February 3, 2025 • 38 mins
Australia’s biggest ever influencer scandal is playing out in real time. Beloved TikToker and Only Fans creator Anna Paul’s reputation is in tatters, following explosive claims made in a 8 minute video by her former friend and fellow creator, Mikaela Testa. The bust-up has been dominating Millennial and GenZers ForYou pages - with the level of the scandal being compared to the 2019 Tatti Westbroke and James Charles drama.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Before we get into the show, we want to point
out we recorded this episode yesterday afternoon, just before Anna
Paul released her response to Mikayla Tester's allegations on TikTok.
We will be delving into Anna's response in more detail
on Friday's show. It's important to point out that Anna
has denied body shaming a fan. She also said stories
about her family's wealth have been greatly exaggerated and has
(00:23):
called on social media users to end the hate and bullying,
saying it's all Internet fun until someone dies. Hello and
welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the hottest influencer
and pop culture news twice a week. I'm Sophie Torba
and on today's show, we're going to be diving into
the Anna pol and Mikayla testers scandal. But first, Kate,
(00:45):
you're back in the studio following your snake drama. Everyone
wants a bit of an update. What's been a week
and the snake still has not emerged. So we have
had a net setup over the retaining wall that it
went into, and we were told that it should be
out within twenty four to four hours, but to give
it a week just in case. So we're at the
stage where we're like, do we take the snake net?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
That snake is long gone? Okay?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Does he come back and get the net? Is that
just he gives it away for free? Well, we did
pay one hundred and eighty dollars for the snake catcher
to come and not catch any snake, so I suppose
it's for free. You've been sending me these hilarious snapchats
of our mum going over to help you out with
Jack and she's out hanging your laundry. But she's got
a whistle in her mouth. She's been like hoping the
vibrations of the whistle will keep any snakes away from her.
(01:28):
It was so funny because I thought she was just
gonna blow the whistle once and then go outside. However,
she blew it the whole time she was outside continuously. Yeah,
she looked like Terry Cruz from White Cheeks, you know
that SCENEA in the nightclub and he's got that whistle
in his mouth. A day for the Australians. Let's go,
(01:50):
Mikayla Testa and Nepaul, We're on. This is our James Charles,
Jeffrey Star, Tati Westbrook, moment. All right, this is drama
getting Bogan version Australia's big US influencer scandal is playing
out in real time. Beloved TikToker and Only Fans creator
Anna Poul's reputation is in tatters following explosive claims made
(02:10):
in an eight minute video by her former friend and
fellow creator Mikayla Tester.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
The bust up has.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Been dominating Millennial and jen Zetters for You pages, with
the level of the scandal being compared to the twenty
nineteen Taddy Westbrook and James Charles drama. Now, before we
get into the scandal, Kate, can you bring listeners up
to speed on who Anna and Mikayla are and how
they're connected.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
So we have spoken a lot about Anna Paul on
this podcast, but for new listeners, she is one of
Australia's biggest influencers. She has over seven million followers on
TikTok and two million on Instagram. Well she did she
used to? Yeah, now to give you an insight into
just how big she is. In twenty twenty two, she
shut down Perth CBD when she did a meet and
(02:53):
greet and at the end of twenty twenty three, she
launched her own skincare brand, Pauli's Skin, which sold out instantly.
Now her fan base is predominantly young females who follow
her daily vlogs where she spreads messages about kindness and
body positivity. Ironically, there is a large portion of her
followers who are completely unaware that she also runs a
(03:13):
very successful OnlyFans account where she shares explicit content. And
I think a lot of their parents are unaware. Yeah,
she does also share any fans content. Also, when you
say that her audience is predominantly young females, I have
to point out they're mostly schoolgirls. Yeah, And if you
read Anna's comments on TikTok, there are a lot of
people that are completely surprised when they find out she
(03:34):
has an OnlyFans account, in saying that she is one
of the nation's top earners on the platform. Before she
launched her skincare range, the AFR estimated she earned two
hundred and twenty thousand dollars a month on OnlyFans. As
for Mikayla Tester, she is also a top earner on OnlyFans.
Is estimated she earns around one hundred and sixty thousand
(03:54):
dollars a month on the platform, so slightly less than
Anna Paul. She also has close to nine hundred followers
on Instagram and two point four million on TikTok. Now,
Mikayla and Anna have been friends for years, and they
became particularly close when Michayla started dating Anna's brother Adis
in twenty nineteen. Now they ended up breaking up in
June twenty twenty two, but Mikayla and Anna continue to
(04:17):
publicly stay friends. They left a lot of supportive messages
on each other's social media accounts and everything seemed okay
between them. Yeah, and when Mikayla was dating Addis, the
pol family really took her in as one of their own,
and Anna even referred to Michayla as her sister. And
I remember when they broke up, Mikayla was particularly upset
because she was no longer a member of the family.
(04:37):
It wasn't just all about Addis, and I think that's
because Michayla has been very open about her fractured relationship
with her own family. They disowned her when she started
only fans when she was a teenager pretty much, so
the Pole family has been a second family to her
and just recently in December, Michayla shared a video where
she said her family had failed her in the worst
(04:59):
way you could possibly imagine. So she alleged that she
was abused by two much older male family members when
she was a child, which is just horrific to hear,
and it kind of gives you an insight into her
mindset at the moment. She clearly is looking to open
up about a lot of things that have gone on
in her life. Allegedly. It seemed like for quite a
number of years that Mikhayla Tessa really wanted to get
(05:21):
back together with Adams Pole. She created a lot of
content around it, but last year she actually made a
new guy. They have since gone on to get engaged.
She's an American body builder called Maxwell Krause. He also
has quite a large following on social media. She seems
very happy with him, and I think Mikayla being in
this happy relationship has a lot to do with the
timing of why these allegations are coming out, because it's
(05:42):
clear that she is at a place now where she
feels comfortable enough to start speaking on this topic and
safe and supported clearly too. So now that we are
up to speed. Let's get into this scandal. So the
drama kicked off last weekend after Anna Paul told her
followers she would be randomly gifting new subscribers to her
Only Fans account cash rewards. Now, this isn't something new,
(06:05):
so Anna has used similar incentives for her followers to
promote her skin care line poorly and also her Only
Fans account in the past.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Anna went on to.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Share screenshots from various followers who she'd ended up sending
two hundred to one thousand dollars to as a cashback reward. Now.
Last Monday, Mikayla Tester weighed in, writing on her Instagram story,
if you have to incentivize people to buy your exclusive
website by running cash giveaways on there and then posting
screenshots of your Instagram so your underage followers spend ten
(06:36):
dollars to hopefully win one thousand, you're basically running an
illegal lottery and taking advantage of children. Its growth. While
she didn't initially name Anna, it was pretty clear who
she was talking about, and eight hours later she decided
to go one step further and name Anna, writing I'm
speaking on this because it's not only horrible. But every
(06:56):
time Anna pulls one of these cash giveaway money grabs,
my dms are filled with hundreds of people asking me
for funds, slash help with all sorts of devastating things
because they're at a loss for her. If your OnlyFans
isn't selling and you need to pull cash grabs just
to get subs or sell your skincare, then you need
to reevaluate. Stop using and manipulating less fortunate people into
(07:19):
sending their last ten dollars because you're promising the chance
at more. I've had enough and I wish more people
called a spade for a spade.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
This is exploitation. I was really shocked.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
When I saw this pop up because I was under
the impression that Mikayla and Anna were still friends. Well
I think Anna was under that impression because Anna actually
commented on Mikayla's recent photo, which was uploaded on the Monday,
saying sexy. Anna must have been unaware because that same day,
Mikayla had unfollowed her on Instagram. Anna still does follow
her and follows her to this day. Well, Anna didn't
(07:51):
respond to Mikayla's call out, but she ended up deleting
Instagram stories which related to the giveaway, and she said
in her daily vlog on TikTok, this.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Thinks in my room that make me happy when I'm sad.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Anna looked visibly upset in this log. And this is
the last log that she has posted on TikTok since
this scandal. Yeah, so, on Wednesday, things escalated even further
when Michayla uploaded an explosive eight minute expose on Anna
to TikTok. My jaw dropped when I saw this video.
The way Michayla began the video was so sensationalized, and
(08:27):
the allegations just went on and on. It almost felt
like something we shouldn't be watching. Let's have a listen
to how Michayla began the video.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
There's a lot of things wrong with Anna Paul. It's
way easier to hate me for calling her out when
she's wrong than accepting that the Anna you guys love
and idolize so much she never existed.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
You don't know her. You don't know her like I
know her.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
You have never met her, and if you have, it's
nothing more than a five second sulfie. These people that
watch her don't know the another I know they know
the other Anna, the one she wears when the camera
starts rolling.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
The opening line line of this video has become a
trending sound on TikTok. It shows what a savvy TikTok
creator Mikayla is. Though she knew exactly which notes to
hit with that well, she was clearly reading a written
statement as well. It's not like she just jumped on
her stories and said whatever she felt like and clicked
up load. And I think that's why people took it
so seriously, because this was obviously something that was very considered.
(09:21):
It's very different to the other video she has put
out there, and she made some very big accusations against
not only Anna, but Anna's brother Adams Paul, who is
Mikayla's ex boyfriend. The allegations level to Addis Paul are
extremely serious in nature, and due to legal reasons, we
will not be delving into those. We will be discussing
the allegations leveled at Anna to do with her public
(09:43):
persona though, and we do want to reiterate that the
allegations Mickayla made are unfounded and are yet to be
proven to be true. So we're not saying that they
are true, but we're just simply reporting on what Michayla
has alleged.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
In the eight minute video, Michayla spoke in more depth
about Anna's cash giveaway, and she likened the giveaways entry
mechanism to that of a lottery. She also alleged that
it was unethical for Anna to direct her underage fan
base to her only fans platform in order to enter
the giveaway. Here's more of what she said.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Anna's performative generosity like hiding money in cities or dishing
out giveaways behind a pay wall reek of superiority, watching
her fans scramble over scraps, fighting each other because they
need these funds while she films it, flaunt her designer labels,
endless holidays, and material excess. This is dystopian and out
of touch. Anna is praying on the vulnerability and desperation
(10:36):
of impressionable young fans for her profit under the disguise
of self love, empowerment, and giving back. Ana may give
back to the odd few people who she can post
on an Instagram story for more promotion, and but everyone
else falls short. Anna, if you truly wanted to give
back to your fans, you would use a free platform
such as your giant Instagram page with over two point
four million followers, or if you truly wanted to give
(10:59):
back to your ofs subscribers, you would do it privately
within that platform. By posting ig stories advertising that you're
sending money to subscribers, you are directly trying to lure
new customers over to your page, a page which costs
sixteen dollars to access. This sixteen dollars is essentially a
lottery ticket.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
I was interested to know more about the legalities of
Anna's cash giveaway.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And what I found was it really is a great area.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
So from what I can establish, it depends whether Anna's
giveaway fits under the category of a cash back offer
or a lottery.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
And because Anna.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Didn't specifically sell tickets, or organize dates or even set
rules for her giveaway, by definition, it doesn't technically fit
into the category of a lottery. What it does fit
into is the a Triple c's definition of a cash
back offer. So from what I can gauge, it doesn't
appear that Anna has broken any rules. However, moving forward,
(11:54):
I think a lot of influencers are going to be
really careful about doing online giveaways because it is such
a great area. Well, we have seen recently Adrian Portelli,
who's known as the Lambeau guy or that guy that
buys all the properties on the blog. He also actually
dated Mikayla Tester for a short period of time during
her breakup with Adams Paul I totally forgot about that. Well.
He was recently charged with conducting an unlawful lottery in
(12:16):
South Australia in December last year. So essentially the way
his business works is people sign up to a membership
to receive shopping discounts and as part of the membership offering,
members are also granted entry into monthly draws for cash
and prizes. And the law states that any lottery that
is not licensed in the state is unlawful and organizes
(12:36):
face a maximum penalty of ten thousand dollars. So the
bow you're trying to draw here is that Adrian has
been asking his audience to basically subscribe and become members
to a shopping discount page which is totally unrelated to
the lottery, which is somewhat similar to Anna asking her
followers to sign up and become members of her OnlyFans
account in order to win money.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
That is totally.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Uncommon entry mechanism. You just got to dot the i's
and cross the t's and make sure your teas and
seeds match up with what you do. The issue is
Anna didn't have any terms in conditions, and I think
this is why so many consumers might have felt misled. Yeah,
I think there's going to be a lot of influencers
taking note and making sure that they actually have te's
and ce's moving forward, because I think social media is
a little bit of a wild West with competitions, and
(13:19):
people don't generally think that they're going to be cracked
down on or even Aside from the legalities, I think
Mikhayla also raised an important question around the ethics and
appropriateness of marketing OnlyFans accounts to underage followers, because this
is essentially what Anna was doing, and she has made
it very clear that a large percentage of her audience
(13:39):
are under eighteen, and if you look at her TikTok content,
it very much appeals to an underage audience. I mean,
there's been a lot of discussion on TikTok since this
scandal hit that Anna speaks quite often in a baby
voice in her videos, and you know she lives with
her mum and dad. She calls the mamma and Papa.
It's all quite I don't say juvenile, but it is
(13:59):
very childlike the way she acts on that. Yeah, and
she has been accused of glamorizing sex work to her
underage followers and one really popular sex worker on TikTok,
Kayla Jade, she wad into it, and she didn't specifically
name Anna, but she told her followers it's important for
sex workers to be mindful of the content they create
so there's no confusion around it. She said, there's nothing
(14:21):
morally wrong with being a sex worker and wanting to
promote it online, but there is a problem when it's
exposed to the wrong audience. So she likened this to
horror movies. She said, there's nothing wrong with enjoying horror movies,
but would you show Texas chainsaw massacre to a room
full of preschool kids. Kayla also made a really great
point about the need for creators to be mindful and
consistent across all platforms so their audiences are aware of
(14:45):
what they're consuming.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Let's have a listen to what she said.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
The majority of my audience is twenty five to thirty
five because it's clear exactly what I do and I'm
not trying to target a younger audience. Your audience is
constantly under the age of eighteen and you're in SW
have to reassess what you're doing, and it is your
responsibility to fix it. Can neither change your content to
be more appropriate for a younger audience, you stop promoting
SW content on all platforms, or make the changes necessary
(15:11):
to ensure your marketing to an adult audience. Parents also,
should we be leaving their kids on supervised online because
just like the engineer, they're going to see some shit
they probably shouldn't. There are so many people in my
space that do things that are crossing a line and
don't sit right with me, and it can be frustrating
because it brings negative attention to the whole industry.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
There's been so many people weighing into the Anna Pole situation,
and in this case, I think it's really important to
hear the perspective of someone who not only works as
a sex worker as well, but works in the TikTok space,
so to hear that she has a direct strategy with
the content that she's putting out making sure that it
is appropriate for her target demographic. I think is really interesting.
I think the big difference between Kayla and Anna's content
(15:50):
is that Anna puts out a very glamorous view of
being a sex worker. So if you look at her tiktoks,
it's all about her jetting around the world, which's eating
in glamorous restaurants, driving luxury cars. Money clearly isn't an
issue for her, and her fan base is predominantly teenagers
who would be lapping up this type of content. They
want to live the life that Anna Paul lives. But
(16:11):
when you look at Kayla's content, she's done a really
good job of not romanticizing sex work. I mean, she
has said that she believes it's important to also show
the unflattering.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Side, and she does that.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
She tells some pretty full on stories, which makes it
not the most appealing job to have. However, you would
see being a sex worker as the most glamorous thing
ever long. Anna's one thing that Kayla does do is
she does often count words of cash that she's made
from the night before to start her videos. But then
you hear the reality of how she has got that money,
and as you said, Amy some of these stories. I mean,
(16:42):
the reason she's so popular is because these stories have
you on the edge of your seat.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
But it doesn't glamorize it. It just portrays the reality.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
When you look at Kayla's content, it is clearly aimed
at eighteen plus. She is pretty consistent with the type
of content she shares. You would look at Anna's TikTok
and be unaware that she actually was on OnlyFans. But
is that because the algorithm punishes creators who do try
and push people from Instagram or TikTok to OnlyFans? Because
(17:11):
I've noticed that a lot of OnlyFans creators they have
to use specific language like oh spicy content and really
play around with it to suggest people to go onto
their part. But also, because Anna is a sex worker,
does that mean that she doesn't have another life? Like,
does this mean that she has She isn't allowed to
travel and have a glamorous life, and she isn't allowed
to be a nice person.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
She is breaking down the stigma that.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
A sex worker has particular personality. Actually, at all of
the characters, I agree, she's doing a really good job
at breaking down the stigma. But she can't be relying
on her underage audience to bump up her OnlyFans earnings,
and if you look at OnlyFans as rules, it states
that users must agree they are eighteen years or older
before they're able to purchase any explicit content. I feel
(17:55):
like the word that they must agree is important because.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
This site is not fool proof.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Miners are lying about their age and falsifying their age
in order to gain access to it. It's pretty similar
to social media platforms where kids are pretending that they're
older in order to get them. Now, let's get back
into Mikayla's allegations. So she really hit Anna wear her?
She alleged that Anna doesn't care about her fans and
that the way she presents herself publicly is very different
(18:20):
to the real Anna. This is some of what she said.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
Everything Anna does is calculated, but she masks the manipulation
extremely well with an innocent, sweet girl facade. Your fans
mean nothing to you, just like the animals you buy
and palm off to others watching you be praised online
for being kind and caring, But behind the facade.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Lived an evil person.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
All while I'm receiving hate because I didn't create content
like you everything people accuse me of being is exactly
who you are. That was just the beginning of the
pot that started boiling within me.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
I find it really interesting that Mikayla has brought up
Anna's pets. We all know that Anna travels the world,
yet her pets have become a huge part of her
personal brand. So she has a number of hairless cats
who remain at home for most of the time. There
is a bit of a question mark over who actually
looks after these pets whilst they're traveling all year. And
to say that your fans and also your animals mean
(19:14):
nothing to you is a really big thing to say
to someone like Anna Paul who has based this online
brand about being kind. And you know, if someone can't
be kind to animals, that does say a lot more
about them. It just shows how much this video went
there because literally every aspect of Anna was being put
onto the microscope and criticized. Well, she really did go
for the jugular, particularly when she started talking about Anna's
(19:36):
messaging around body positivity and saying that essentially she was
virtue signaling and doing it for clout. She then recounted
a time Anna met a fan saying.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
This Anna, Remember about god awful trend of people posting
photos of influencers that they would and wouldn't feel comfortable
wearing a bikini around. Remember those slide shows people would
make with everyone in the family of all of you
being labeled as safe and my photo was at the
and marked as I would never feel safe in a
bikinia around Michaela. Meanwhile, right before these videos were trending,
in twenty twenty one, on the South Bank Bridge, when
(20:07):
you were peak body positivity, love yourself version of Anna,
a plus sized fan came up to you and asked
for a hug in a picture.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
You smiled at her. You told her that you loved her.
She told you how.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Your words online have helped her be more comfortable in
her body. The moment she walked away, you told Adis
that she was annoying and gross and you didn't want
to agree to the hug because she was fat and
sweaty Adis laughed.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
These were your words, Anna, I heard them. Things like
this were a common occurrence.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
It was really sad because after Mickayla made these claims,
there were a number of women on tik tok who
created videos where they shared their fan photos with Anna
and they were saying, oh my god, I hope that
this wasn't about me, and they then retold their story
of meeting her. And as I said earlier, it's clear
how strategic Michayla has been with this messaging because it
(20:56):
kind of reminds me of me and girls when Caddie
Harring hits were you in George where it hurts you
know her man Candy and hers like. It's literally she's
gone body positivity, her fans, her pets, like everything that
we like about Anna she's saying is not true. And
this is how I'm going to show you it's not
true and prove it. Because a lot of people want
(21:17):
to meet Anna Paul. She's shut down Perth CBD. And
it's an experience that you always remember and you think,
oh my god, it was so great. When I met her,
she was just like she is on TikTok. But then
to hear the conversation that occurs will allegedly occurred after
she met a fan, it just hits you viscerally because
you're like, I cannot imagine having such a positive experience
(21:37):
but then having it completely altered. Hearing the reality of
what happened afterwards. Well, on the Mean Girl's comparison, somebody
said it reminds them of when Regina George would compliment
someone on their tartan skirt or their bracelet and then
be like, that's the fuggliest thing I've ever seen. An
accusation that's been gaining a lot of traction on TikTok
Is around Anna's upbringing. So Mikayla alleged that Anna lied
(21:59):
about it. So she has spoken in depth on her
social media channels about supposedly growing up poor, and I
think that this has been a big part of her appeal.
This Rags to Rich's story because it's kept her relatable
because even though we see her documenting this very lavish
lifestyle online, we're reminded by the fact that this is
the first time she's experiencing it because she grew up
(22:20):
with no Christmas presents and her family lived in a
very humble house. People feel happy for her that she's
able to gain this success, particularly when she gives her
parents very lavish things that she positions that they couldn't
afford and that she wants to spoil them.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Well.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
According to Mikayla, she says that Anna allegedly grew up
in an upper middle class family. Here's some of what
she said.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
Their dad, making triple the average Australian income per week
had them living in a beautiful house on the water
with a built in pool. I've seen the house in person.
It's beautiful. Being upper middle class is not being poor, Anna,
Your exaggerated stories for the Internet has always made your
dad upset and me well, just angry, real victim of
the system and poverty like you portrayed yourself online.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
Remember that time when he called you out in the
living room.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
He didn't understand why you would post such things and
he called them liars. But you need the story faking
your poverty so people excuse your schemes and wealth and
feel bad for you. Every calculated story is serving such
an important role in supporting the other lies this web
you're weaving to entrapt these people's pity.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
These allegations have led to a lot of people going
back and doing their own research. I've seen some TikTokers
finding real estate dot Com listings of the house that
Anna allegedly grew up in, showing that.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
It was a beautiful house on the water front, two.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Million dollar house. Somebody has alleged these are allegations. We
don't know how true they are. Everyone's turned into detectives,
haven't they had? So many of Anna Paul's supposed primary
school and high school friends have come out of the
woodwork given their viewer what she was like. And there's
been also a lot of people trolling back through. I'm
gonna say her papa, I can't remember his name, but
his his Instagram count to prove that he had a
(24:01):
number of nice cars whilst they were growing up, because
there was. Anna did make a claim that her parents
had to be given a car because they couldn't afford one.
And I'm seeing a lot of people clipping up content
that Anna has previously shared as a teenager and then
showing her completely contradicting herself in more recent vlogs. Well,
it does play into the allegations that Verukas Salt made
(24:24):
back in March last year. So she accused Anna of
allegedly neglecting her father, Hans. So she claimed that her
babysitter was dating Anna's dad and that she told her
Hans lived in his van and didn't have money for food,
and Ruka went on to say that she shared a
mutual friend with the Pools, who backed up the babysitters
claims and allegedly the way Anna and Adas treated their
(24:47):
dad was quote disgusting. Now. Anna's dad later came out
and said that the allegations were toxic misinformation. Interestingly, at
the time, Mikayla Tester weighed into the argument, saying that
Veruka's comments were not true, but did say that Hans
was a hippie and he was known for sleeping in
his van. We're getting two very different pictures here because
Varuka's allegations are centered around the fact that the Paul
(25:11):
kids didn't support their father to the point where he's
having to live in a caravan and he needed support,
is what she's saying exactly. Then, from Mikayla, we are
been given the impression the Hans has been very upset
about the way that Anna has portrayed her childhood because
he worked hard to provide for his family and from
all accounts it sounds like they grew up in a
(25:31):
very nice household. Yeah, well, the claims don't really match up.
I mean in saying that it is possible for people's
financial situations to change throughout their lifestyle and a lot
of people were waiting for Ruka to weigh in on
Mikayla's recent claims, and she didn't disappoint, so she came
out swinging, labeling An a manipulative and a compulsive liar.
(25:52):
She wrote, she allowed the Internet to rip me a
new one while she sat in a room on a
cruise ship screaming at her dad to tell her what
he said to my son's abysitter in Brackets partner. She
knows everything I said was true. She was more than
happy to sit in silence and let her fans bully
me when I had pure intentions and told no lies
only one month after my son's death. Now, among her allegations,
(26:13):
she accused Anna of cosplaying, being poor, and stealing pieces
of Michayla's life story and presenting them as her own.
Ruka also alleged that Anna purposely set up Mikayla with
Adas so he could get a cut of her OnlyFans earnings.
She ended up writing this story took me five minutes
to write and post because it's factual. I know Anna
is sitting in her room talking to Addis and plotting
her response to Mikayla. That's why it's taking so long.
(26:36):
If Anna was who she says she is, she could
open her camera talk click post. She has to plan
her words carefully because it's going to be bullshit. This
may just be my algorithm. But one thing I've been
quite surprised about is the number of large creators who
were siding with Michayla and who were quite happy for
Anna Paul to be receiving this negativity.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Now.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
I don't know whether it comes down to jealousy within
the industry, because Anna really has become TikTok sweetheart. Anything
she touches previously has turned to gold. She's incredibly popular,
and maybe some creators I'm not saying Varuka here, but
maybe there are some creators who are seeing this as
an opportunity to take her position. Well. People are definitely
(27:19):
taking joy out of it. There seems to have been
this mass pilon and to me, it kind of seems
that everyone's been waiting for that gotcha moment with Anna
Paul and now it's come. I am really not surprised
that this has happened. I actually predicted that Anna Paul
would be canceled this year, and it's not something that
I am joyous in getting right because it's horrible to
see anyone get canceled, no matter what the allegations are
(27:39):
against them. And in saying that, I mean, as we say,
we can't get into it legally, but it does annoy
me that people are piling on Anna when there have
been a lot of worse things said about her brother.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
That is what is so confusing about the situation.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Does it come down to the fact that we expect
a lot less from Attis and that's why we're not
really shocked by these claims. That's not such a big
deal because when he first came to prominence in twenty twenty,
I think all of our initial opinions of him were
quite low. If you reflect on the stories that we
were covering in twenty twenty, it was around him trying
to sell cryptocurrency to his impressionable audience. He had this
(28:17):
real dickhead persona. He boasted about his fast cars and
his boats. In saying that, since twenty twenty two, he's
gone through this real transformation. That was after he broke
up with Mikayla Tester, he started to present himself completely differently.
He grew his hair, he wore more feminine clothes. He
also took himself offline, so he doesn't actually post content anymore.
He only appears in Anna's content. It also looked like
(28:39):
he was living a simpler lifestyle, like, yes, he was
going on these holidays, but he was in touch with
his feelings, journaling, he was painting. I more think it's
because the mainstream media can't actually report on what's been
said about Yeah, but that's not stopping people on TikTok.
On TikTok, people don't seem to understand the legal ramifications,
and that's why I'm confused that there is not more
(29:00):
being directed at Adas Pole.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Well.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
It also has something to do with the fact that
Anna's got a much larger profile and he no longer
is online. He only appears in the background. I think
it's also because Anna hasn't come out and said anything,
so everyone's been almost creating their own narrative on TikTok,
and it's become a sport to.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Have a go at Anna. Paul No.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I think it also comes down to the fact that
people feel cheated. They're like, you've told us that you're
one way, and then apparently behind closed doors you're another.
You do make a really good point, because it seems
like Anna Poul's biggest crime at the moment is that
she isn't a nice person as she presents herself on TikTok.
It reminds me of the cancelation of Ellen DeGeneres. It
was like, oh my god, what she's not exactly the
(29:37):
same when the cameras aren't rolling anymore. I also think
it's a gendered thing and as a society we seem
to have this thing where we love to tear women
down and it's almost a bit of a case of
tool poppy.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Again.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
We can't get into the allegations made against Adams pol
but they are far worse than the allegations that have
been made against Anna Paul. There is no comparison.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Now.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
We did hold off ondiscussing this scandal until show because
we were hoping that Anna Paul would have had an
opportunity to reply to the allegations at the time of recording,
though she has not, and this has despite it nearly
being a full week since Mikayla made the allegations, and
this has been very detrimental to her So far, she's
lost over four hundred thousand followers on TikTok and fifty
(30:19):
nine thousand on Instagram. Her skincare brand, Paulie, has also
lost over thirteen thousand followers. On the contrary, though Mikayla
has done well out of this situation. She has gained
over two hundred thousand followers on TikTok and forty five
thousand on Instagram. It seems like a lot of people
have left Anna's page to go and follow Mikayla. I'm
not entirely surprised that Anna hasn't said anything yet, because
(30:42):
she used the same strategy of staying quiet when varukas
Sault made the allegations against her dad. At the time,
her dad did come out and label it as toxic misinformation.
I didn't really agree with Varukasault saying, oh, she should
just jump on her stories and say something and quickly
post it, because these are really serious allegations that have
huge reputational damage for Anna paul. I think, though, what
(31:04):
she was saying was if she's so real and raw,
she should be able to explain away these comments. Obviously
there's a lot more brewing behind the scenes. What Mikayla
Tester has said is extremely serious and I'm quite certain
that they are currently in talks with their lawyers. That's
why they need to be really careful with what they
say moving forward, because anything that they do say will
be used in evidence in that court case. Well, from
(31:25):
a PR perspective, I've been thinking about if I was
managing Anna Paul and how I'd actually respond to this,
and it's a really difficult one. We have to remember
that this only really happened a week or so ago,
which is a lifetime on TikTok. Yeah. I think Anna
and her team wanted to wait to see what the
response was like and analyze it from there. Good well, Michayla,
because Michaela has come out and made claims about Adams
(31:47):
Paul in the past, which she herself said were unfounded
and she actually made up previously just around their breakup
and petty things in that maybe they were hoping that
there might be a level of distrust towards world this
would all blow over, and think that they I don't
think that they thought people would take what Mikayla said
as seriously and as verbatim as they had. I think
(32:07):
that that is why they've left it brewing for a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I also think that they.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Didn't want to comment on anything straight away because there
was a couple of days where the mainstream media wasn't
reporting on this story.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
And if Anna was my client, I would.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Say, don't comment on it yet, because the second that
you comment on this story, that is when they can
start running it. I would argue that the backlash on
TikTok is more damaging to her than what's actually in
the mainstream media, particularly because the mainstream media are being
really careful with how they reported considering all the allegations
that have been made against Adams Paul. Mikayla Tester has
(32:41):
seemingly gone quiet on her own platform. When you go
over to her TikTok, she hasn't posted any new videos
since that video On Wednesday, she has been reposting a
lot of content about Anna.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Pol It Speaks.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Volumes that this video is still live on Mikayla's TikTok account,
because quite often when scandals like this erupt, the video
only lasts a few days before the other person's legal
team has issued them a cease and desist and ask
them to take it down immediately. It actually worries me
a lot, because, as we said, presumably the Polls have
engaged a lawyer, and when it comes to defamation, they
(33:15):
do take into consideration how many views a video has.
That video is aging towards twenty million views. That is
a lot of reputational damage to the Polls. I did
find it interesting that at no point Mikhayla used the
word allegedly, and at one stage when she was talking
about addis, she referenced that her points would stand up
(33:36):
in a court of law. Do you think she has
had legal advice? Yes, I definitely think she has because
this video was very different to other videos she's put
out there. She read from a script. It's clear there
was a lot of thought put into what was said.
I wouldn't be surprised if the whole script was approved
by a lawyer that she worked with, or she formulated
it with maybe a PR expert.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
To hit all of the right spots.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
I think the reason this video is still up is
because Anna and Michayla are on pretty level playing fields.
They both make a lot of money, so it's not
as if Anna is reaching out to a smaller creator
and threatening her. David doesn't have all the power in
this situation, and it is really hard to actually launch
a successful defamation case. A lot of the claims that
(34:19):
Michayla's brought up, the Pauls would not want these going
to court because she might actually have some proof.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
This is where things get really messy.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
I totally understand Amy where you're coming from with the
claims about Adas. What has sort of shocked me, though,
is because Anna Paul does have such a loyal following,
I'm surprised that we haven't seen many people defending her online.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
I don't know if it's just my algorithm, but I've
seen no one coming to anarticularly because some of the
comments that Mikayla has made about Anna, you could put
them down to being pure here say, I understand that
Michayla was in the inner sanctum, but when you look
at her motive, she's a scorned lover, you know what
I mean? But she doesn't want to go well for
the pol. But the consensus is and most people think this.
(35:05):
People believe her people, But is it because we want
to believe that someone isn't that nice?
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Like?
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Why do we want to jump on that. The thing
that's really sad about this is that these are two
very young girls. They're both in their mid twenties. This
scandal has gone international. We're seeing a lot of American
creators and UK creators commenting on it. It's going to
be detrimental for Anna Poul's brand and career on a
bigger scale. She doesn't come out and say something soon.
(35:32):
I think it's because Mikayla chose her timing very wisely.
She didn't just do it after she broke up with Addis.
You know, it's been years since they were a couple.
She looks like she's moved on, she's engaged, she's happy. Yeah,
And when you look at what's been going down with
Anna Pole, her popularity has been on the decline ever
since she broke up with her long term boyfriend Glenn
(35:53):
and when she launched her skincare brand poorly, because before
she never used to do brand deals. She used to
give people content and there didn't seem to be any
sort of transaction going on unless you were over on
her OnlyFans account. But for most people who consumed her
content and TikTok, she just put out content for free
and she never pushed any brand deals. Now she's got
(36:14):
a skincare brand that she's spooked. She's broken up with Glenn,
who everyone loved in her videos, and there's a lot
of rumors going on about her new boyfriend, Amrik. I mean,
she hasn't actually officially said that he's her boyfriends. A
lot of people are upset. They feel like they've been
let out of her life. They don't know what's going on.
They say, well, what else is true? Yeah, exactly. And
she's also done at a time where people are reflecting
(36:36):
on the attention that we give sex workers like Bonnie Blue.
Do you guys think that Anna can come back from this.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
I think she.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Can come back from this, but it's going to be
very difficult. We need to hear from her soon, and
we need a convincing response because the longer the radio
silence goes, the longer the anger grows, and the more
narratives people start making up about her.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
That rhyme Sophie I did it.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
I think that she probably will bounce back from this
because the way the internet works, it's so rapid pace.
I mean, a week of this scandal feels like forever.
Everyone's like, I can't believe she hasn't spoken, But in
a month or two time, people are probably going to
forget pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
I also will forget about it.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
But what's crazy is that normally when a big scandal
like this happens, people don't tend to lose as many followers.
People actually gain more followers because people are interested in
all of the drama. Yeah, one hundred thousand followers, regardless
of if you started with seven million, is a lot
of people to have just discarded. Yeah, we saw Matilda
Jeff when her scandal happens, she actually gained followers. I
(37:37):
think Anna could maybe gain some of those back when
she does put out and explain a video. But is
that just the way TikTok works? Because even if you
unfollow Anna poll, you're probably still going to get her
content back in your algorithm. Like I find when I
follow people, they usually see less of their content. So
I don't know if it's going to affect her that much.
A lot of the time, these big scandals actually end
up bolstering both parties careers, and I think that this
(38:01):
was always going to happen to Anna Paul. There was
always going to be a scandal that threatened to cancel
her because that's the way we are, particularly in Australia
with tall poppy syndrome.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
Whatever goes up has to come down.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
Well that's where we're going to leave things today. Thank
you so much for listening to another episode of Outspoken.
If you did enjoy the episode, we would love if
you could leave us a five star review as it
really helps the podcast. This episode was recorded on the
traditional land of the Ghana people of the Adelaide Plains.
We pay respect to elders past and present.
Before we get into the show, we want to point
out we recorded this episode yesterday afternoon, just before Anna
Paul released her response to Mikayla Tester's allegations on TikTok.
We will be delving into Anna's response in more detail
on Friday's show. It's important to point out that Anna
has denied body shaming a fan. She also said stories
about her family's wealth have been greatly exaggerated and has
(00:23):
called on social media users to end the hate and bullying,
saying it's all Internet fun until someone dies. Hello and
welcome to Outspoken. It's your dose of the hottest influencer
and pop culture news twice a week. I'm Sophie Torba
and on today's show, we're going to be diving into
the Anna pol and Mikayla testers scandal. But first, Kate,
(00:45):
you're back in the studio following your snake drama. Everyone
wants a bit of an update. What's been a week
and the snake still has not emerged. So we have
had a net setup over the retaining wall that it
went into, and we were told that it should be
out within twenty four to four hours, but to give
it a week just in case. So we're at the
stage where we're like, do we take the snake net?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
That snake is long gone? Okay?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Does he come back and get the net? Is that
just he gives it away for free? Well, we did
pay one hundred and eighty dollars for the snake catcher
to come and not catch any snake, so I suppose
it's for free. You've been sending me these hilarious snapchats
of our mum going over to help you out with
Jack and she's out hanging your laundry. But she's got
a whistle in her mouth. She's been like hoping the
vibrations of the whistle will keep any snakes away from her.
(01:28):
It was so funny because I thought she was just
gonna blow the whistle once and then go outside. However,
she blew it the whole time she was outside continuously. Yeah,
she looked like Terry Cruz from White Cheeks, you know
that SCENEA in the nightclub and he's got that whistle
in his mouth. A day for the Australians. Let's go,
(01:50):
Mikayla Testa and Nepaul, We're on. This is our James Charles,
Jeffrey Star, Tati Westbrook, moment. All right, this is drama
getting Bogan version Australia's big US influencer scandal is playing
out in real time. Beloved TikToker and Only Fans creator
Anna Poul's reputation is in tatters following explosive claims made
(02:10):
in an eight minute video by her former friend and
fellow creator Mikayla Tester.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
The bust up has.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Been dominating Millennial and jen Zetters for You pages, with
the level of the scandal being compared to the twenty
nineteen Taddy Westbrook and James Charles drama. Now, before we
get into the scandal, Kate, can you bring listeners up
to speed on who Anna and Mikayla are and how
they're connected.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
So we have spoken a lot about Anna Paul on
this podcast, but for new listeners, she is one of
Australia's biggest influencers. She has over seven million followers on
TikTok and two million on Instagram. Well she did she
used to? Yeah, now to give you an insight into
just how big she is. In twenty twenty two, she
shut down Perth CBD when she did a meet and
(02:53):
greet and at the end of twenty twenty three, she
launched her own skincare brand, Pauli's Skin, which sold out instantly.
Now her fan base is predominantly young females who follow
her daily vlogs where she spreads messages about kindness and
body positivity. Ironically, there is a large portion of her
followers who are completely unaware that she also runs a
(03:13):
very successful OnlyFans account where she shares explicit content. And
I think a lot of their parents are unaware. Yeah,
she does also share any fans content. Also, when you
say that her audience is predominantly young females, I have
to point out they're mostly schoolgirls. Yeah, And if you
read Anna's comments on TikTok, there are a lot of
people that are completely surprised when they find out she
(03:34):
has an OnlyFans account, in saying that she is one
of the nation's top earners on the platform. Before she
launched her skincare range, the AFR estimated she earned two
hundred and twenty thousand dollars a month on OnlyFans. As
for Mikayla Tester, she is also a top earner on OnlyFans.
Is estimated she earns around one hundred and sixty thousand
(03:54):
dollars a month on the platform, so slightly less than
Anna Paul. She also has close to nine hundred followers
on Instagram and two point four million on TikTok. Now,
Mikayla and Anna have been friends for years, and they
became particularly close when Michayla started dating Anna's brother Adis
in twenty nineteen. Now they ended up breaking up in
June twenty twenty two, but Mikayla and Anna continue to
(04:17):
publicly stay friends. They left a lot of supportive messages
on each other's social media accounts and everything seemed okay
between them. Yeah, and when Mikayla was dating Addis, the
pol family really took her in as one of their own,
and Anna even referred to Michayla as her sister. And
I remember when they broke up, Mikayla was particularly upset
because she was no longer a member of the family.
(04:37):
It wasn't just all about Addis, and I think that's
because Michayla has been very open about her fractured relationship
with her own family. They disowned her when she started
only fans when she was a teenager pretty much, so
the Pole family has been a second family to her
and just recently in December, Michayla shared a video where
she said her family had failed her in the worst
(04:59):
way you could possibly imagine. So she alleged that she
was abused by two much older male family members when
she was a child, which is just horrific to hear,
and it kind of gives you an insight into her
mindset at the moment. She clearly is looking to open
up about a lot of things that have gone on
in her life. Allegedly. It seemed like for quite a
number of years that Mikhayla Tessa really wanted to get
(05:21):
back together with Adams Pole. She created a lot of
content around it, but last year she actually made a
new guy. They have since gone on to get engaged.
She's an American body builder called Maxwell Krause. He also
has quite a large following on social media. She seems
very happy with him, and I think Mikayla being in
this happy relationship has a lot to do with the
timing of why these allegations are coming out, because it's
(05:42):
clear that she is at a place now where she
feels comfortable enough to start speaking on this topic and
safe and supported clearly too. So now that we are
up to speed. Let's get into this scandal. So the
drama kicked off last weekend after Anna Paul told her
followers she would be randomly gifting new subscribers to her
Only Fans account cash rewards. Now, this isn't something new,
(06:05):
so Anna has used similar incentives for her followers to
promote her skin care line poorly and also her Only
Fans account in the past.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Anna went on to.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Share screenshots from various followers who she'd ended up sending
two hundred to one thousand dollars to as a cashback reward. Now.
Last Monday, Mikayla Tester weighed in, writing on her Instagram story,
if you have to incentivize people to buy your exclusive
website by running cash giveaways on there and then posting
screenshots of your Instagram so your underage followers spend ten
(06:36):
dollars to hopefully win one thousand, you're basically running an
illegal lottery and taking advantage of children. Its growth. While
she didn't initially name Anna, it was pretty clear who
she was talking about, and eight hours later she decided
to go one step further and name Anna, writing I'm
speaking on this because it's not only horrible. But every
(06:56):
time Anna pulls one of these cash giveaway money grabs,
my dms are filled with hundreds of people asking me
for funds, slash help with all sorts of devastating things
because they're at a loss for her. If your OnlyFans
isn't selling and you need to pull cash grabs just
to get subs or sell your skincare, then you need
to reevaluate. Stop using and manipulating less fortunate people into
(07:19):
sending their last ten dollars because you're promising the chance
at more. I've had enough and I wish more people
called a spade for a spade.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
This is exploitation. I was really shocked.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
When I saw this pop up because I was under
the impression that Mikayla and Anna were still friends. Well
I think Anna was under that impression because Anna actually
commented on Mikayla's recent photo, which was uploaded on the Monday,
saying sexy. Anna must have been unaware because that same day,
Mikayla had unfollowed her on Instagram. Anna still does follow
her and follows her to this day. Well, Anna didn't
(07:51):
respond to Mikayla's call out, but she ended up deleting
Instagram stories which related to the giveaway, and she said
in her daily vlog on TikTok, this.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Thinks in my room that make me happy when I'm sad.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Anna looked visibly upset in this log. And this is
the last log that she has posted on TikTok since
this scandal. Yeah, so, on Wednesday, things escalated even further
when Michayla uploaded an explosive eight minute expose on Anna
to TikTok. My jaw dropped when I saw this video.
The way Michayla began the video was so sensationalized, and
(08:27):
the allegations just went on and on. It almost felt
like something we shouldn't be watching. Let's have a listen
to how Michayla began the video.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
There's a lot of things wrong with Anna Paul. It's
way easier to hate me for calling her out when
she's wrong than accepting that the Anna you guys love
and idolize so much she never existed.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
You don't know her. You don't know her like I
know her.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
You have never met her, and if you have, it's
nothing more than a five second sulfie. These people that
watch her don't know the another I know they know
the other Anna, the one she wears when the camera
starts rolling.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
The opening line line of this video has become a
trending sound on TikTok. It shows what a savvy TikTok
creator Mikayla is. Though she knew exactly which notes to
hit with that well, she was clearly reading a written
statement as well. It's not like she just jumped on
her stories and said whatever she felt like and clicked
up load. And I think that's why people took it
so seriously, because this was obviously something that was very considered.
(09:21):
It's very different to the other video she has put
out there, and she made some very big accusations against
not only Anna, but Anna's brother Adams Paul, who is
Mikayla's ex boyfriend. The allegations level to Addis Paul are
extremely serious in nature, and due to legal reasons, we
will not be delving into those. We will be discussing
the allegations leveled at Anna to do with her public
(09:43):
persona though, and we do want to reiterate that the
allegations Mickayla made are unfounded and are yet to be
proven to be true. So we're not saying that they
are true, but we're just simply reporting on what Michayla
has alleged.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
In the eight minute video, Michayla spoke in more depth
about Anna's cash giveaway, and she likened the giveaways entry
mechanism to that of a lottery. She also alleged that
it was unethical for Anna to direct her underage fan
base to her only fans platform in order to enter
the giveaway. Here's more of what she said.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Anna's performative generosity like hiding money in cities or dishing
out giveaways behind a pay wall reek of superiority, watching
her fans scramble over scraps, fighting each other because they
need these funds while she films it, flaunt her designer labels,
endless holidays, and material excess. This is dystopian and out
of touch. Anna is praying on the vulnerability and desperation
(10:36):
of impressionable young fans for her profit under the disguise
of self love, empowerment, and giving back. Ana may give
back to the odd few people who she can post
on an Instagram story for more promotion, and but everyone
else falls short. Anna, if you truly wanted to give
back to your fans, you would use a free platform
such as your giant Instagram page with over two point
four million followers, or if you truly wanted to give
(10:59):
back to your ofs subscribers, you would do it privately
within that platform. By posting ig stories advertising that you're
sending money to subscribers, you are directly trying to lure
new customers over to your page, a page which costs
sixteen dollars to access. This sixteen dollars is essentially a
lottery ticket.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
I was interested to know more about the legalities of
Anna's cash giveaway.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
And what I found was it really is a great area.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
So from what I can establish, it depends whether Anna's
giveaway fits under the category of a cash back offer
or a lottery.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
And because Anna.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
Didn't specifically sell tickets, or organize dates or even set
rules for her giveaway, by definition, it doesn't technically fit
into the category of a lottery. What it does fit
into is the a Triple c's definition of a cash
back offer. So from what I can gauge, it doesn't
appear that Anna has broken any rules. However, moving forward,
(11:54):
I think a lot of influencers are going to be
really careful about doing online giveaways because it is such
a great area. Well, we have seen recently Adrian Portelli,
who's known as the Lambeau guy or that guy that
buys all the properties on the blog. He also actually
dated Mikayla Tester for a short period of time during
her breakup with Adams Paul I totally forgot about that. Well.
He was recently charged with conducting an unlawful lottery in
(12:16):
South Australia in December last year. So essentially the way
his business works is people sign up to a membership
to receive shopping discounts and as part of the membership offering,
members are also granted entry into monthly draws for cash
and prizes. And the law states that any lottery that
is not licensed in the state is unlawful and organizes
(12:36):
face a maximum penalty of ten thousand dollars. So the
bow you're trying to draw here is that Adrian has
been asking his audience to basically subscribe and become members
to a shopping discount page which is totally unrelated to
the lottery, which is somewhat similar to Anna asking her
followers to sign up and become members of her OnlyFans
account in order to win money.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
That is totally.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Uncommon entry mechanism. You just got to dot the i's
and cross the t's and make sure your teas and
seeds match up with what you do. The issue is
Anna didn't have any terms in conditions, and I think
this is why so many consumers might have felt misled. Yeah,
I think there's going to be a lot of influencers
taking note and making sure that they actually have te's
and ce's moving forward, because I think social media is
a little bit of a wild West with competitions, and
(13:19):
people don't generally think that they're going to be cracked
down on or even Aside from the legalities, I think
Mikhayla also raised an important question around the ethics and
appropriateness of marketing OnlyFans accounts to underage followers, because this
is essentially what Anna was doing, and she has made
it very clear that a large percentage of her audience
(13:39):
are under eighteen, and if you look at her TikTok content,
it very much appeals to an underage audience. I mean,
there's been a lot of discussion on TikTok since this
scandal hit that Anna speaks quite often in a baby
voice in her videos, and you know she lives with
her mum and dad. She calls the mamma and Papa.
It's all quite I don't say juvenile, but it is
(13:59):
very childlike the way she acts on that. Yeah, and
she has been accused of glamorizing sex work to her
underage followers and one really popular sex worker on TikTok,
Kayla Jade, she wad into it, and she didn't specifically
name Anna, but she told her followers it's important for
sex workers to be mindful of the content they create
so there's no confusion around it. She said, there's nothing
(14:21):
morally wrong with being a sex worker and wanting to
promote it online, but there is a problem when it's
exposed to the wrong audience. So she likened this to
horror movies. She said, there's nothing wrong with enjoying horror movies,
but would you show Texas chainsaw massacre to a room
full of preschool kids. Kayla also made a really great
point about the need for creators to be mindful and
consistent across all platforms so their audiences are aware of
(14:45):
what they're consuming.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Let's have a listen to what she said.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
The majority of my audience is twenty five to thirty
five because it's clear exactly what I do and I'm
not trying to target a younger audience. Your audience is
constantly under the age of eighteen and you're in SW
have to reassess what you're doing, and it is your
responsibility to fix it. Can neither change your content to
be more appropriate for a younger audience, you stop promoting
SW content on all platforms, or make the changes necessary
(15:11):
to ensure your marketing to an adult audience. Parents also,
should we be leaving their kids on supervised online because
just like the engineer, they're going to see some shit
they probably shouldn't. There are so many people in my
space that do things that are crossing a line and
don't sit right with me, and it can be frustrating
because it brings negative attention to the whole industry.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
There's been so many people weighing into the Anna Pole situation,
and in this case, I think it's really important to
hear the perspective of someone who not only works as
a sex worker as well, but works in the TikTok space,
so to hear that she has a direct strategy with
the content that she's putting out making sure that it
is appropriate for her target demographic. I think is really interesting.
I think the big difference between Kayla and Anna's content
(15:50):
is that Anna puts out a very glamorous view of
being a sex worker. So if you look at her tiktoks,
it's all about her jetting around the world, which's eating
in glamorous restaurants, driving luxury cars. Money clearly isn't an
issue for her, and her fan base is predominantly teenagers
who would be lapping up this type of content. They
want to live the life that Anna Paul lives. But
(16:11):
when you look at Kayla's content, she's done a really
good job of not romanticizing sex work. I mean, she
has said that she believes it's important to also show
the unflattering.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Side, and she does that.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
She tells some pretty full on stories, which makes it
not the most appealing job to have. However, you would
see being a sex worker as the most glamorous thing
ever long. Anna's one thing that Kayla does do is
she does often count words of cash that she's made
from the night before to start her videos. But then
you hear the reality of how she has got that money,
and as you said, Amy some of these stories. I mean,
(16:42):
the reason she's so popular is because these stories have
you on the edge of your seat.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
But it doesn't glamorize it. It just portrays the reality.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
When you look at Kayla's content, it is clearly aimed
at eighteen plus. She is pretty consistent with the type
of content she shares. You would look at Anna's TikTok
and be unaware that she actually was on OnlyFans. But
is that because the algorithm punishes creators who do try
and push people from Instagram or TikTok to OnlyFans? Because
(17:11):
I've noticed that a lot of OnlyFans creators they have
to use specific language like oh spicy content and really
play around with it to suggest people to go onto
their part. But also, because Anna is a sex worker,
does that mean that she doesn't have another life? Like,
does this mean that she has She isn't allowed to
travel and have a glamorous life, and she isn't allowed
to be a nice person.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
She is breaking down the stigma that.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
A sex worker has particular personality. Actually, at all of
the characters, I agree, she's doing a really good job
at breaking down the stigma. But she can't be relying
on her underage audience to bump up her OnlyFans earnings,
and if you look at OnlyFans as rules, it states
that users must agree they are eighteen years or older
before they're able to purchase any explicit content. I feel
(17:55):
like the word that they must agree is important because.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
This site is not fool proof.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Miners are lying about their age and falsifying their age
in order to gain access to it. It's pretty similar
to social media platforms where kids are pretending that they're
older in order to get them. Now, let's get back
into Mikayla's allegations. So she really hit Anna wear her?
She alleged that Anna doesn't care about her fans and
that the way she presents herself publicly is very different
(18:20):
to the real Anna. This is some of what she said.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
Everything Anna does is calculated, but she masks the manipulation
extremely well with an innocent, sweet girl facade. Your fans
mean nothing to you, just like the animals you buy
and palm off to others watching you be praised online
for being kind and caring, But behind the facade.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Lived an evil person.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
All while I'm receiving hate because I didn't create content
like you everything people accuse me of being is exactly
who you are. That was just the beginning of the
pot that started boiling within me.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
I find it really interesting that Mikayla has brought up
Anna's pets. We all know that Anna travels the world,
yet her pets have become a huge part of her
personal brand. So she has a number of hairless cats
who remain at home for most of the time. There
is a bit of a question mark over who actually
looks after these pets whilst they're traveling all year. And
to say that your fans and also your animals mean
(19:14):
nothing to you is a really big thing to say
to someone like Anna Paul who has based this online
brand about being kind. And you know, if someone can't
be kind to animals, that does say a lot more
about them. It just shows how much this video went
there because literally every aspect of Anna was being put
onto the microscope and criticized. Well, she really did go
for the jugular, particularly when she started talking about Anna's
(19:36):
messaging around body positivity and saying that essentially she was
virtue signaling and doing it for clout. She then recounted
a time Anna met a fan saying.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
This Anna, Remember about god awful trend of people posting
photos of influencers that they would and wouldn't feel comfortable
wearing a bikini around. Remember those slide shows people would
make with everyone in the family of all of you
being labeled as safe and my photo was at the
and marked as I would never feel safe in a
bikinia around Michaela. Meanwhile, right before these videos were trending,
in twenty twenty one, on the South Bank Bridge, when
(20:07):
you were peak body positivity, love yourself version of Anna,
a plus sized fan came up to you and asked
for a hug in a picture.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
You smiled at her. You told her that you loved her.
She told you how.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Your words online have helped her be more comfortable in
her body. The moment she walked away, you told Adis
that she was annoying and gross and you didn't want
to agree to the hug because she was fat and
sweaty Adis laughed.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
These were your words, Anna, I heard them. Things like
this were a common occurrence.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
It was really sad because after Mickayla made these claims,
there were a number of women on tik tok who
created videos where they shared their fan photos with Anna
and they were saying, oh my god, I hope that
this wasn't about me, and they then retold their story
of meeting her. And as I said earlier, it's clear
how strategic Michayla has been with this messaging because it
(20:56):
kind of reminds me of me and girls when Caddie
Harring hits were you in George where it hurts you
know her man Candy and hers like. It's literally she's
gone body positivity, her fans, her pets, like everything that
we like about Anna she's saying is not true. And
this is how I'm going to show you it's not
true and prove it. Because a lot of people want
(21:17):
to meet Anna Paul. She's shut down Perth CBD. And
it's an experience that you always remember and you think,
oh my god, it was so great. When I met her,
she was just like she is on TikTok. But then
to hear the conversation that occurs will allegedly occurred after
she met a fan, it just hits you viscerally because
you're like, I cannot imagine having such a positive experience
(21:37):
but then having it completely altered. Hearing the reality of
what happened afterwards. Well, on the Mean Girl's comparison, somebody
said it reminds them of when Regina George would compliment
someone on their tartan skirt or their bracelet and then
be like, that's the fuggliest thing I've ever seen. An
accusation that's been gaining a lot of traction on TikTok
Is around Anna's upbringing. So Mikayla alleged that Anna lied
(21:59):
about it. So she has spoken in depth on her
social media channels about supposedly growing up poor, and I
think that this has been a big part of her appeal.
This Rags to Rich's story because it's kept her relatable
because even though we see her documenting this very lavish
lifestyle online, we're reminded by the fact that this is
the first time she's experiencing it because she grew up
(22:20):
with no Christmas presents and her family lived in a
very humble house. People feel happy for her that she's
able to gain this success, particularly when she gives her
parents very lavish things that she positions that they couldn't
afford and that she wants to spoil them.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Well.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
According to Mikayla, she says that Anna allegedly grew up
in an upper middle class family. Here's some of what
she said.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
Their dad, making triple the average Australian income per week
had them living in a beautiful house on the water
with a built in pool. I've seen the house in person.
It's beautiful. Being upper middle class is not being poor, Anna,
Your exaggerated stories for the Internet has always made your
dad upset and me well, just angry, real victim of
the system and poverty like you portrayed yourself online.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
Remember that time when he called you out in the
living room.
Speaker 5 (23:06):
He didn't understand why you would post such things and
he called them liars. But you need the story faking
your poverty so people excuse your schemes and wealth and
feel bad for you. Every calculated story is serving such
an important role in supporting the other lies this web
you're weaving to entrapt these people's pity.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
These allegations have led to a lot of people going
back and doing their own research. I've seen some TikTokers
finding real estate dot Com listings of the house that
Anna allegedly grew up in, showing that.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
It was a beautiful house on the water front, two.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Million dollar house. Somebody has alleged these are allegations. We
don't know how true they are. Everyone's turned into detectives,
haven't they had? So many of Anna Paul's supposed primary
school and high school friends have come out of the
woodwork given their viewer what she was like. And there's
been also a lot of people trolling back through. I'm
gonna say her papa, I can't remember his name, but
his his Instagram count to prove that he had a
(24:01):
number of nice cars whilst they were growing up, because
there was. Anna did make a claim that her parents
had to be given a car because they couldn't afford one.
And I'm seeing a lot of people clipping up content
that Anna has previously shared as a teenager and then
showing her completely contradicting herself in more recent vlogs. Well,
it does play into the allegations that Verukas Salt made
(24:24):
back in March last year. So she accused Anna of
allegedly neglecting her father, Hans. So she claimed that her
babysitter was dating Anna's dad and that she told her
Hans lived in his van and didn't have money for food,
and Ruka went on to say that she shared a
mutual friend with the Pools, who backed up the babysitters
claims and allegedly the way Anna and Adas treated their
(24:47):
dad was quote disgusting. Now. Anna's dad later came out
and said that the allegations were toxic misinformation. Interestingly, at
the time, Mikayla Tester weighed into the argument, saying that
Veruka's comments were not true, but did say that Hans
was a hippie and he was known for sleeping in
his van. We're getting two very different pictures here because
Varuka's allegations are centered around the fact that the Paul
(25:11):
kids didn't support their father to the point where he's
having to live in a caravan and he needed support,
is what she's saying exactly. Then, from Mikayla, we are
been given the impression the Hans has been very upset
about the way that Anna has portrayed her childhood because
he worked hard to provide for his family and from
all accounts it sounds like they grew up in a
(25:31):
very nice household. Yeah, well, the claims don't really match up.
I mean in saying that it is possible for people's
financial situations to change throughout their lifestyle and a lot
of people were waiting for Ruka to weigh in on
Mikayla's recent claims, and she didn't disappoint, so she came
out swinging, labeling An a manipulative and a compulsive liar.
(25:52):
She wrote, she allowed the Internet to rip me a
new one while she sat in a room on a
cruise ship screaming at her dad to tell her what
he said to my son's abysitter in Brackets partner. She
knows everything I said was true. She was more than
happy to sit in silence and let her fans bully
me when I had pure intentions and told no lies
only one month after my son's death. Now, among her allegations,
(26:13):
she accused Anna of cosplaying, being poor, and stealing pieces
of Michayla's life story and presenting them as her own.
Ruka also alleged that Anna purposely set up Mikayla with
Adas so he could get a cut of her OnlyFans earnings.
She ended up writing this story took me five minutes
to write and post because it's factual. I know Anna
is sitting in her room talking to Addis and plotting
her response to Mikayla. That's why it's taking so long.
(26:36):
If Anna was who she says she is, she could
open her camera talk click post. She has to plan
her words carefully because it's going to be bullshit. This
may just be my algorithm. But one thing I've been
quite surprised about is the number of large creators who
were siding with Michayla and who were quite happy for
Anna Paul to be receiving this negativity.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Now.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
I don't know whether it comes down to jealousy within
the industry, because Anna really has become TikTok sweetheart. Anything
she touches previously has turned to gold. She's incredibly popular,
and maybe some creators I'm not saying Varuka here, but
maybe there are some creators who are seeing this as
an opportunity to take her position. Well. People are definitely
(27:19):
taking joy out of it. There seems to have been
this mass pilon and to me, it kind of seems
that everyone's been waiting for that gotcha moment with Anna
Paul and now it's come. I am really not surprised
that this has happened. I actually predicted that Anna Paul
would be canceled this year, and it's not something that
I am joyous in getting right because it's horrible to
see anyone get canceled, no matter what the allegations are
(27:39):
against them. And in saying that, I mean, as we say,
we can't get into it legally, but it does annoy
me that people are piling on Anna when there have
been a lot of worse things said about her brother.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
That is what is so confusing about the situation.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Does it come down to the fact that we expect
a lot less from Attis and that's why we're not
really shocked by these claims. That's not such a big
deal because when he first came to prominence in twenty twenty,
I think all of our initial opinions of him were
quite low. If you reflect on the stories that we
were covering in twenty twenty, it was around him trying
to sell cryptocurrency to his impressionable audience. He had this
(28:17):
real dickhead persona. He boasted about his fast cars and
his boats. In saying that, since twenty twenty two, he's
gone through this real transformation. That was after he broke
up with Mikayla Tester, he started to present himself completely differently.
He grew his hair, he wore more feminine clothes. He
also took himself offline, so he doesn't actually post content anymore.
He only appears in Anna's content. It also looked like
(28:39):
he was living a simpler lifestyle, like, yes, he was
going on these holidays, but he was in touch with
his feelings, journaling, he was painting. I more think it's
because the mainstream media can't actually report on what's been
said about Yeah, but that's not stopping people on TikTok.
On TikTok, people don't seem to understand the legal ramifications,
and that's why I'm confused that there is not more
(29:00):
being directed at Adas Pole.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
Well.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
It also has something to do with the fact that
Anna's got a much larger profile and he no longer
is online. He only appears in the background. I think
it's also because Anna hasn't come out and said anything,
so everyone's been almost creating their own narrative on TikTok,
and it's become a sport to.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Have a go at Anna. Paul No.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
I think it also comes down to the fact that
people feel cheated. They're like, you've told us that you're
one way, and then apparently behind closed doors you're another.
You do make a really good point, because it seems
like Anna Poul's biggest crime at the moment is that
she isn't a nice person as she presents herself on TikTok.
It reminds me of the cancelation of Ellen DeGeneres. It
was like, oh my god, what she's not exactly the
(29:37):
same when the cameras aren't rolling anymore. I also think
it's a gendered thing and as a society we seem
to have this thing where we love to tear women
down and it's almost a bit of a case of
tool poppy.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Again.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
We can't get into the allegations made against Adams pol
but they are far worse than the allegations that have
been made against Anna Paul. There is no comparison.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
Now.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
We did hold off ondiscussing this scandal until show because
we were hoping that Anna Paul would have had an
opportunity to reply to the allegations at the time of recording,
though she has not, and this has despite it nearly
being a full week since Mikayla made the allegations, and
this has been very detrimental to her So far, she's
lost over four hundred thousand followers on TikTok and fifty
(30:19):
nine thousand on Instagram. Her skincare brand, Paulie, has also
lost over thirteen thousand followers. On the contrary, though Mikayla
has done well out of this situation. She has gained
over two hundred thousand followers on TikTok and forty five
thousand on Instagram. It seems like a lot of people
have left Anna's page to go and follow Mikayla. I'm
not entirely surprised that Anna hasn't said anything yet, because
(30:42):
she used the same strategy of staying quiet when varukas
Sault made the allegations against her dad. At the time,
her dad did come out and label it as toxic misinformation.
I didn't really agree with Varukasault saying, oh, she should
just jump on her stories and say something and quickly
post it, because these are really serious allegations that have
huge reputational damage for Anna paul. I think, though, what
(31:04):
she was saying was if she's so real and raw,
she should be able to explain away these comments. Obviously
there's a lot more brewing behind the scenes. What Mikayla
Tester has said is extremely serious and I'm quite certain
that they are currently in talks with their lawyers. That's
why they need to be really careful with what they
say moving forward, because anything that they do say will
be used in evidence in that court case. Well, from
(31:25):
a PR perspective, I've been thinking about if I was
managing Anna Paul and how I'd actually respond to this,
and it's a really difficult one. We have to remember
that this only really happened a week or so ago,
which is a lifetime on TikTok. Yeah. I think Anna
and her team wanted to wait to see what the
response was like and analyze it from there. Good well, Michayla,
because Michaela has come out and made claims about Adams
(31:47):
Paul in the past, which she herself said were unfounded
and she actually made up previously just around their breakup
and petty things in that maybe they were hoping that
there might be a level of distrust towards world this
would all blow over, and think that they I don't
think that they thought people would take what Mikayla said
as seriously and as verbatim as they had. I think
(32:07):
that that is why they've left it brewing for a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
I also think that they.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Didn't want to comment on anything straight away because there
was a couple of days where the mainstream media wasn't
reporting on this story.
Speaker 2 (32:19):
And if Anna was my client, I would.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Say, don't comment on it yet, because the second that
you comment on this story, that is when they can
start running it. I would argue that the backlash on
TikTok is more damaging to her than what's actually in
the mainstream media, particularly because the mainstream media are being
really careful with how they reported considering all the allegations
that have been made against Adams Paul. Mikayla Tester has
(32:41):
seemingly gone quiet on her own platform. When you go
over to her TikTok, she hasn't posted any new videos
since that video On Wednesday, she has been reposting a
lot of content about Anna.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
Pol It Speaks.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Volumes that this video is still live on Mikayla's TikTok account,
because quite often when scandals like this erupt, the video
only lasts a few days before the other person's legal
team has issued them a cease and desist and ask
them to take it down immediately. It actually worries me
a lot, because, as we said, presumably the Polls have
engaged a lawyer, and when it comes to defamation, they
(33:15):
do take into consideration how many views a video has.
That video is aging towards twenty million views. That is
a lot of reputational damage to the Polls. I did
find it interesting that at no point Mikhayla used the
word allegedly, and at one stage when she was talking
about addis, she referenced that her points would stand up
(33:36):
in a court of law. Do you think she has
had legal advice? Yes, I definitely think she has because
this video was very different to other videos she's put
out there. She read from a script. It's clear there
was a lot of thought put into what was said.
I wouldn't be surprised if the whole script was approved
by a lawyer that she worked with, or she formulated
it with maybe a PR expert.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
To hit all of the right spots.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
I think the reason this video is still up is
because Anna and Michayla are on pretty level playing fields.
They both make a lot of money, so it's not
as if Anna is reaching out to a smaller creator
and threatening her. David doesn't have all the power in
this situation, and it is really hard to actually launch
a successful defamation case. A lot of the claims that
(34:19):
Michayla's brought up, the Pauls would not want these going
to court because she might actually have some proof.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
This is where things get really messy.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
I totally understand Amy where you're coming from with the
claims about Adas. What has sort of shocked me, though,
is because Anna Paul does have such a loyal following,
I'm surprised that we haven't seen many people defending her online.
Speaker 4 (34:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:42):
I don't know if it's just my algorithm, but I've
seen no one coming to anarticularly because some of the
comments that Mikayla has made about Anna, you could put
them down to being pure here say, I understand that
Michayla was in the inner sanctum, but when you look
at her motive, she's a scorned lover, you know what
I mean? But she doesn't want to go well for
the pol. But the consensus is and most people think this.
(35:05):
People believe her people, But is it because we want
to believe that someone isn't that nice?
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Like?
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Why do we want to jump on that. The thing
that's really sad about this is that these are two
very young girls. They're both in their mid twenties. This
scandal has gone international. We're seeing a lot of American
creators and UK creators commenting on it. It's going to
be detrimental for Anna Poul's brand and career on a
bigger scale. She doesn't come out and say something soon.
(35:32):
I think it's because Mikayla chose her timing very wisely.
She didn't just do it after she broke up with Addis.
You know, it's been years since they were a couple.
She looks like she's moved on, she's engaged, she's happy. Yeah,
And when you look at what's been going down with
Anna Pole, her popularity has been on the decline ever
since she broke up with her long term boyfriend Glenn
(35:53):
and when she launched her skincare brand poorly, because before
she never used to do brand deals. She used to
give people content and there didn't seem to be any
sort of transaction going on unless you were over on
her OnlyFans account. But for most people who consumed her
content and TikTok, she just put out content for free
and she never pushed any brand deals. Now she's got
(36:14):
a skincare brand that she's spooked. She's broken up with Glenn,
who everyone loved in her videos, and there's a lot
of rumors going on about her new boyfriend, Amrik. I mean,
she hasn't actually officially said that he's her boyfriends. A
lot of people are upset. They feel like they've been
let out of her life. They don't know what's going on.
They say, well, what else is true? Yeah, exactly. And
she's also done at a time where people are reflecting
(36:36):
on the attention that we give sex workers like Bonnie Blue.
Do you guys think that Anna can come back from this.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
I think she.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Can come back from this, but it's going to be
very difficult. We need to hear from her soon, and
we need a convincing response because the longer the radio
silence goes, the longer the anger grows, and the more
narratives people start making up about her.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
That rhyme Sophie I did it.
Speaker 3 (36:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
I think that she probably will bounce back from this
because the way the internet works, it's so rapid pace.
I mean, a week of this scandal feels like forever.
Everyone's like, I can't believe she hasn't spoken, But in
a month or two time, people are probably going to
forget pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (37:16):
I also will forget about it.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
But what's crazy is that normally when a big scandal
like this happens, people don't tend to lose as many followers.
People actually gain more followers because people are interested in
all of the drama. Yeah, one hundred thousand followers, regardless
of if you started with seven million, is a lot
of people to have just discarded. Yeah, we saw Matilda
Jeff when her scandal happens, she actually gained followers. I
(37:37):
think Anna could maybe gain some of those back when
she does put out and explain a video. But is
that just the way TikTok works? Because even if you
unfollow Anna poll, you're probably still going to get her
content back in your algorithm. Like I find when I
follow people, they usually see less of their content. So
I don't know if it's going to affect her that much.
A lot of the time, these big scandals actually end
up bolstering both parties careers, and I think that this
(38:01):
was always going to happen to Anna Paul. There was
always going to be a scandal that threatened to cancel
her because that's the way we are, particularly in Australia
with tall poppy syndrome.
Speaker 2 (38:09):
Whatever goes up has to come down.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
Well that's where we're going to leave things today. Thank
you so much for listening to another episode of Outspoken.
If you did enjoy the episode, we would love if
you could leave us a five star review as it
really helps the podcast. This episode was recorded on the
traditional land of the Ghana people of the Adelaide Plains.
We pay respect to elders past and present.
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