Influencer Emma Chamberlain left fans stunned when her website popped up to offer a personalized thank you message from the fashionista for a whopping $10,000.
The 21-year-old internet personality rose to stardom after vlogging about her life on YouTube and in 2019 was ranked as one of Time’s ’25 Most Influential People on the Internet’.
But the California native flummoxed social media users, what appeared to be a screenshot of her site surfaced on Twitter, offering a “personal thank you note from Emma on Instagram DM.”
Social media went wild when the screenshot surfaced, with reactions ranging from shock that Emma, who has 12 million YouTube subscribers, would charge so much, to judgment that anyone would offer to pay for it.
However, her representatives have since clarified that the claim that Emma is charging $10,000 for direct messages is “false and inaccurate.”
The 21-year-old internet personality rose to stardom after vlogging about her life on YouTube.
‘Why is Emma Chamberlain charging 10K for an Instagram DM? This is wild,” asked a surprised poster.
Another fan added: “It’s crazy that he did this but we need to see who paid the fee because they clearly have too much money on their hands.”
’10k?! All she did was obsess people with coffee and lip balm (it’s only fair that she’s in the fashion world now, but still), this is insane! one exclaimed.
A third quipped: ‘Okay! They are only 902 per month if you pay in installments.
In shock, another Tweet simply read: ‘what.’
However, Cozack, Inc., Emma’s ‘merch company’, has responded to the allegations, saying false information has been spread to the news outlets.
They also insisted that it originated from an ‘outrageous’ reward level that was never intended to be active or public, and stemmed from evidence Emma was unaware of.
A statement from the brand, which appears if you try to access Emma’s site, reads: ‘There have been false and inaccurate claims that Emma Chamberlain was offering direct messages in exchange for $10k.
‘As background in 2018, Cozack (Emma’s merch company) was testing a possible rewards program related to Emma’s Merch without her knowledge.
However, Cozack, Inc., Emma’s ‘merch company’, has responded to the allegations, saying false information has been spread to the news outlets.
Social media went wild when the screenshot surfaced, with reactions ranging from shock that Emma, who has 12 million YouTube subscribers, would charge so much, to judgment that anyone would offer to pay for it.
“In testing, they created an outrageous, never activated reward level that was not meant to be active or purchased.
“Emma never executed these bounty ideas, as they were not meant to be available for sale or bounty, but simply for internal testing purposes.
“What we suspect is that the data was triggered and crawled by Google’s SEO indexing system and discovered by an individual who then began spreading false information to the news media.
‘This was never made public, and certainly never planned to be sold or bought. The trial program could never be discovered on the home page or product listing site, which is another reason Emma was unaware of this.
‘With the internet’s tendency to create false narratives around sensational stories, we wanted to bring you the truth first hand and from the source.
Emma also has her own brand of coffee, Chamberlain Coffee, and a podcast, called Anything Goes.
Now considered a celebrity in her own right, she has rubbed shoulders with a number of celebrities and in the past sat front row at Paris Fashion Week.
‘The site is currently down for internal review.’
Emma also has her own brand of coffee, Chamberlain Coffee, and a podcast, called Anything Goes.
The Gen Z influencer went from total obscurity, where her first and only follower was her father, to being credited for spawning a whole new aesthetic on social media.
Instead of hyper-produced, stylized videos edited and shot by a crew, Emma’s uploads give followers a glimpse of normal life as a “normal” person.
She is now considered a celebrity in her own right, having rubbed shoulders with a number of celebrities and in the past sat front row at Paris Fashion Week.
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Emma and Cozack, Inc. for comment.
Last year Emma showed her Los Angeles mansion – a laid-back hippie modern oasis with everything from $31,000 statement chandeliers to $13 cork wall tiles – for a function with architectural compendium.
She designed the house in collaboration with Ashley Drost and Marie Trohman of Proem Studio.
The sprawling mid-century abode high in the Santa Monica Mountains in Beverly Hills, which was built in the 1950s, features five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a walk-in closet, and a large pool.