RANKED: 10 influencer scandals in Singapore for those who can’t get enough tea

Oooh, the tea is scalding with this one. Let’s be real, we all love to gossip and as Taylor Swift once wrote, “I don’t love the drama/the drama loves me”.

You know it and I know it, we all helpless to the siren call of the latest influencer tea. We sip the Singaporean Koolaid willingly and there’s nothing more Singaporean than the love-hate relationship we have with drama

They were right when they said go local, after all, there’s nothing more organic and fresh than hot goss springing forth from our backyard. Of course, this list is all in good fun. Don’t go getting your knickers in a twist, if not we’ll add your blow-up to the list.

Now, whoever said that Singapore was boring?

1. Faves Asia

All I can say is, cringe. Fave Asia’s made waves with their awkward advertisement depicting the lives of ‘influencers’ (quotation marks deliberately added). Bad acting aside, the video reinforced the stereotype that influencers lead extremely superficial lives with parties and the constant need for selfies.

The video garnered so much bad press that Faves Asia had to take down the video. But that didn’t stop the parodies and we love Preetipls’ version.

2. Daryl Aidan Yow and his stock images

Daryl Aidan Yow is a talented photographer known for his vivid photos on Instagram and being part of Instagram influencer Drea Chong’s close circle of friends. Well, his photos were so pretty that they looked as good as stock images.

In fact, they were.

Very dramatically, an exposé was sent to major sites like Mothership making June 20th 2018  one of the most exciting Wednesdays by far.

Daryl was, as the kids call it these days, ‘cancelled’, though only for a moment. After a three-month hiatus, Daryl made a comeback the only way he knew how—an Instagram post carefully photoshopped with his past digressions burning in edited glory. Even I must admit that was poetic.

3. Imran Rahim’s Sexual Allegations

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAjp9IYHIS6/

Okay, the tea is still brewing with the one so we have to wait and see if anything comes of it. This is not exactly influencer drama, more influencer adjacent if we are being specific. The tea is that husband of prominent social media influencer Drea Chong has found himself embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal.

This all stemmed from the action of one of our favourites from the recent General Elections, Charles Yeo from the Reform Party, who posted videos and IG posts about Imran’s alleged sexual misconduct. Imran was also put on leave on absence pending investigations by his law firm Tan Kok Quan Partnership (TKQP).

https://www.instagram.com/p/CC-6bttHSpN/

Imran later released a statement on his Instagram denouncing these allegations made by Charles Yeo.

The plot thickens when a little while later, Imran was no longer listed as a Senior Associate on TKQP’s website. Sexual allegations are no small matter and we hope for everyone’s sake that these are not true. Only time will tell if the tea is worth spilling.

4.Eden Ang

Unlike the name, this dude was the complete opposite of paradise. Eden Ang was accused of sexual harassment by a number of women. There was a girl who went by the name of Kuroe Kun on Facebook who accused Eden of touching her inappropriately and then asking her friend to strip.

Youtuber and influencer, Dee Kosh, then shared “receipts” of text messages between Eden and his personal assistant. Eden had allegedly asked her to “cover-up” on one day and “dress different” on another. When she said she would dress professionally, Eden replied “Good girls listen to daddy”—shudders.

It didn’t stop there, the drama reached biblical proportions when one “Lilith” posted on her  Instagram about Eden touching her inappropriately even when she told him no.

The list goes on, with more girls coming forward to accuse Eden of being highly inappropriate. Eden has since retreated from the spotlight and, honestly, it’s all for the better. That’s one jerk off the streets and a little more safety for women worldwide.

5. Jian Hao Tan responds on Twitter

Granted, this kerfuffle with Jian Hao Tan was not as juicy as some of these on the list but hey, I was still all up on it.

An unknown Twitter user commented on how  ‘lame’ Jian Hao’s content is. The inflammatory tweet read:

‘are Singaporean YouTubers not tired of the same secondary school content from 2013?????????’.

https://twitter.com/thejianhaotan/status/1256640866325651461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1256640866325651461%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.asiaone.com%2Fdigital%2Fyoutuber-jianhao-tan-defends-his-type-videos-after-tweet-about-stale-content-blows

Jian Hao admits that he usually doesn’t get bothered by salty comments but perhaps this one rubbed him the wrong way.

https://twitter.com/thejianhaotan/status/1256644698912899073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1256645391832891392%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.asiaone.com%2Fdigital%2Fyoutuber-jianhao-tan-defends-his-type-videos-after-tweet-about-stale-content-blows

He came to his channel’s defence and even recommended his other channels such as LadiesFirst and KINGHAO. As one of the biggest YouTubers in Singapore—must be doing something right.

6. Melissa Koh’s wedding

While influencer Melissa Koh’s wedding happened a few years ago, the drama that surrounded her wedding was one that dominated headlines. It was a lavish and extravagant wedding for sure—one that was surely every girl’s dream wedding complete with a very extra flower bar.

You’d think that guests would have enjoyed themselves at a wedding to celebrate the marital bliss of their friend but, oh no, some of them were salty AF.

Some of her friends, not anymore I suppose, were not pleased that most of the wedding was sponsored by vendors. Those that were interviewed by Straits Times felt like they would not have given such a fat ang bao if they knew.

7. Narelle and Xia Xue’s political spat

If you’ve been anywhere on the internet, chances are you might have caught wind of this recent spat between Sam Willows alum Narelle Kheng and influencer Queen Bee Xia Xue.

Just.. Leaving. This. Here…… pic.twitter.com/4pofwoIqKB

— Narelle (@narellekheng) July 8, 2020

The story began, just like how a lot of drama begins on Twitter. A snide tweet from Narelle about Xia Xue’s support for Trump erupted and was blown out of proportion.

This, in turn, sparked a couple of IGS from both parties which then gifted us gossip mongers. Here is the google doc of Narelle and Xia Xue’s WhatsApp conversation.

An interesting debate for sure. But whether it was petty to upload the entire conversation, that’s another story.

8. Dee Kosh and BTS drama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TIkuAndRuY&t=592s

Dee Kosh took us for a ride with this staged social experiment with the BTS army. All it took for some drama was a tweet and that’s exactly what happened.

It started with a tweet by Dee Kosh who said that BTS songs all sound the same. Lo and behold, the BTS army came for Dee Kosh and didn’t hold back.

To further stoke the flames, Dee Kosh tweeted a video splicing two BTS songs together which further angered die-hard, loyalist fans.

The BTS fans were not having it and took to Twitter with guns all blazing. According to Dee Kosh, this was all part of his plan. As the piece de resistance, Dee Kosh uploaded an eye mo induced video looking distressed by all the cyberbullying he was receiving.

Then, to prove his point further Dee Kosh even hid his youtube channel and attributed it to ARMYs. When it came out that it was all a hoax, Dee Kosh actually proved how damaging fandoms can be and the mob mentality that some fans have.

9. Much ado with Shiberty’s Crab Bee Hoon

Local blogger and influencer, Jessica Loh, or Shiberty found herself in a little bit of pickle when her helper took a little bit of her crab bee hoon meant for her friend.

In a slew of Instagram stories, Jessica laments about how her helper had been problematic for awhile.

This led local advocacy group Maid For More, to write Jessica an open letter about the power dynamics that exist in the employer-employee relationship.

Jessica was not taking this lying down and retaliated with even more Instagram stories showing screenshots of said conversation. This led Maid For More to DM her to help understand their perspective. A little bit more back and forth and both parties decide to agree to disagree (mostly on Maid for More’s part).

Though there was no satisfying denouement to this kerfuffle, no one can deny that for a while, Crab Beehoon finally got its day in the sun.

10.  Sylvia and Ryan’s divorce

I have to say seeing the news of Ryan and Sylvia’s divorce was sadder than it was scandalous. In a tearful video, Ryan and Sylvia explained that their 10-year marriage has come to an end.

It certainly came as a shock as we’ve always known them as Ryan and Sylvia from Night Owl Cinematics. The video was mature, amicable, funny, full of love, and undoubtedly, a little heartbreaking. They cited how work became both their priorities and as a result, their marriage took a back seat.

A reminder that life isn’t all that peachy and life just happens, even to the best of us.

BONUS: Dee Kosh & Allegations of Sexual Grooming

See here. And that makes Dee Kosh the most scandalous personality in this list, having appeared twice.