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The Dethroning of Gen Z's Instagram It Girl · Outspoken the Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: hottest influencer and pop culture news twice a week. I'm
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Kate Torber and coming up on today's show, Olivia Rogers'
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: exes continue to cause headaches and the Matilda Jerf toilet
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: scrubbing scandal. But first, UK influencer Saffron Barker is continuing
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to soft launch her new boyfriend, so viewer across all
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: of this.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: I am heavily invested in this.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: I actually started following her new boyfriend as soon as
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: I worked out who he is because she has been
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: doing daily Christmas vlogs. Vlogmas. Vlogmas. And randomly, this Scottish
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: male voice just started appearing in the background. And she
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: started referring to him as babe. It's very clear that
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: this guy is basically living at her house. He's like
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: this live-in boyfriend that we haven't been introduced to. See,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: I noticed that something was amiss because the camera angle
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: suddenly changed because he was filming. I'm guessing he's quite tall. Well,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: he is actually a model. That's what I've worked out
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: from my stalking. So he is very tall. He's really fit.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: He likes to take a lot of topless selfies. His
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: selfies and Instagram game is a bit cringe. Is that
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: why you're following? Well, he's not really my type because
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: he's traditionally fabulous looking, like a very good looking guy.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: But the way he posts almost makes him unattractive. Well,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the fact is like early 20s as well. I looked
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: up on Google, I Googled who is that from Barker's boyfriend.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: And when I clicked on his Instagram, I was like,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: why the hell is Sophie following him? Because he's only
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: got what, 6,000 followers? Well, I did feel like a
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: bit of a creep because he only had around 3,000
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: and 4,000 when I first started following him. And obviously
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: he's gained more followers over time. To me, I get
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the vibe that he's very keen to be involved in
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: the vlogs. He's become a permanent fixture, like kind of
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: a main character, even though we've only seen sort of
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: the side of his face or him in the background
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: in a mirror because he's hanging out with her family
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: a lot, which is also very weird because I want
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: to say for those any new listeners, we have been
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: talking a lot about Saffron Barker's relationships this year because
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: at the start of the year, she had a huge
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: breakup with a guy called Louis Rhys Zamet who actually
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: ended up getting a spot on the Chiefs lineup. Well,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: a rookie spot. I mean, he might not even be
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: on the list anymore.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: I haven't checked.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: No, he is. And he dramatically– cheated on her and
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: it all came out. So Saffron has a relationship podcast
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: and she was very forthcoming with saying that she's learned
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: her lesson. She's not going to be sharing every single.
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: Detail about a new partner if she gets one.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: So it's clear she's trying to do a different tactic.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: She thinks okay, he's going to be in all of
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: my stuff, but I'm not going to introduce him. I'm
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: not going to show his face yet. But that being said,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: it seems to be very serious already because he's pretty
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: much living with her. I don't think a lot has
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: changed though. She might be soft launching him at the moment,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: but his voice is still on there. It's still clear
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: that she has a boyfriend and they're quite serious. Plus
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: she is known for dating people who live very far
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: away from her. So her most recent boyfriend, Lewis, He
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: actually lived in Wales and she was in Brighton in
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: the UK. And then he, of course, moved to the US.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: And now this guy is from Scotland. So it seems
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: like she has a particular type. And I'm wondering... If
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: he's spewing that he's not actually being able to be
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: shown on the vlog. Surely he will soon though, because
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: he's been posting Instagrams at her house while Saffron's away
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: in New York.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: What?
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: He's house sitting.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: So Saffron is away in New York with her parents
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: and he's looking after the house. And he is posting
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: about this house almost as though it's his own. He
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: did a photo dump and it showed him in the
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: kitchen cooking up a meal. And then he was in
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Saffron's gym. He took a photo, a gym selfie, of course,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: with her car fully visible in the background. That's a
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: red flag. A lot of people online are saying that
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: they hope he's not using her house to lure other girls.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: There and pretend that it's his house.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Surely not. I think that's it. He actually seems quite
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: nice from what I've seen in the vlogs. But my
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: only concern is.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: From what you've heard.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, from what I've heard. But it's a case of
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: deja vu, isn't it? Because this time last year, that's
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: when Saffron Hard launched her relationship with Lewis. And she
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: also shared a vlog of them picking up her Christmas tree. Look,
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: I just hope that we don't see her AI-ing her
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: and the new boyfriend's future kids, her getting any tattoos
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: of his initials. I think she needs to play it
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: a bit more cool because I'm a big Saffron Barker fan.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: She is one of my favorite influencers that I follow
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: after Molly Mae. So I just hope... the best for her.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: She always seems to have no trouble getting boyfriends, but
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: it just seems to be maybe she picks the wrong guys. Well,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I also think she must have met him on Raya
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: because that's where she met her last boyfriend. It's all
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: these bloody models and athletes on there. She just needs
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: to date someone that's normal. But I think that this
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: guy might actually work for her because he doesn't seem
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: to have much of a modelling career.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Like he doesn't seem too busy.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but that's the concern that he's using her. I
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: think that's what a lot of people are worried about. Yeah,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: but he can work in the sense that she probably
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: just wants someone to be around. I'm going to put
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: a prediction out here. She will hard launch him on
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: Christmas Day. There'll be a family photo with him in
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: it or a selfie of them together. Who are these
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: guys that are so willing to meet the family so
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: quickly and hang around with people's grandparents and nieces and nephews?
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: She is worth a lot of money. She's got a
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: very glamorous family, very glamorous lifestyle. She's a lovely girl,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: beautiful girl. I mean, some people, you know, when you know,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: you know. Excuse me. Can you hold my phone and
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: film me for a second, please?
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: It's already recording.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Olivia Rogers' ex-boyfriend Morgan Waterhouse has taken a swipe at
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the former Miss Universe contestant despite breaking up over a
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: year ago. Kate, can you tell us more? So Morgan
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: has jumped on this TikTok trend about your Christmas wishlist.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: So guys and girls are posting what they want in
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: a partner and they're saying, Santa, can you please deliver
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: this person? But he twisted it to seemingly throw shade
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: at Olivia Rogers. So in the video, Morgan was casually
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: sipping on a boost juice at the airport and on
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: the screen it said, Dear Santa, 5'5, honest, obsessed with me,
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  Speaker 1: loves their family, doesn't cheat on me every time they
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: leave the state, hasn't won a beauty pageant, isn't a narcissist,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: doesn't gaslight me, loyal, loves puppies. Now, I do need
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: to point out he made a grammatical error with the
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: word puppies and a lot of people were annoyed in
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: the comments about it. Now, he added the caption at
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: the bottom of the video, hope this reaches the North Pole.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: As expected, this video blew up. And at the time
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: of recording, it has over 350,000 views and 1,800 send-ons.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: So I think that there were a lot of people
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: or a lot of girls sending this onto their friends
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: being like, I can't believe the shade he has thrown
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: at Olivia. It's interesting because there were two camps of comments.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: There were one lot of women who seemed very interested
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: in Morgan. A lot of them were saying, oh, would
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: you accept a different height? What about 5'8? And originally
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: I thought, oh wow, this is actually organically blown up.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: But if you dig deeper, he's actually deleted a lot
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: of the negative comments that people were posting about how
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: petty he was being. Yeah, because this video probably would
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: have got even more views had he left some of
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: those comments out. Well, I was pretty quick to discover
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: this video and I saw not only people having a
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: go at him about it, but I saw people agreeing
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: with him and having a bit of a laugh at
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Olivia's expense because he didn't try and conceal who he
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: was speaking about. I mean, the fact that he and
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: his friends have immaturely come out before and accused her
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: of cheating. You know, that line was fairly obvious about, oh,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: a girl that doesn't cheat on me every time she
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: leaves the state. But then by backing it up by
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: saying you want a girl who hasn't been in a
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: beauty pageant, you couldn't get more obvious. He may as
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: well have said, I want the opposite of Olivia Rogers.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: Josh Moss from Love Island even weighed into this and
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: he wrote, the cheating every time she leaves the state,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: if you know, you know. That surprised me because I
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: wouldn't think that you would want to be seen siding
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: with Morgan Waterhouse.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: I quite like Josh Moss as well. That disappoints me.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, another influencer that's also weighed into this drama
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: is Olivia White. So she said that she was inserting
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: herself into something that had nothing to do with her.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: I mean, isn't that just TikTok in general? So basically
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: her opinion was that this timing was very off considering
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: what's been going down with Olivia Rogers' ex-husband, Justin McKeon.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: Let's throw to some of what she said. I don't
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: think this is hitting how you want it to hit.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: And if it is hitting with said people, they're not
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: the kind of people.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: That you'd want around. Do you know what I mean?
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: Do you know what I mean?
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: Like definitely not like the type of people that, you know,
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: allegedly steal half a million dollars and have a really
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: serious drug problem who you're like best friends with.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: So, you know, you are the company you keep.
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: Just want to remind you that. And, you know, maybe
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: work on this because it's been a few years.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: It's been a few years.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: And clearly... You're struggling perhaps with seeing someone move on,
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: be happy, not with you. But, you know, considering the
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: company you've been keeping lately, I think that says more
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: about you than it does about her.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Now this clap back from Olivia White went off and
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: she followed up with a second video sharing a photo
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: of Morgan and Justin together. And she accused him of
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: hitching his wagon on Olivia for his own personal gain
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: and and said he wasn't a good judge of character
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: considering he befriended Justin. I thought that this was a
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: bit of an interesting comment to say that because Morgan
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: befriended Justin, it says a lot about his character. Now
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: we know allegedly what Justin's been up to and been into.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: But by that theory... Isn't she also suggesting that it
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: says a bit about Olivia's character because she was married
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: to the guy? She was very much defending Olivia Rogers,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: but I did draw that parallel because I was like, well,
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: unfortunately Olivia Rogers is connected to both of these guys
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: that don't have good characters. But normally when it's a woman,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: we pass it off as, oh, they just attract bad guys.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: I suppose the difference is that Olivia has dumped both
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: of these guys. She's distanced herself. Whereas Morgan, as soon
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: as he and Olivia broke up, he spitefully met up
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: with Justin. He just looked like a total knob doing that.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: I do find it a bit hypocritical though, because if
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: this was a woman who was scorned and cheated on
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: and she put up an Instagram post out with this
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: guy's exes and it all having a great time exchanging notes,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: everyone would be like, go girl. But because it's a boy,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: everyone's like fucking petty as fuck. Yeah. But I think
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: now that we have an insight into what was going
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: on behind the scenes of Olivia and Justin's marriage, and
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: she obviously would have shared that with Morgan, it just
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: makes him look even worse. And the fact that Olivia
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: and Morgan broke up so long ago, like maybe if
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: he had come out after their breakup and had done
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: an interview or something a bit classier than some sort
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: of TikTok immature jibe at her, people would have gone, oh,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: I feel sorry for Morgan if he had been cheated on.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: But he's only ever alluded to it in really kind
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: of icky ways. I think it was how he got
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: his friends involved to slag her off in the comment section. Well,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: you're actually talking about an incident that happened this time
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: last year, if you can believe it. So nearly to
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: the day. So basically, we all knew that Olivia and
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Morgan had broken up because he'd gone MIA on her
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Instagram shortly after their trip to Bali in August. And
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: she finally addressed all these breakup rumors in a Q &
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: A in December. And she wrote, I am single. My
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: ex is a lovely person. Sometimes things just don't work out.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: And she went on to say that she was planning
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: to keep her future relationships more private on social media
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: because it's so tricky to navigate a breakup. particularly when
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: people are invested online. And it's quite interesting because now
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: that we know more about the timeline, she started dating
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: her new boyfriend, Hugo, in December. So that's when she
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: actually had to put this information out that, yeah, me
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: and Morgan have broken up. Now, an hour after Olivia
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: shared this Q & A last December, Morgan responded with
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: a cryptic quote that said,' Loyal behind my back, that's
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: my type.' So meanwhile, Influencer Updates AU posted the news
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: about the breakup to her feed and she ended up
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: getting an even juicier scoop in the process because Morgan's
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: friends jumped in the comments to defend him and basically
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: slag off Olivia. So one of them wrote, that is
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: because she wants to keep her six sexual partners a
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: secret while dating Morgan. And then another one chimed in, six,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: ha ha, that's being nice. That's so foul. It was disgusting.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: And it really seemed like Morgan had instructed his friends
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: to act like a mouthpiece for him. And this is
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: the issue. All of these accusations being leveled at Olivia
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: have been so slut-shaming. And the interesting thing is, if
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: this was five to 10 years ago, everyone would have gone,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: oh my God, and turned on Olivia and shamed her.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: But we're now living in 2024. We're like, this is
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: actually disgusting. These allegations have no factual basis at the moment.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: You haven't even come out with any receipts to back
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: this up. I'm sure if he had the receipts, we'd
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: be seeing them as well. I think another reason why
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: people aren't buying Morgan's story or siding with him is
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: because he's always come across as a bit of a
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: clout chaser. I mean, he and Olivia got together pretty
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: soon after her breakup with her ex-husband. And he always
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: seemed to want to be very front and center in
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: her content. It seemed very opportunistic. And it seemed like
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Morgan's video may have been in response to a TikTok
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: that Olivia shared earlier in the day, where it seemed
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: like she took a dig at the men that she's
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: previously dated. So she mimed to the song Young Hearts
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: Run Free. And in the caption, she wrote, I always
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: used to think this was an upbeat love song, but
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: recently really listened to the lyrics of and realized it's
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: actually about self-love with a warning not to end up
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: with someone who doesn't respect you. She then added, Candy's
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: been warning people not to settle since 1976. It's funny
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: that he centered himself in this and thought, oh, it's
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: a dig at me. Because like, well, she was with
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Justin McKeon for was it like four years beforehand, got
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: married to the guy. All this news has broken about
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: him recently. But no, no, it's about Morgan Waterhouse, who
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: she was in a rebound relationship with a couple of months.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: I thought it was fairly obvious it was a dig
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: at Justin McCain and not settling in a marriage that
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: you were unhappy in. It more so seems like he's
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: a bit upset and jealous that Olivia's found love with
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: this new guy who seems really lovely.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Does this remind me of Sidney Sweeney? Is this play
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: about me? But he's got it so.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: As usual, Olivia Rogers was very classy about this whole thing.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: So she easily could have responded with her own dig
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: at Morgan. However, she just shared a TikTok video with
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: some happy snaps of her and a new boyfriend at
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: their end of year celebration. And she referred to him
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: as her favorite human, which I think was enough. It
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: says a lot without having to say much. The timing
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: of this is pretty terrible for Olivia, because as you
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: touched on Kate, Her ex-husband was accused of allegedly stealing
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: almost half a million dollars from his former employer to
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: allegedly support a very serious drug habit. And the alleged
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: theft came after his colleagues reported to their employer that
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Justin had been sleeping in the work toilets for up
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: to four hours a day. It was reported in the
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: press last week that Justin was meant to appear at
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: a directions hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court. However, he
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: was a no-show. So the court had to extend a
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: freezing order on his assets till April next year. So
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: that means that he has to live on a budget
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: of $ 800 a week and that's for his ordinary living
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: expenses and can pay up to $ 10, 000 on reasonable legal expenses.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: It is becoming quite concerning because Justin hasn't made contact
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: with his lawyer since November 11 when he was contacted
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: by lawyers acting for his former employer. So there are
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: fears that he is potentially missing at the moment. Yeah, well,
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: to not show up in court is a big deal.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: And it's clear that these allegations have really rocked him.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: He's deactivated his Instagram account and LinkedIn. I really hope
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: that his family are looking after him and he's okay,
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: because this is just awful watching this all play out.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: And I think that this is why a lot of
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: people are rather outraged by Morgan's post, because The timing
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: is just very off. I mean, I understand that this
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: is Olivia's ex-husband, but it's still going to be affecting
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: her on a certain level. There's already so much speculation
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: and attention on her for something that has nothing to
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: do with her. She doesn't need even more of it
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: from another ex popping up. It just seems gross that
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: he's piggybacking off this horrible moment in both Justin and
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Olivia's lives and trying to get attention from it. I
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: also did my vegan collagen and CMOS mix. and I
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: needed to get some work done before I headed to
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: the office. Jen said it girl and entrepreneur Matilda Jerf
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: has been accused of inflicting psychological terror on her employees
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: at a hugely popular lifestyle brand, Jerf Avenue. 11 former
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: and current employees made the startling claims on a Swedish
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: documentary accusing Matilda of bullying, fatphobia, and what's been touted
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: as the toilet scrubbing scandal. So before we get into it,
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: can you bring us up to speed with who Matilda
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Jerf is? Yeah, well, she is a 27-year-old Swedish influencer
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: and she has over 4.5 million followers across TikTok and Instagram.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: She's known for her signature bouncy blonde hair and having
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: this really scandy, cool girl aesthetic. I feel like she
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: single-handedly created hype around the Dyson Airwrap as well. And
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: she started gaining traction from documenting her travels with her
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: boyfriend and people really loved the aspirational nature of her
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: posts and she quickly began making money through brand.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: Deals and also modeling.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: It's interesting now some of these claims have come to
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: light to know that as a teenager, Matilda actually suffered
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: from anorexia and orthorexia, which led her to become an
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: advocate for mental health and body positivity. Now, she has
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: developed a very squeaky clean image. She's built this personal
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: brand around being kind, and she even earned herself the
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: title of the internet's sweetheart. Today, she is known as
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: being one of the most influential people, not only in Sweden,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: but the world. And in 2019, Matilda really took her
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: career to the next level. So she founded lifestyle and
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: fashion brand Jerf Avenue alongside her boyfriend. And this brand
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: quickly resonated with a large global audience. So young girls
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: fell in love with the clothing staples. She had hair products, homewares. Sophie,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: I feel like this is the sort of stuff that
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: you would be purchasing. I mean, I think you've got
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: to be living under a rock not to have seen
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: the Jerf Avenue brand dressing gown. It's their signature dressing gown, which.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: Has fruit all over it.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: I think literally every TikToker or everyday person who creates
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: a get ready with me video is wearing this dressing gown.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: I really wanted one when I was pregnant because every
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: mummy TikToker was wearing it and I was like, oh,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: maybe I'll look into that. It's a hundred bucks yeah
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: when I looked up the price I think it's actually
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: close to four hundred dollars it's absolutely crazy I'm just
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: gonna get vomit on it yeah well this brand really
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: took off during COVID and since then Jeff Avenue has
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: had pop-up stores in major cities like Stockholm London and
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: New York it's also collaborated with fellow it girls so
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Hayley Bieber and Sophia Richie have done collaborations with the
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: brand and it's so crazy because in such a short
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: amount of time Jeff Avenue has already reached $ 35 million
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: in revenue.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: So it is, enormous this brand.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: It's interesting because most people actually predicted that Matilda would
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: have some sort of fall from grace because normally once
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: you're built up, people drag you down. Tall poppy syndrome.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: Well, particularly if you have a squeaky clean image.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And I thought that last year was that for
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: her because she was involved in this dupe scandal. So
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: the Jurf team noticed that smaller influencers were sharing dupes
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: of their products and started reporting their videos on TikTok.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: And at the time, the company shared a statement saying
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: that intellectual property lawyers were flagging content that they believed
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: infringed their copyright. Now, a lot of fans called Matilda
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: out because they thought it was really hypocritical because she
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: became so popular on TikTok for actually posting dupes of
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: luxury designer items. And the backlash actually led to Matilda
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: temporarily deactivating her account. And at the time, a lot
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: of large female creators came out to fiercely defend Matilda.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: They said that Women are always held to different standards
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: in business and that it was all part of tall
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: poppy syndrome. And really, this scandal has been the only
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: chink in Matilda's armor until now. This week, startling new
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: claims made in a Swedish documentary and also picked up
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: by Sweden's largest newspaper have described Jeff Avenue's workplace as
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: far from the polished facade. Because something that has really
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: resonated with Jeff Avenue's Gen Z audience was his commitment
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: to inclusion and also sustainability. So on Jeff Avenue's website,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: it describes his workplace as a place of respect and inclusion.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: And a place to create a supportive and inspiring environment.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: This sounds very cynical, but it's normally these type of
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: places that have the exact opposite of that environment that
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: they're putting out there. They said that the company's outward
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: image is nothing like the reality of working there. In fact,
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: it is the complete opposite. Now, these employees appeared on camera,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: but they remained anonymous with their faces concealed. And it
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: quickly became apparent how scared these women were of Matilda
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: and also the potential repercussions that may come their way. Now,
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: the majority of people working at Jeff Avenue are all
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: young girls who are presumably thought they'd landed their dream
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: job working alongside this generation's it girl. I mean, when
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: they probably got the job, can you imagine them messaging
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: their friends being like, I can't believe I get to
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: work with her. It seems like this is on the
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: next level though, because someone has actually described it as
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: everyday psychological terror that was being carried out in this office.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Like that is next level.
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: It's clear that a lot of these employees were terrified
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: of Matilda because one described her treatment as psychological violence.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: So the employee said that after working at Jeff Avenue,
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: she started to feel like she was losing herself and
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: her mind. She described it as being in a destructive relationship.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: One other employee also said that she has never been
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: so scared of a person in her whole life, alleging
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: that Matilda would yell at employees in front of the
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: whole office and she was scared every day that she
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: would get a scolding. Whilst another said, I was scared
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: of Matilda. I didn't like it when she was in
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: the room. She was condescending. She could be disgusted by
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: the fact that you took public transportation. There was this
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: general vibe from the employees that Matilda thought that she
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: was better than all of her staff. And they even
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: said that she wouldn't say hello to a lot of them.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Another claimed she would call them names and ask them
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: if they were stupid. She also alleged that anything and
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: everything would set Matilda off, saying, She could yell at
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: someone if there was no coffee. She could yell at
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: someone if you were sitting in the wrong seat. She
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: could yell at someone if her food hadn't been heated up.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: If there was anywhere that wasn't cleaned, she would completely
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: lose her temper. Is it wrong that the whole time
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: you were reading out these terrible accusations that I was
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: just thinking, wow, I'm shocked that she's so hands-on in
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: her business because a lot of influencers, you probably wouldn't
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: see them at all. She's giving out the bollocking herself, personally. Yeah,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: but also... A lot of influencers don't really operate in
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: the day-to-day of their businesses. I'm not sticking up for
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: a minute. Are you taking your hat off to her, Kate?
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: The whole thing that's embarrassing is that it's such a
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: different view that she puts out on Instagram. But that's
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: what I'm trying to say. It's actually to her detriment.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: And maybe that's why a lot of influencers don't work
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: in the operations of their business because it's probably best
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: not for their personal brand. I actually heard Lucy and
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Nikki from The Wild Ones and also Sammy Robinson who
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: owns One Mile talking about how difficult it is being
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: influential and owning a brand because they said they're often
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: worried what people are going to say to their friends
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: if they tell them off. Well, I feel like Matilda.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: Didn't have any of these worries. I know we're having
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: a bit of.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: A laugh about this, but some of these accusations are
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: very serious because a lot of the workers spoke about
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: having panic attacks after encounters with Matilda and one claimed
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: they developed anxiety after working with her. One employee also
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: said that so many people were completely broken after working
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: with her and claimed that tears were a daily occurrence
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: in the office. But it shows how arrogant she is
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: to think that these kind of allegations aren't going to
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: get out there. I mean, surely she would have some
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: idea how rudely she was speaking to the staff and
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: to think that no one was going to say anything.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: It shows how powerful she thinks she is. I feel
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: like for anyone who's thinking maybe these weren't that serious,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: this really puts into perspective because one employee said, she
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: realized she stopped eating. And after she quit at Jeff Avenue,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: she was walking along the street and she spotted Matilda
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: and her boyfriend. And she ended up collapsing in her
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: partner's arms just at the side of them and had
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: a panic attack on the street. That's absolutely awful. Amy,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: to what you said, in terms of Matilda thinking that
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: this wouldn't get out, I'm assuming that Swedish laws are
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: pretty similar to Australian in that you make employees sign
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: a contract where they won't actually discuss anything that goes
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: on in the business. So a lot of them probably
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: were bound by some sort of gag order. Well, it
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: seemed like she was also banking on the women being
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: so terrified of her and the repercussions. But just even
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: general chitchat on the street, like even if you're bound
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: by a confidentiality agreement, surely she would have been concerned
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: about idle gossip from people, especially if they're all young
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: women and they're the same demographic of people who follow her.
• 25:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: Well, I wonder if any disgruntled employees were involved in
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: the last scandal dropping around the dupe and maybe they
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: helped get that out into the public domain. Can we
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: get into my favorite claims which are being made? And
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: that is around a toilet scrubbing incident. So the workers
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: made claims about favoritism culture where employees were moved up
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: and down in the hierarchy. So They claimed if you
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: couldn't work overtime, you would automatically fall lower in rank.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: But if you did the right thing, you would fall
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: into her favorites category. And one of the most shocking
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: claims was that Matilda had her own private toilet. So
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: it was closed off to only her and her favorite employees.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: So in the documentary, they showed a photo that one
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: of the employees had secretly snapped of the toilet door.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: So it had this little handwritten sign on it that said,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: please don't use with a little love heart. Now, one day, allegedly,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: that sign fell off and an employee used the toilet
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: by mistake.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: They didn't understand the rules. Maybe they were new.
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: And when Matilda found out, she allegedly went nuts and
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: made another employee scrub the toilet before she would use
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: it again. Now, the employee said she doesn't even want
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: to use the same toilet as us. We're not people.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: We're not colleagues to her. Now, I have to say,
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: I think that she is.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: Taking this whole clean girl aesthetic to a whole new level,
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: having a separate toilet that your colleagues and team members
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: are not allowed to use. Look, unpopular opinion. In no
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: way do I think that this is correct. But I
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: would actually have loved to have my own toilet at
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: my work. Yeah, but I'm sure if a colleague accidentally
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: used it, you wouldn't scold them and then punish them
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: by making them scrub it clean. But even like from
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: having worked, Soph and I worked in newsrooms, it's not
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: as if the newsreaders have their own personal toilet. It's
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: not as if they think that they're better than everybody.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but is it in her office?
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: Like is it behind a glass door or something? No,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: my favourite part of this is that there's a note
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: with like a little patronising love heart on it that
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: they don't use. Can you imagine all of her favourites,
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: the look they would give everyone else when they go
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: up to use the toilet?
• 27:06
  Speaker 2: So is there a key for it? No, there wasn't
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: a key. It was just the sign.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: And I suppose also the alleged terror that she was
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: wreaking over the office that no one probably, like everyone
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: had been too scared to set foot in there. Do
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: you think someone's reverse canked at the toilet and that's
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: why she's gone? Well, as I can fuck you. They
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: always said how nervous they are. I'm assuming there were
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: a few nervous poos going on maybe when she.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: Came into the office.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: A bit of an irritable bowel going on in the toilet.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: There was clearly some unspoken rule like nobody's allowed to
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: do a number two in this toilet.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: Oh, my God.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: You're telling me though that all that fresh girl, healthy living,
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: all that matcha, they're not using that toilet for more
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: than a number one. Maybe that's why she had her own.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: That's why she wants it because she doesn't want it
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: getting out that she's done a big poo at work
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: and it going on TikTok. I'm sorry, but that's why.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Another startling claim that was made in this documentary was
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: accusations of fat phobia. So Jerf Avenue has always positioned
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: itself as a company that champions inclusion. And Matilda previously
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: told reporters that everyone is worth the same and everyone
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: has the right to be seen. Meanwhile, the employees who
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: spoke on camera claimed that Matilda allegedly refused to use
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: a photo of a plus size model saying, we have
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: to reshoot this because she looks so fucking fat in
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: these clothes. We can't show that. Now there were also
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: further claims of body shaming of employees. So one employee stated,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: To one person, she said that her butt didn't fill
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: out the jeans. And to another, she said her butt
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: filled up the jeans too much. So she was comparing
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: employees in different pairs of jeans. So it's got like
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: the Goldilocks. And one porridge was too hot, one was
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: too cold, and one was just right. I'm sorry, I
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: don't mean to laugh at this, but it's just absolutely insane.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: It's just like a movie. It's wonderful when somebody puts
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: across just such a different image online. Well, another employee
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: has also come out and said that employees were exploited
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: if they had an appearance that didn't fit the norm.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: So what she's saying there is that some employees who
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: were plus size or of a different ethnicity were They
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: were heavily featured on the company's social media accounts because
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: they thought it looked really good to be saying, oh,
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: we've got a very inclusive workforce here. But again, she
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: said it wasn't genuine. They didn't treat those people with respect.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: I'm actually not that surprised because I think if you
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: looked into a lot of other companies closer, you would
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: find that there's a lot of virtue signaling going on.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: And that's why people get frustrated by it because it
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: does seem just not genuine. And in this case, it
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: clearly isn't because this isn't something that she stands for. Yeah, now, allegedly.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: was notably absent from this documentary. We didn't hear from her.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: She didn't provide a statement for the documentary. And the
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: journalist Joanna said that she had barely started her investigation
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: when Jeff Avenue reached out to her questioning why she
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: had asked former employees about their working environment. Maybe one
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: of the girls that got the key to the toilet.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the snitch.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: Now, Joanna immediately suggested lining up an interview with Matilda
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: to share her side of the story. And the company
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: flat out said, Now, the journalist also mentioned in a
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: piece to camera in this documentary that the workplace problems
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: were well known to Jerp Avenue's HR and management team,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: yet nothing was done. She alleges when the employees spoke
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: to HR and the CEO, they said it's always been
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: like this and that's just the way it is. They
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: also allegedly retorted, what do you want us to do?
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: We can't fire Matilda. So is Matilda just the founder
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: of the company or does she actually have a specific
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: role within it? Well, a lot of publications are reporting
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: that she's the CEO, but she is actually the co-founder.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: So they've employed someone else to act as the CEO.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: Probably a wise move. Most people would do that and
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: employ a CEO. I know at Kik... Their co-founder, Laura Henshaw,
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: is actually the CEO, which makes more sense because she
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: has got a background in law and she's very intelligent.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: But I actually think listening to her podcast recently that
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: she's going to handle that job onto someone else and
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: focus on because her days look so stressful. Whenever she
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: posts about them, I'm like, God, she works hard. We're
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: getting back to Jeff Avenue. I was so enraged when
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: I heard that HR just stood back and did nothing
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: for these employees, particularly if you look at Amy and
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: my story, we had terrible treatment from the HR team
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: at our former employer. And a lot of the time, unfortunately,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: they are just there to protect the employer and not
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: the employee. So it made me so sad to see
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: that these women, these young women had come forward trying
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: to make change in this awful and toxic workplace environment,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: and they were just ignored. And I just want to
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: say it's so brave that they've actually found the courage
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: to come out and make these claims, particularly against someone
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: who is so powerful. And the best thing is that
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: the reaction has been so good from the public. People
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: are believing these women and people are going, fuck you, Matilda,
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to follow you. Well, Matilda did release
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: a statement acknowledging the seriousness of the claims. So she
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: apologized for any negative experiences her employees had endured and
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: expressed her commitment to fostering a respectful workplace. She said,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: she continued, she continued, It was never my intention to
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: contribute to a work environment that negatively affects anyone. And
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: I am sorry that there are employees who have had
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: such experiences. She also went on to say that she
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: didn't recognize herself in the claims and is choosing not
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: to comment on individual cases. She said, however, I think
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: it's valuable that this is highlighted as it gives both
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: me and Jeff Avenue the opportunity to develop and become better.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: I want to emphasize that I take my responsibility and
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: see this as an opportunity to reflect develop and contribute
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: to a better culture for all my employees at Jerf Avenue.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: I will work actively with my leadership and among other things,
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: continue to receive support from a coach. The Swedish publication
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: also spoke to the COO of Jerf Avenue, Pernilla Bonny,
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: who said the company is aware of areas in need
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: of development, including leadership. Bonny also confirmed that Matilda does
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: have a private toilet, describing it as a measure to
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: help keep the influencer healthy. She said our office makes
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: it possible to offer this solution without affecting other employees,
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: access to facilities and that the note will remain in place.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: She also clarified that she believes it's not reasonable that
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: an employee had to clean a bathroom outside their job description.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: She said she wants to make it clear that such
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: a situation should never occur. So I can't get my
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: head around this toilet business. So Are you telling me
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: that there's a row of cubicles and there's a sign
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: on one door that says no one else is allowed
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: to use it or is there in a private room?
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: It's separate. It's a private room.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: Far away from the other toilets? Well, I'm not 100%
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: sure of the absolute proximity, but we just saw a
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: white door that wasn't a cubicle door, but a white
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: separate toilet door. Is it the disabled toilet that she's
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: taken over? I'm not sure. I want to know if
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: this has happened in any other people's workplace. Surely not.
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: Are there private toilets in other businesses?
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, what also really stood out to me
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: about Matilda's statement is that she didn't really refute any
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: of the claims.
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: No.
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: She just sort of acknowledged them. I mean- To me,
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: that screams that all of this happened, allegedly. And it's like,
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: it wasn't my intention to make people feel bad. It's
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: a pretty poor response, isn't it? It wasn't my intention
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: to be a total jerk and terrorize the office. Do
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: you guys think she'll be able to come back from this? Well,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: since the scandal broke, some of Matilda's most devoted fans
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: have vowed to boycott Jerf Avenue. So there's all these
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: videos of young women wearing the signature dressing gown that
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: are going viral, and they're asking their audience, what they're
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: planning on doing with all of their Jerf Avenue items now.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: And underneath one of these videos, I thought it was
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: very telling because a follower wrote, I have so many
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: items from her and I love my tote bag because
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: it was so big, but it says Jerf Avenue on it.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: So I'm embarrassed to wear it. Does that mean some
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: of these fruit dressing gowns are going on?
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: You can probably get a dupe from somewhere else.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but it's kind of like when Chloe Zep, everyone
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: was selling their stuff or burning their Zep stuff. You
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: don't want to be seen in it. No, you don't.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: But I mean, I'm not going out in public and
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: addressing it. Still a cute dressing gown. I mean, I
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: don't want to support her, but I'll get one dirt cheap.
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: I was really intrigued to see how this scandal actually
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: affected her follower count because since then on Instagram, she's
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: lost over 50,000 followers and on her Jerf Instagram account,
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: she's lost 12,000. That's not heaps considering that she has
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: 4 million.
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: Well, it hasn't actually even affected her TikTok following. So
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: she's continuing to steadily gain followers like normal. Her accounts
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: have been flooded though with fans expressing their disappointment. So
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: One fan wrote, unfortunately, unfollowing. Terrible behavior of you. If
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: you can't see your employees as fellow humans, how are
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: you supposed to see your fans as one? Exposing others
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: to bullying and harassment is completely mindless. Remember, we are
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: living in the year 2024. You need to take responsibility
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: for your behavior and get down to earth a bit.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: I think the reason why we haven't seen more people
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: unfollow Matilda Jurf is because she is one of those
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: huge influencers, a bit like Kim Kardashian, where people we'll
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: just follow her because she's a huge influencer. Maybe a
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: lot of hate followers as well now. Yeah, and they're
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: not as invested in her life. I think a large
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: amount of the people who have unfollowed her are the
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: diehard Matilda Gere fans, which actually speaks volumes because they're saying,
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: I'm not putting up with this shit. I actually follow
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: you and used to respect you and now I've hit unfollow.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: Those are the unfollows that are going to be most
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: damaging to her and her brand because those are the
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: people that actually genuinely convert to sales. And also I
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: have noticed a trend recently We spoke about it probably
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: months ago now on the podcast, but a lot of
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: people who end up trolling influencers were once fans of
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: those influencers. And as soon as that parasocial relationship started, changes.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: Because a lot of people are like, wow, we thought
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: we knew her, but she's totally different. And they will
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: then turn into the people that investigate her every move
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: and talk about her and how to like- Because they
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: know a lot about her.
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: They've got ammo.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: And they essentially probably now want to continue to bring
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: her down. The whole thing is quite comical in the
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: sense that people are like, she's not what I thought
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: she would be like. What some absolute glamazon girl who
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: is rich and has everything that she wants isn't a
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: nice person. I am utterly shocked. Well, that's what it
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: comes across like a high school bully. Like someone who
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: thinks that they're better than everyone. The whole clean girl
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: aesthetic too thing is quite funny with this toilet scandal
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: because it is like everyone else is so filthy. I
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: need my clean space away from everyone. I think it
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: is too soon to know the financial hit that this
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: is going to have on Jeff Avenue. I really don't
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: know how they can come back from this and rebuild
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: because as we've said, it's at the point where it's
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: embarrassing if you look like you're publicly supporting this brand
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: and their designs are so recognizable. Yeah, but scandals happen
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: so quickly, especially on TikTok. Like this will probably be
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: forgotten by next month. I think Jeff Avenue will be
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: known as a mean girl brand from now on. Yeah,
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: people aren't going to buy into their shit as well,
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: like all their virtue signaling. Because before it's, oh, it's
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: about inclusion and I mean, I think Gen Zers in
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: particular are very ethical when it comes to the brands
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: that they want to support and they don't want to,
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: particularly the fat phobic claims as well. But see, I
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: think it's outrage culture and people go, I don't really
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: like that. Well, that's where we're going to leave things today.
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: If you do love the show, please leave us a review.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: And on Thursday, we'll be back in your ears with
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: our Christmas special with Leah Edsina. So I'm very excited
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: for that one.
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: Yes, it's a good one.
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: This episode was recorded on the traditional land of the
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains. We pay respect to
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: elders past and present.