they're going to get outrage and clicks from her,
22:30
Speaker 1: not from Mitch. Because if they use Mitch, no offense
22:33
Speaker 1: to Mitch, but most people would be writing under the
22:35
Speaker 1: comment section, who is it? Because that's another one that
22:37
Speaker 1: the Daily Mail like to do. They like to be
22:38
Speaker 1: like very famous individual. And then people are like, who
22:42
Speaker 1: is it? And of course, Abby Chatfield has a bigger
22:45
Speaker 1: profile and the Daily Mail constantly writes negative things about her.
22:48
Speaker 1: So their audience well and truly know who she is
22:51
Speaker 1: and they know that they're going to write negative comments
22:53
Speaker 1: about her. Now, Abby finished up her video by saying this.
22:58
Speaker 2: In my opinion, is the reason why there are so
23:01
Speaker 2: many people that hate me for no reason and the
23:05
Speaker 2: reason why comment sections are full of hatred towards me
23:08
Speaker 2: that is nonsensical. If you don't like me for a
23:11
Speaker 2: reason that is valid or you disagree with a lot
23:13
Speaker 2: of my opinions, that's fine. But I find that a
23:16
Speaker 2: lot of people hate me just because they hate me.
23:21
Speaker 2: And my name is almost used as like an insult now.
23:24
Speaker 2: It's such an Abbey Chatfield. And people don't even know
23:26
Speaker 2: what that means. But it seems to translate to entitled, rude, evil, vicious.
23:33
Speaker 2: And it's because of reporting like this. And I guess
23:35
Speaker 2: I just want to say you guys have won. Well done.
23:40
Speaker 2: You've broken me. And I just would love for you
23:44
Speaker 2: to stop now.
23:47
Speaker 1: Please.
23:48
Speaker 2: I'm actually begging. Please just stop.
23:52
Speaker 1: I think this is a real reflection of what a
23:55
Speaker 1: sorry state the mainstream media is currently in because it's
24:00
Speaker 1: all about clicks and vying for ads revenue. As Abby
24:03
Speaker 1: touched on, there used to be media outlets that wouldn't
24:06
Speaker 1: run with this type of trash content. But now they
24:10
Speaker 1: all do it. The rage baiting is just out of
24:12
Speaker 1: control and it would be incredibly frustrating for Abby, who's
24:16
Speaker 1: now been sued twice for defamation. She made a comment
24:20
Speaker 1: how she can't sue the media because despite what they.
24:23
Speaker 3: Attempt to imply... their stories are based on what's factually correct.
24:27
Speaker 1: Like they're very careful when it comes to what they
24:30
Speaker 1: actually put in print.
24:32
Speaker 2: Yeah.
24:32
Speaker 1: And that's because mainstream media have big legal teams. So
24:34
Speaker 1: they know what they can and cannot write and they're
24:37
Speaker 1: very clever about it. But it's very clear to me
24:41
Speaker 1: with Abby only pointing out these couple of headlines that
24:44
Speaker 1: there definitely is a smear campaign going on about her
24:48
Speaker 1: and it is to benefit themselves. It is to generate
24:51
Speaker 1: more ads revenue through clicks. And it's actually so disturbing
24:54
Speaker 1: because You can tell how much this has impacted Abby
24:58
Speaker 1: Chatfield's mental health. I mean, are we forgetting that it
25:01
Speaker 1: was only a couple of months ago that her ex-boyfriend,
25:05
Speaker 1: Conrad BN Stevens, took his own life? I mean, what
25:08
Speaker 1: does it take for the media to go, hang on,
25:10
Speaker 1: we need to stop this? Does it mean that someone
25:12
Speaker 1: has to take their own life before they take things seriously?
25:15
Speaker 1: I mean, I only just recently watched the Caroline Flack docker.
25:18
Speaker 1: I know it came out a couple of years ago.
25:21
Speaker 1: And to me, it's very similar in terms of the
25:25
Speaker 1: way They just pursued her and harassed her nonstop. And
25:29
Speaker 1: then as soon as she took her own life, everything
25:32
Speaker 1: was buried. What's even worse is that Abby Chatfield has
25:35
Speaker 1: been so open about her mental health struggles. Caroline Flack wasn't.
25:40
Speaker 1: She was trying to conceal that information. It doesn't make
25:42
Speaker 1: it any better, but it's even more disturbing that they
25:44
Speaker 1: continue to go for her when she has been so
25:47
Speaker 1: open and honest. Most successful women are good at money.
25:52
Speaker 1: We are shamed away from being good at money because, oh,
25:55
Speaker 1: we should just be passionate. No, sorry, I actually want
25:57
Speaker 1: to be rich. Victoria Devine has documented her return to Botox.
26:03
Speaker 1: The finance podcaster took her followers along for the ride
26:06
Speaker 1: as she got Botox for the first time since welcoming
26:09
Speaker 1: her daughter in January. However, not everyone was happy with
26:13
Speaker 1: Victoria's transparency.
26:15
Speaker 3: No, I mean, Victoria's decision.
26:17
Speaker 1: to share about this has been quite a divisive one,
26:20
Speaker 1: which I initially found a bit surprising because cosmetic treatments
26:24
Speaker 1: have become quite mainstream nowadays. Now, ahead of the treatment,
26:28
Speaker 1: Victoria shared a video from inside her car, raising her
26:32
Speaker 1: eyebrows to show.
26:33
Speaker 3: The movement and lines on her forehead.
26:36
Speaker 1: She also shared a disclaimer saying, also, let's be really clear,
26:40
Speaker 1: No woman needs Botox. You don't need it to be beautiful, worthy, confident,
26:45
Speaker 1: or successful. And I hate that we live in a
26:47
Speaker 1: world that can make it feel like you do. But
26:49
Speaker 1: I also think there's something powerful about being honest. This
26:53
Speaker 1: is something I choose to do for myself, not for
26:56
Speaker 1: anyone else, not because I feel like I have to.
26:59
Speaker 3: And part of.
26:59
Speaker 1: Sharing this is showing the reality because it's not instant.
27:03
Speaker 1: I share this because I think transparency matters. Too many
27:06
Speaker 1: women are comparing themselves to natural results that aren't actually natural.
27:10
Speaker 1: You're allowed to opt out. You're also allowed to opt in.
27:14
Speaker 1: That's what choice.
27:15
Speaker 3: Actually looks like.
27:16
Speaker 1: Now, the following day, Victoria posted an update to her
27:20
Speaker 1: Instagram story showing that the treatment hadn't actually taken full
27:23
Speaker 1: effect yet, but was slowly doing its thing. She then
27:27
Speaker 1: said one of her favorite things about Botox is how
27:29
Speaker 1: smooth it makes her skin. And for her, it's not
27:32
Speaker 1: about getting the wrinkles. It's also about tightening her skin.
27:36
Speaker 1: She then went on to explain that she asked her
27:38
Speaker 1: injector to keep some of her smile lines as she
27:40
Speaker 1: doesn't want to look like she's frozen. Now, some of
27:43
Speaker 1: Victoria's followers weren't happy with the transparency, DMing the podcaster
27:48
Speaker 1: to tell her they felt uncomfortable about the post she
27:51
Speaker 1: was sharing. Victoria chose to share one of these conversations
27:55
Speaker 1: on her Instagram story. So the follower wrote, Seeing generations
27:59
Speaker 1: choosing to inject neurotoxins in themselves to look like everyone else,
28:03
Speaker 1: it's getting pretty sad to see on the sidelines. Hope
28:06
Speaker 1: you bring your child up to feel better about who
28:09
Speaker 1: they are, to not need to do that to their bodies,
28:11
Speaker 1: especially while they are still young and attractive. Now, Victoria
28:16
Speaker 1: responded saying, I think it's interesting you keep describing other
28:19
Speaker 1: women's choices as sad. I don't feel sad. I feel
28:22
Speaker 1: confident in my decisions and how I live my life.
28:26
Speaker 1: I'm also very comfortable with how I raise my child,
28:29
Speaker 1: so I'm going to leave it there. Now, the follower
28:31
Speaker 1: responded saying, you feel so confident in yourself that you
28:35
Speaker 1: literally inject neurotoxins into your face.
28:38
Speaker 3: Sounds like a funny type of confidence.
28:40
Speaker 1: Let's be real. Victoria ended up hitting back, writing, at
28:44
Speaker 1: this point, this feels more like judgment than concern, and
28:47
Speaker 1: your tone tells me that you're trying to undermine me.
28:50
Speaker 1: I'm confident in my choices, and I hope you're offering
28:52
Speaker 1: the people in your life more grace than you have here.
28:56
Speaker 1: And when Victoria shared this conversation with her community, she wrote,
28:59
Speaker 1: it's always the ones with the lack of profile photos.
29:02
Speaker 1: It's also why I share this stuff because I know
29:04
Speaker 1: so many women worry so much about what other people
29:07
Speaker 1: would think than just doing what they want to do. Now,
29:10
Speaker 1: I really wanted to bring this story to the table
29:13
Speaker 1: because I think it is such a layered one. I
29:17
Speaker 1: really don't think that Victoria would be receiving the backlash
29:21
Speaker 1: that she is if she wasn't a new mom. So
29:25
Speaker 1: as you touched on Kate, she gave birth to a
29:27
Speaker 1: baby girl called Campbell back in January and her pregnancy
29:31
Speaker 1: came as a surprise because she never revealed online that
29:34
Speaker 1: she was pregnant. She just posted once she had had
29:37
Speaker 1: her baby. But despite this secrecy, she has been open
29:40
Speaker 1: about some of her postpartum experiences. And I have really
29:44
Speaker 1: appreciated the way that she has shared about her journey
29:47
Speaker 1: with baby formula. So she has spoken about how she
29:50
Speaker 1: mix feeds her kids because she doesn't like to put
29:53
Speaker 1: too much pressure on herself and her breastfeeding activities. experience.
29:57
Speaker 1: And I think as women, we put so much pressure
29:59
Speaker 1: on ourselves to be this perfect mother who exclusively breastfeed.
30:01
Speaker 1: So I think it's really important to have people like
30:04
Speaker 1: Victoria sharing about how mixed feeding can actually be really
30:08
Speaker 1: beneficial in the feeding process for babies. And I think
30:11
Speaker 1: that's a big part of the backlash that Victoria has
30:14
Speaker 1: been receiving because when it comes to getting Botox, it's
30:17
Speaker 1: not a bias for mothers who are breastfeeding. Now, while
30:20
Speaker 1: Victoria has been transparent about mixed feeding, I'm not sure
30:23
Speaker 1: if she is still continuing with her breastfeeding journey or
30:26
Speaker 1: if her baby is now fully on formula. And that's
30:29
Speaker 1: the thing with social media. People don't know the full picture.
30:32
Speaker 1: So she's obviously deciding what is best for her and
30:35
Speaker 1: her situation. And other people are jumping to conclusions being like, oh,
30:39
Speaker 1: how can you do that when you're still breastfeeding? I
30:41
Speaker 1: also think that any time a mom with a young
30:44
Speaker 1: baby is perceived as doing anything for themselves too soon,
30:48
Speaker 1: particularly when it comes to their appearance, their slam for
30:51
Speaker 1: being too self-involved and not focusing on their child enough.
30:55
Speaker 1: And I feel like there's this real tone of mum
30:57
Speaker 1: shaming here, particularly from the follower whose post Victoria highlighted.
31:01
Speaker 1: I mean, the follower essentially said to Victoria, you're a
31:04
Speaker 1: bad role model to your daughter because you're choosing to
31:06
Speaker 1: have anti-aging procedures.
31:08
Speaker 3: I mean, it's such an unfair comment to make.
31:10
Speaker 1: When you were reading out that DM, Soph, when it
31:12
Speaker 1: got to the bit about Victoria's child, I was like,
31:15
Speaker 1: that is just way too far. And it infuriates me
31:19
Speaker 1: that people continually bring other people's children into everything. I
31:23
Speaker 1: think another part of why her post struck such a
31:26
Speaker 1: nerve though is because Victoria is a finance influencer, not
31:30
Speaker 1: a beauty influencer. It's not content that we would naturally
31:33
Speaker 1: expect from her. She is a retired financial advisor who
31:38
Speaker 1: made a name for herself about teaching women financial literacy.
31:42
Speaker 1: So people look to her for money-saving tips. So if
31:45
Speaker 1: you're a mom on maternity leave who's living paycheck to
31:48
Speaker 1: paycheck on government funding, you probably look at Victoria getting
31:52
Speaker 1: Botox and get a little bit envious because you're like, well,
31:55
Speaker 1: that's not a financially viable option for me. I mean,
31:58
Speaker 1: Victoria has made it very clear in her content that
32:00
Speaker 1: she is in a very different tax bracket to most
32:04
Speaker 1: of us, but the reality is whether she likes it
32:07
Speaker 1: or not, because she provides financial advice and money-saving tips
32:11
Speaker 1: to her audience, people want to see her practicing what
32:14
Speaker 1: she preaches. So When she does this little documentation of
32:18
Speaker 1: how her Botox works, people are like, that is not relatable.
32:22
Speaker 1: I mean, Victoria has said in these posts that she's
32:24
Speaker 1: choosing to share about the treatments that she's gotten because
32:27
Speaker 1: she thinks there's a power in being honest and that
32:30
Speaker 1: too many women are comparing themselves to natural results that
32:33
Speaker 1: aren't natural. And I think it's really interesting because around
32:37
Speaker 1: seven years ago, we saw this movement of influencers opening
32:41
Speaker 1: up about their cosmetic procedures and really being applauded for
32:45
Speaker 1: being transparent. On the other hand, there was this side
32:48
Speaker 1: of people who said, well, this transparency is just normalizing
32:51
Speaker 1: these procedures to very young and impressionable people. I completely
32:55
Speaker 1: agree that it's an individual woman's choice what they do
32:58
Speaker 1: to their face. And that really should come with no judgment.
33:02
Speaker 1: But I personally, if I'm going to be honest, I
33:05
Speaker 1: don't know how I feel about people normalizing these treatments still.
33:08
Speaker 1: Even as someone in their 30s who I know my
33:11
Speaker 1: self-worth isn't wrapped up in my appearance, it is hard
33:15
Speaker 1: not to feel like the odd one out because I'm
33:18
Speaker 1: not getting these anti-aging treatments done. And when you look
33:21
Speaker 1: online now, almost everyone in the public eye has the
33:24
Speaker 1: signature shiny frozen forehead.
33:26
Speaker 3: It almost comes with this level of prestige. And to me,
33:30
Speaker 3: it almost feels like people are cheating the system.
33:32
Speaker 1: I mean, I truly do believe that expression lines and
33:35
Speaker 1: smile lines make women look so beautiful and natural. But,
33:39
Speaker 1: you know, in the past year, having a baby and
33:41
Speaker 1: having sleepless nights, I do have this little voice in
33:44
Speaker 1: my head telling me, well, maybe you'd look better if
33:47
Speaker 1: you got a bit of Botox here. But so if
33:49
Speaker 1: you say cheating the system, I almost feel like we're
33:52
Speaker 1: getting to a stage where everyone is looking so similar
33:55
Speaker 1: because of the work that they're getting. And if anything,
33:58
Speaker 1: sometimes when I see someone who has had a lot
34:00
Speaker 1: of anti-aging procedures, sometimes it can actually make them look older. Yeah,
34:04
Speaker 1: that's what I didn't really get about Victoria's apparent reasoning
34:08
Speaker 1: behind posting because for the last 10 years, people have
34:11
Speaker 1: been really transparent about getting Botox and what that procedure
34:15
Speaker 1: is like. It's not like it's this earth shattering, lifting
34:18
Speaker 1: the curtain moment. Like her content is one of a
34:21
Speaker 1: lot of similar content out there. And I personally think
34:25
Speaker 1: now it's pretty easy to tell who's got Botox and
34:28
Speaker 1: who doesn't. I've been seeing a lot of TikToks that
34:30
Speaker 1: are like, are we getting Botox or are we having
34:33
Speaker 1: more children? And the whole thing is, I personally don't
34:36
Speaker 1: care what people do to their own faces. I just
34:38
Speaker 1: don't like when people glamorize it and they make it
34:41
Speaker 1: so the norm that it's unusual. If you don't want
34:44
Speaker 1: to do that to your face, that's what scares me.
34:45
Speaker 1: I think everyone just thinks, oh, I've had a baby now.
34:47
Speaker 1: So I'm just going to go and get all of
34:49
Speaker 1: these cosmetic procedures done because that's what everyone else is
34:52
Speaker 1: doing online. And it might not suit your face. Yeah,
34:54
Speaker 1: but then there is also the argument, which I think
34:57
Speaker 1: is a valid one, that if women go and get
34:59
Speaker 1: these procedures done in secret, it's really difficult for the
35:02
Speaker 1: women who don't because they're comparing themselves to people of
35:05
Speaker 1: unrealistic standard online. Yeah, but in saying that, we've all
35:09
Speaker 1: just said that people who don't get it seem to
35:12
Speaker 1: be in the minority these days. And we know so
35:16
Speaker 1: much about it that we can tell the telltale signs
35:19
Speaker 1: of it. I think there are influencers out there though
35:21
Speaker 1: that are putting up content similar to this to rage
35:25
Speaker 1: bait their audience in order to start some kind of
35:28
Speaker 1: online debate that then turns into some morning show segment.
35:31
Speaker 1: I've seen it a lot recently. So they're sort of
35:33
Speaker 1: fishing for followers to write something nasty to them in
35:36
Speaker 1: the comment section that they can then share and then
35:38
Speaker 1: it turns into a PR opportunity.
35:41
Speaker 3: For them to appear on a morning show.
35:42
Speaker 1: I've seen it so much. I'm not saying that Victoria
35:44
Speaker 1: Devine was specifically doing that but there have been other
35:47
Speaker 1: influencers who who you can just tell are baiting their audience.
35:52
Speaker 1: And then when they finally get the reaction, say on TikTok,
35:55
Speaker 1: that they want, they're like, fantastic. Now we can talk
35:57
Speaker 1: about it on our podcast. Now we can go on
35:59
Speaker 1: the morning show and talk about it. It's this PR
36:01
Speaker 1: strategy to get them more attention. I think influencers need
36:05
Speaker 1: to be really careful because there are some that I
36:08
Speaker 1: noticed that that is their MO, that is their media strategy.
36:12
Speaker 1: They have teams behind them. But then you get into
36:14
Speaker 1: the Abbey Chatfield territory that we were talking about where
36:17
Speaker 1: The media then turn you into a caricature and then
36:21
Speaker 1: they are the ones that start painting your storylines rather
36:25
Speaker 1: than you feeding them storylines. Well, that is where we're
36:28
Speaker 1: going to leave things today. But if you want to
36:29
Speaker 1: hear more from us, we drop a subscriber only episode
36:33
Speaker 1: every Thursday for our Outspoken Plus subscribers. If you want
36:36
Speaker 1: to sign up, it's just $ 5. 99 a month. All the
36:39
Speaker 1: details to sign up are in our show notes. We
36:41
Speaker 1: also have a second podcast called The Mums Group. So
36:44
Speaker 1: if you want to listen to that, that drops on
36:46
Speaker 1: a Wednesday. Just search The Mums Group on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
36:50
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to podcasts. This podcast was recorded
36:54
Speaker 1: on the traditional land of the Kaurna people of the
36:56
Speaker 1: Adelaide Plains. We pay respect to elders past and present.