“Scamming Instagrammer had a ghostwriter” links

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The Instagrammer whom Kayleigh at Pajiba called out for scamming (and who targeted Kayleigh for it), Caroline Calloway, had a ghostwriter this whole time!! [Lainey Gossip]
Bill Skarsgard confirms that he has an 11-month-old daughter [Dlisted]
Joe Alwyn really needs to do something with his hair [Just Jared]
Chris Evans and Robert Pattinson’s hair is on point [Go Fug Yourself]
I think Gugu Mbatha Raw is working this [RCFA]
Jenelle Evans’ husband admits shooting their dog [Starcasm]
Where has Joseph Gordon Levitt been? [Pajiba]
Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M Chu explains how talks fell through with co-writer Adele Lim [Jezebel]
New Pet Shop Boys single! [Towleroad]

The ghostwriter’s work was really tedious so I can see why people thought this person wrote it. (I’m not even putting the caption in this post it’s so annoying, you can go to Instagram to read it.)

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37 Responses to ““Scamming Instagrammer had a ghostwriter” links”

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  1. Aephra says:

    Celebitchy, you have an absolutely spot-on header photo for this story!

  2. antipodean says:

    Wait…..what….who…..how….why? I don’t think I am thick, and I have always been good at reading comprehension, (if I say so myself), but I couldn’t make head nor tail of this new “instagrammer” scam! What am I missing here, and does it need to be something I should learn more about? I am tempted to think that in my very full busy day this problem is not one that needs to take centre stage….am I wrong about this?

    • charbon says:

      I think I’ve read three stories about that girl in the last few months, and am left baffled every time.

      So, she was a semi-popular instagrammer and then… isn’t the nicest person?

      It’s like everyone wants to make this one of those famous scammer stories but it’s really boring?

    • ME says:

      Girl on instagram known as a “storyteller” actually had her friend write the stories for her. Her friend finally decided to let everyone know. That’s the story. Instagram is fake for pictures and now fake for stories. Big surprise. The big f u here is that she had a tour where she charged $165 per person for “creativity workshops” lol she just cancelled the tour now that we know who is really behind her “creative writing”.

    • Adrien says:

      It’s a well written piece albeit unnecessary. I think the influencer is a pathological liar but I found the vitriol against her too much. The writer is friends with an influencer we only heard about today. For 7 years the writer created an online persona for the Instagrammer by ghost writing captions to her photos and when she started gaining followers and eventually having a lucrative IG career ( even getting a book deal), she leaves her behind. Das it. I have seen this movie before. It’s called A Simple Favor and Ingrid Goes West.

      • Kebbie says:

        And the ghostwriter’s involvement ended years ago, right? So it’s not like she was the sole person responsible for this influencer’s “fame.”

      • MariaS says:

        The “captions” were full on essays. These essays were what put her on the Instagram map (along with purchased followers). They included stories about her friends that read like characters in a story with continuity in subsequent posts. On the basis of these essays/stories she was invited to write a book proposal which her friend also wrote. On the basis of that proposal she received a book advance. And then had to return it because she CAN’T WRITE. She waves away criticism of her own writing with cries of authenticity. She’s just being true to herself when she mispells words! The actual writer received nothing. The actual writer felt used. Calloway then rolled out Creativity Workshops on the strength of writing that wasn’t hers, charging $165 for 4 hours of sitting on a floor eating a salad and listening to her wax on about creativity she doesn’t seem to possess. Compared to what we’re used to scam-wise its small potatoes but another data point regarding the illusions people continue to buy into, and the people willing to use their friends and to lie to sell those illusions, rather than learn a real skill and get a real job.

      • KL says:

        “For 7 years the writer created an online persona for the Instagrammer by ghost writing captions to her photos and when she started gaining followers and eventually having a lucrative IG career ( even getting a book deal), she leaves her behind.”

        Not what happened at all according to either party. It’s a lot less salacious in fact: the Instagrammer was popular before the copy editor came on (arguably through bought followers, which the copy editor learned about later) and they were friends. The copy editor wrote/collaborated on caption essays for a few years to help build a following. They separated on okay terms, the Instagrammer was offered a 500K book deal, they came together to collaborate again. The friendship went sour, the book deal fell through.

        The issue wasn’t outright scamming, it’s that the Instagram star in question is just the sad epitome of pulling back the curtain to reveal the sad man behind the awesome wizard. She sold a version of herself online for years of high romance, literate awareness, and artistry: ambition, achievement (500K!), and principle (she claimed the book deal went south because she didn’t want to feed into the idea all women writers had to offer were romantic memoirs). In reality a lot of the writing wasn’t hers, she had a severe Adderall addiction that left her barely able to function during those European romances and balls, she’s a pathological liar, and she’s a terrible friend — arguably the really damning bit, since social media is about parasocial relationships with your audience. I don’t think the Cut article is any kind of revelation, but the copy editor herself insists the Instagrammer isn’t deliberately trying to scam or grift anyone, but social media has allowed her to PROJECT the person she wants to be to the extent that she never actually has to BECOME that person — she’s satisfied by her audience’s belief rather than actualization.

        And I find that worthwhile because I see that over and over on social media on a much smaller scale, so I hope more people read about this mess and realize how much they might have in common with this woman.

      • Ally says:

        @KL, this is beautifully expressed, especially the part about image projection versus actualisation.

        I might add one can see that as a metaphor for more momentous situations as well: organizations, or countries even, that wrap their image around principles they don’t actually pursue or enact, because the image is enough to inspire/fool people.

  3. Oh No says:

    This was definitely worth the read. I would watch this if it was a Lifetime movie 😂

  4. BlueSky says:

    We live in a time where people want instant gratification and fame. They don’t want to have to work for it. Social media has really made this easy. I’m going to sound like an old lady yelling at the clouds but I believe these IG influencers are just looking for an excuse to not find real jobs.

  5. Kate says:

    Whyyy did I click the link and read about a poor dog getting shot??

    • schmootc says:

      Yeah, the headlines on that one are more than I want to know. Have managed to keep myself from clicking so far, lucky me.

  6. Other Renee says:

    The instagrammer also had a huge half million dollar book deal with a big advance and then for a reason I couldn’t understand decided not to write the book and has to return the advance. Her ghostwriter write the book proposal for her.

  7. Kebbie says:

    I don’t get why this story is even a story. I mean it’s not like the ghostwriter thought she was going to be publicly credited, right? They were captions for the other girl’s Instagram account. And the advance has to be returned, so nobody is being paid for the proposal from what I understand.

    I don’t really see what the Caroline girl did to the ghostwriter that was so horrific, aside from not answering the air bnb door that one night. It just sounds like she was a narcissist and a flake and the writer had an unhealthy dependency on her and their friendship.

    I kept waiting for a bombshell that never came. Maybe my reaction would be different if I were familiar with this Caroline woman. But it’s a big “so what?” over here. It just seems like a lot of over dramatization about nothing.

    • Erinn says:

      It’s really a mixture of things. The woman’s more of a scammer based on using someone else’s proposal to land a book del, creating a creativity tour that she sold tickets for… and couldn’t give the ticket holders what they’d been promised. She’s just a real grifter type.

      • Arpeggi says:

        Also, her “art” is just some cutouts of Matisse paintings on fancy colored papers and she sells that $200 (which are never actually sent: scammer will scam!). It’s really nothing compared to influencers who have lied about their cancer while telling others to get off chemo and buy their snake oil, but I went on her Ig today and what a vapid, narcissist idiot! Her content is boring and basic AF

    • Eliza says:

      She has the pay back the book company so the ghost writer doesn’t get her 35%. I dont know why that’s not being mentioned more.

      • Kebbie says:

        Wasn’t the agreement that she’d get 35% for the actual book rather than the proposal? I get that it’s potential income that was lost, but she didn’t actually write the book then get screwed out of it. I assume the book wasn’t written because Caroline’s inability to complete it is why she owes the money back.

  8. My3cents says:

    Stories like these make me feel old.
    I guess it’s a millennial thing.

  9. Insomniac says:

    I cut my Internet scandal teeth on the Kaycee Nicole death hoax. Somehow Caroline seems like fairly small potatoes in comparison.

  10. BC says:

    Its perfectly normal for influencers to pay for people to curate their pages. Its a lot like how people pay to have their CVs professionally written…for lack of a better word. You could have the money to travel but not the words to convey the excitement of the travel to the masses. So i dont see the big deal they are trying to make with this. Its a lot like a tv show. There are many writers behind it but the face of promos is usually an actor. Granted, writers are given credit here. Didnt Bill Clinton write a spy novel with a ghost writer? I dunno, i think its normal. I, for one, want to do it. Its not being lazy, its working smart and a different perception or view point helps to reduce plotholes especially in novelwriting.

    • Kebbie says:

      Exactly. I’m just not getting it. I guess the girl feels like she wasn’t valued or paid enough or something. She says they missed their flight and her friend had to buy her an $800 ticket home. If Caroline was the reason they missed their flight, I get why that wouldn’t be fair to have to work off, but she never goes into why they missed it. So I’m back to not getting it.

  11. Alyse says:

    The weirdest thing about the story to me is how average the instagrammer seems as a person (inc looks) and the ghost writer was in love/idolised her… she goes on about how she’s this feminine ideal and beautiful she is… she’s pretty, but in an average way imho. Though I guess the words written were more a reflection of ghostwriters own insecurities creating this idealisation of instagram girl.
    (I’m not usually this bitchy online, but it did shock me to see the photos so far from what I was expecting based off the description)

    Best hoax person story has to be Anna Delvey though

    • Kebbie says:

      I had the same thoughts. She was describing this “all the guys wanted to date her, all the girls wanted to be her” type and I was just thinking “her?” the whole time.

    • Kebbie says:

      Also, Anna Delvey! Now that was a story! That was a scammer! This is just boring.

    • KL says:

      To be fair, they describe each other this way — the Instagrammer was all but weeping about the copy editor’s beautiful writing and iconoclast talent in the days leading up to publication. It feels mutually envious and co-dependent.

      But I have more sympathy because I’ve known several women like the Instagram star in question, including a French girl who was about the same level of attractiveness — very pretty, but nothing unexpected — and yet practically hoovered up men wherever we went. She had the same overblown romantic aspirations with each new connection as well, frequently cheating on whatever partner she was last with, and the same narcissism that convinced guys she was a much bigger deal overall. I 100% believe that men treat the Instagrammer like she’s made of spun glass, because that’s exactly how this girl was treated. And in my 20s I enjoyed friends like that, because investment in their dramatic lives meant I didn’t have to go out and get my own!

  12. Zantasla says:

    Joseph Gordon Levitt just gets dreamier the more I learn about him.

  13. Veronica S says:

    Honestly the funniest part is the fact that the Instagram is ghost written because you would think you’d at least pick a writer with TALENT instead of that garbage.

    • Kebbie says:

      Her article on The Cut is just as tedious as her captions. She seems just as exhausting as her subject.

      • Lucy2 says:

        Yeah I ended that thinking both women were pretty annoying, and very glad I’m not into the whole influencer thing.

    • Agnes says:

      Srsly. A ghostwriter wrote THOSE captions (sorry – stories!)? I mean… Money not well spent. Can’t feel too bad for either party. Nor for the people who paid $165 to see some rando basic bitch ramble nonsense at them.

  14. G says:

    I went on her insta and it’s not even good. Most “influencers” use a real camera and not an iPhone camera. The quality of her photos is pretty bad. It’s not an account worth following at all. I also looked through all her followers.. looks like about 80-90% are fake. There’s a website that uses an algorithm to guess how many of a username’s followers are most likely bots / fake. I haven’t tried it on hers but I’m pretty sure it’s high.