Thin-skinned Instagram influencers are claiming victory after popular gossip account Celeb Spellcheck unexpectedly deleted all of its posts over the weekend.
Celeb Spellcheck, which shares user-submitted gossip and mocks D-list celebrities for their typographical errors, completely wiped its archive on Saturday.
The profile’s anonymous admin later said they were just ‘taking a break’ and denied rumours they’d been forced to shut down over legal threats or were at risk of having their identity exposed.
Revenge: Thin-skinned Instagram influencers are claiming victory after gossip account Celeb Spellcheck unexpectedly deleted all of its posts over the weekend. Pictured: Keira Maguire
As Celeb Spellcheck’s 145,000 followers speculated about the possible reasons for the deletion, high-profile critics of the account celebrated its demise.
The likes of Ruby Tuesday Matthews, Keira Maguire and Sophie Cachia all said they were pleased Celeb Spellcheck had ceased operations – for the time being at least.
Keira, whose typos have been regularly featured on Celeb Spellcheck, accused the account of ‘bullying’ and said her close friends had been ‘affected by this page’.
She also said the admin was a hypocrite for considering monetisation, saying: ‘When an account chooses to demoralise influencers that he/she wants to be one.’
Respite: The likes of Ruby Tuesday Matthews (pictured), Keira Maguire and Sophie Cachia all said they were pleased Celeb Spellcheck had ceased operations – for the time being, at least
Gone! Celeb Spellcheck, which shares user-submitted gossip and mocks D-list celebrities for their typographical errors, completely wiped its archive on Saturday
Statement: The anonymous admin said they were ‘taking a break’ and denied rumours they’d been forced to shut down over legal threats or were at risk of having their identity exposed
Former WAG Sophie, whose movements during Melbourne’s Covid lockdown last year were scrutinised by Celeb Spellcheck, agreed with Keira’s sentiments.
She also said it was ‘disappointing’ to see other influencers and celebrities following an interacting with a ‘page that aims to humiliate and embarrass’ people.
Sophie continued: ‘At times I have been posted on there with completely factually inaccurate information… and I know others have too.
Criticism: Keira Maguire, whose typos have been regularly featured on Celeb Spellcheck, accused the account of ‘bullying’ and said her close friends had been ‘affected by this page’
Taking a swipe: She also said the admin was a hypocrite for considering monetisation, saying: ‘When an account chooses to demoralise influencers that he/she wants to be one’
‘Lucky for me, it has never once impacted my work [as an influencer] but I can imagine for others it has. But what it has done is harm my mental health.’
She went on to say that Celeb Spellcheck’s snarky posts ‘create a bullying culture’ – something the account’s admin has always strongly denied.
Meanwhile, Ruby shared a series of videos on Instagram in which she addressed gossip and opinion pages generally, did not reference Celeb Spellcheck specifically.
Solidarity: Former WAG Sophie Cachia (right), whose movements during Melbourne’s Covid lockdown last year were scrutinised by Celeb Spellcheck, agreed with Keira’s sentiments
Hitting back: She said it was ‘disappointing’ to see other influencers and celebrities following a ‘page that aims to humiliate and embarrass’ people, and also accused Celeb Spellcheck of spreading false information about her
She said people have a right to hold an opinion about influencers, but draws the line at forums dedicated to spreading ‘false rumours’ about individuals.
Ruby argued that gossip accounts mobilise trolls to attack influencers on their own accounts ‘in a really negative, horrible way’.
‘If this was happening in a school and someone created a page like this in a school, you’d f**king be expelled for bullying. Think about it,’ she said.
Ruby then warned that proposed anti-online bullying laws in Australia will make pages like Celeb Spellcheck illegal.
This probably won’t happen, however, because the anti-trolling laws are designed to protect Australians from cyber abuse, not shield public figures from fair criticism.
Ruby also privately messaged a gossip account, @aussieinfluenceropinions, and said she believed Celeb Spellcheck had been forced to close.
‘The world has enough hate in it… Celeb Spellcheck didn’t just take her account down. You know that,’ she wrote in DMs leaked by @aussieinfluenceropinions.