A controversial Australian influencer has quit social media after a series of attacks and death threats from people she calls her “haters” left her feeling “unsafe” and suicidal.
Emma Claiir, who received backlash in April when she shared on her podcast that she killed two cats when she was a child, told her 105,000 followers on Monday that she was leaving Instagram and “going into hiding” following the criticism.
“As most of you know I gave birth on the 12.4.23 to the most amazing, precious little boy and he changed my life completely,” she started the lengthy post.
“I was so excited to share my life with you all, share where things were from and just be real with my postpartum journey and experiences with my baby.
“But unfortunately that all became not possible when I shared a story from when I was kid on my podcast. I quickly became canceled and the death threats started rolling in.
“I lost my job, my mental health was impacted massively and people were just having a laugh about it.
“I suddenly began to feel unsafe in my own bubble, I started to feel unsafe in my own home, my anxiety was through the roof when I went out in public, I was constantly feeling violated, the death threats became louder and the lies and rumours also became louder.”
Claiir said that her mental health has been suffering and that at one stage she had considered taking her own life.
“People were going to all lengths to ruin my life,” she wrote.
“Messaging my friends with nasty messages, messaging brand and companies that were following me with threats and so much more.
“People were dehumanising me daily and laughing at my struggles.
“My mental health finally crumbled. I entered a very dark space that was extremely scary and unfamiliar.”
Claiir went on to reveal that she is “going into hiding” for a while to protect her mental health.
“It seems like nothing I post these days is good enough and everything I post is wrong and right now I can’t be bothered trying to please everyone,” she continued..
“I try my best to be somewhat real and relatable on here and hope that I can help at least one person feel better or less alone, but it’s just becoming harder to show up when I’m constantly getting told I’m wrong or toxic or need to do better.”
It comes after Claiir, who co-hosts the Simply Chaotic podcast, confessed in April: “I killed my cat … My sister did not speak to me for months – months – and my mum was f***ing fuming at me, and yeah, I killed it.”
“And then, if you really want to know more about me, I also killed my best friend’s cat,” she added.
The backlash to Claiir’s admission was swift, prompting her to post a further explanation on her Instagram Story – where she labelled it “a bit of light humour” and told her 106k followers to “chill”.
“To the poeple [sic] offended by my story in today’s simplychaotic episode that I just shared … It happened 21 years ago. I was a small child … Accidents happen and you all need to chill,” she wrote.
“I hope that you are not the same person you were at nine years old (I could have been even younger you know hahah) and I can confirm that after that accident I have been the mother moth to multiple cats including my baby Fred.
“It’s a bit of light humour in a get to know us episode and If you can’t handle that then simply chaotic ain’t for you. So byeeeee.”
She thanked those who messaged with “positive feedback” about the episode for “not taking things too seriously and understanding the humour”.
“Simply chaotic is a space for all the hot messes out there to just be themselves and not worry about getting judged,” Claiir added.
“Again sorry not sorry for an accident that happened over 20 years ago and sorry not sorry for having a giggle about it because I think still 20 years on I’m in shock by it.”
Suffice to say, Claiir’s initial response went down like a lead balloon – with Instagram users unimpressed that she’d offered a “non-apology” and then “doubled down”.
After the episode aired, Australian brand MCoBeauty – which Claiir had partnered with in the past – announced it “will no longer be working with Emma in the future”.
“It has come to our attention that Emma Claiir recently relayed a story on her podcast discussing an incident of animal cruelty from her childhood,” MCoBeauty said in a statement on its Instagram Story.
“We were dismayed by this story, and will no longer be working with Emma in future.
“Here at MCoBeauty, we take instances like this extremely seriously and do not condone animal cruelty of any kind.
“Thank you to all of those who have taken the time to bring this situation to our attention.”
The influencer then issued a second, more sincere apology for the incident.
“Hello friends, I would like to jump on here and firstly apologise for the story mentioned in episode one of simply chaotic,” Claiir wrote at the time.
“I am well aware that the story was not light humour and in fact very serious. It was not intended to come across the way that it did as it was simply just a story from the past about an accident that was made as a little kid but I can see how it has come across like that.
“I have taken time to think about my actions and want to confirm that I do have empathy about the situation and it’s not something I am proud of as it really hurt myself and my family 21 years ago.
“I am a loving person to all things living and have since been the most amazing cat mum to multiple cats and dogs. I am now also a loving mum to a little boy and have definitely grown up from that little nine-year-old kid.
“Again I deeply apologize for those affected [sic] by an accident that happened in the past and I hope we can leave it there.”