Dance influencer Jade Adams has hit back at cruel ‘body shaming’ trolls after finding herself at the centre of a huge online controversy this week.
The 27-year-old social media star from the Central Coast was shocked when a video of herself dancing in public was shared on Instagram page Influencers In The Wild.
The account is known for its satirical way of poking fun at influencers who film in public places. This week, the account shared a video of Jade filming in a remote park.
But the online creator soon found herself embroiled in a body shaming row as internet trolls began commenting en masse on her appearance in the comments.
Feminist writer Clementine Ford was among those who supported her and criticised the “gross assholes” who ridiculed her and left “body shaming” comments under her post.
Jade, who goes by the Instagram handle chubbybellyredhead, has responded to the outrage, admitting she was “shocked” to discover someone had been “watching” her and filming her without her knowledge.
Speaking exclusively to Ny Breaking Australia, she shared: ‘I’m a bit shocked, I guess! I’m always out there and I love filming in public, obviously not in anyone’s way, but it still ended up on the paper, which was strange. I was very shocked by it.’
“I just laughed about it. I was scrolling through my reels and I was like, ‘Wait, that’s me.’ I checked my messages and I had tons of people sending it to me,” she continued.
Influencer Jade Adams has hit back at cruel ‘body shaming’ trolls after she found herself at the centre of a huge online controversy this week
The 27-year-old influencer was shocked when a video of herself dancing in public was shared on the Instagram page Influencers In The Wild, and the post prompted comments mocking herself.
“It’s weird knowing that I was being filmed without knowing. It’s going to be weird doing it again without feeling like I’m being watched, but I think the more I do it, the easier it gets. I just need to get back out there.”
Jade, who earns a five-figure monthly salary online, admitted it wasn’t “easy” reading the unkind comments and criticized strangers for making assumptions about her body.
However, she praised those who defended her during the body-shaming controversy and said it was a change to receive so much support from other women.
“I usually get a lot of bad comments, but it seemed like I got a lot of support there. It was definitely a turnaround because I think people are really confused about why people don’t hate me and support me because I’m big,” she said.
“They say something like ‘if she was a skinny person, everyone would laugh at her.’ It’s just funny to read the comments and see what people really think.”
“I’ve had a lot of support and messages telling me to keep doing my thing, which is great. But the comments calling me a whale and all that stuff, I’m used to that,” she continued.
“It’s not easy, but I want to inspire other people, especially bigger women, because it’s hard to put yourself out there online and just get hate. It scares a lot of people.”
Jade gave an insight into the cruel comments she has previously received online and said she has had to delete some of them to avoid upsetting her loved ones.
“People tell me all the time that I’m going to die by the time I’m 30, when I’ve been pretty big my whole life,” she continued.
“I exercise every day, I’m healthy, but people just make assumptions. Those are the assumptions that I sometimes remove because if my parents saw that, they would be very upset.”
Responding to the outcry, Jade admitted it wasn’t “easy” reading the unkind and body-shaming comments from cruel trolls and criticised strangers for making assumptions about her body.
Jade says she doesn’t worry about the online comments because people never say it to her face when she thinks back to the years she was bullied at school.
“I was bullied a lot at school and the online comments don’t really affect me because they don’t talk to me directly, they just record me,” she says.
I think the person [who filmed me] Either they thought I was really confident and good at what I did or they made fun of me, but I’ll never know. I just try to look at it positively, otherwise it affects me.’
Although the video was shared on the satirical page Influencers In The Wild, Jade stressed that she is not ashamed of filming in public, as it is her job.
Jade shared that she makes as much as $20,000 a month from her accounts on OnlyFans, Instagram and TikTok.
She started her online career in October 2022 after realizing that she could make a living from her content. She has since put her nursing studies on hold to focus on her lucrative business.
“I was in nursing school. I’ve been doing it for two years now and I just started camming and doing other things online. Then I realized I could make money doing it. I was actually making more money than I was doing as a nurse,” she explains.
“So I thought I should take a break from it because it’s wearing me out, my nursing degree, and I wanted to make as much money as possible.”
Jade revealed that she makes a whopping $20,000 a month from her OnlyFans, Instagram and TikTok accounts and that she has paused her nursing studies to focus on her business
Jade is staying positive despite all the trolling, saying she is focused on inspiring others to follow their dreams, no matter what their shape or size.
“I want to show everyone that they can do whatever they want, no matter their size or whether people tear them down. Whether you make money online or not, it’s everyone’s place to share, dance and do whatever they want,” she said.
“I’m trying to reduce the stigma around it and everything. A lot of people say to me, ‘Are you sure you could go back?’ [to nursing]?” But if I’m told I can’t do it, that’s really discriminatory and I would probably just change jobs.
“I used to be a veterinary assistant, so I have qualifications and can do whatever I want to make a living.”
She also urged her “haters” to follow her on Instagram, where she already has more than 168,000 followers, assuring them that her dance videos will make them “happy.”