While it’s advisable always to watch what you say publicly, it’s even more important to do so on social media.
Once you put something out on social media, it’s there to stay and no matter how hard you try, it’s very hard to take back.
People on social media show no mercy.
We’ve seen many social media wars go very badly, especially when it comes to service delivery.
This hairstylist learnt this the hard way.
A UK stylist claims that she lost her job because of a private message she sent a client in which she called her a “clown” was leaked onto TikTok.
Client Rosie Desborough took to TikTok to complain that the hairstylist had ruined her hair.
The hairstylist, Ellen Davies, then offered to fix the hair.
However, Desborough did not show up for the appointment. She did however email the salon to cancel and assumed that was it.
But Desborough then posted a TikTok, which has since been taken down, showing that Davies had sent her rude messages on Instagram.
In the video, she showed one message saying: “Thanks for cancelling,” with a clown emoji and asking if Desborough was just going to “no show.”
“Clown. Fry your hair up girl,” read another message.
Desborough was shocked and informed the stylist that she had emailed the salon to cancel and apologise. She then further explained why she no longer wanted Davies doing her hair.
“This is the reason I cancelled,” she said and showed several comments Davies had left on TikTok.
Unfortunately for Davies, Desborough was not the only person she had innings with on TikTok.
It turned out that she was caught up in another feud with a TikTok creator named Erin Hattamer, who has 1.2 million followers.
Hattamer is a comedian who also posts messages about body positivity. In one recent video, she discussed orthorexia — the eating disorder characterised as the unhealthy obsession with eating "raw" or "clean" food, and how she came across the term in an ED clinic.
Hattamer edited together her thoughts with the video of another creator who made a “what I eat in a day” vlog, showing her meals that consisted of turmeric protein bars, seeds, vitamin supplements, and quinoa.
While Hattamer said she was not diagnosing this creator, she said an obsession with only eating the "right" kinds of foods could be cause for concern.
Davies commented on this video, saying: “Lol how can you comment on eating,“ seeming to suggest Hattamer was not entitled to comment on other people’s diets due to her appearance.
@erinhattamer Replying to @Ellen Davies #fat #fatpositivity #bodypositivity ♬ original sound - Erin Hattamer
When people responded, saying Davies’ words were offensive, she didn’t stop there.
She responded to those by saying: “I don't think calling a fat person out for chatting rubbish about others is mean. She did the same thing.”
Desborough’s now deleted TikTok video cited this “fatphobia” from Davies as the reason she cancelled her appointment.
However, she explained in a follow-up video posted on August 29 that she had removed the original TikTok because the situation had been “resolved.”
@rosieposieeeex Ellen davies hair UPDATE #hairtok #Viral #update #ellendavies #fyp #hair #ells_rebecca ♬ original sound - Rosieposieeeex
She attached a screenshot of a message she received from the salon assuring her that Davies’ behaviour was “not how we treat our clients,” and stating that she no longer worked at the salon.
This is when Davies took to the video app to tell her side of the story.
In the video captioned: “The truth” she confirms that she did lose her job.
“OK guys social media is toxic as hell and I think this whole situation needs a lot more context. Because it's been completely manipulated,” she said.
She added that she has been “bombarded” with death threats and hateful messages and that she actually lost her job because of it.
She claimed how she was being represented was not the truth, and it had gotten “out of hand.”
Davies admitted she shouldn’t have sent the messages to Desborough after she cancelled, but claimed it wasn't unprofessional because she sent it from her private account, not her professional one.
“I'm just not a mean human being,” Davies said, explaining that she was so angry because she genuinely wanted to help, and had already bought the products for Desborough's hair.
But Davies also doubted Desborough's initial video, saying she knew the hair stylists at the salon she went to, and knew they were "good at hair."
Davies said she saw on Facebook that Desborough had already gotten her hair done, before she knew she had cancelled the appointment, and was upset she had four hours blocked out for her that she could have used for someone else.
"We'd been back and forth the whole time, personally," Davies said. "I wouldn't have thought she'd then go and email the salon."
She said she felt "stabbed in the back" and was rude as a result.
In response to the "fatphobic" comments, Davies said she had "never once called anyone any names."
She said she only wanted to emphasise that nobody should talk about another person's eating habits.
"You should not give unsolicited advice if you are not healthy yourself," she said. "That was the point I was trying to make."
Unfortunately, the video is no longer available because Davies has closed her TikTok account.