Danielle Bernstein Lands on TikTok With a Resounding Thud

Danielle Bernstein “introduced” herself to TikTok yesterday and received the digital version of rotten tomatoes thrown at her.

The accused design thief has been marred in controversy more than usual lately—especially on TikTok—which makes her decision to join the platform at this particular time utterly befuddling. 

Like I mentioned last week, blogger Kelsey Kotzur (who has roughly one percent of Instagram followers Bernstein has) shared a now-viral video documenting how Bernstein has lifted outfits and styling inspiration directly from her Instagram page without giving her credit. Combine that with Bernstein’s many previous scandals regarding stolen designs, and there’s quite a movement of TikTok users ready, willing, and able to call her out. 

Bernstein’s introductory TikTok gives a rundown of her history as a “photographer turned blogger turned designer turned tech entrepreneur turned New York Times bestselling author*” and yes, it’s as insufferable, braggadocious, and tone-deaf as it sounds. (If the saying “read the room” was a person, it’d be Danielle Bernstein.)

There are hundreds of comments—and they’re all scathing. (FWIW, Bernstein appears to allow commenting on her TikToks, whereas she’s limited the ability to comment on her Instagram page.)

Controversies aside, I’m not sure why Bernstein thought this video would land on the app, anyway. To me, it displays a fundamental misunderstanding of social trends and our current climate. Much of TikTok—and Twitter, while we’re on the subject—is about self-deprecation and relatable humor. Humble brags, mega-aspiration, and “girlboss” feminism certainly isn’t what’s on trend right now—and the fact that Bernstein likely thought she’d get a bunch of “YASSS QUEEN”s is at once baffling, hilarious, and extremely telling. 

*Note the dagger, which signifies bulk buys:

Emma Leger Accused of Copying Matilda Djerf, Rumi Neely

And while we’re on the subject of design theft…

Canadian blogger Emma Leger—commonly known as Emma Rose on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok—has been accused of ripping off designs from her peers. Leger recently launched a line in collaboration with Australian fast fashion brand Beginning Boutique, and several pieces look a little too familiar to some. 

One is a light-pink pinstripe pajama set with an oversize button-down and boxer shorts. It looks strikingly similar to a piece made first by Swedish blogger Matilda Djerf, whose eponymous brand Djerf Avenue outlines its sustainable and ethical slow-fashion practices in detail. 

“Honestly so sad to see this… you’re collaborating with a fast fashion brand, we work so hard to work with sustainable options and ethical production,” Djerf commented on Leger’s Instagram photo modeling the set. “To see a colleague of mine release an identical set with a fast fashion brand truly sucks.” 

Leger defended herself by saying, “This collaboration and design process has been in the works since last year… your accusations are misplaced.” 

The two ended the interaction by saying they’d message each other privately and hope to support each other as fellow “women in the business,” so it looks like that may be resolved for now—but that didn’t stop other accusations from flying on Twitter, this time regarding a dress by American blogger Rumi Neely’s brand Are You Ami that Leger had actually previously worn herself. 

We’ll see how this one plays out, but either way, the lesson here is this: If you’re going to continue destroying the world with cheap clothes, at least make them original.

Kendall Jenner Got Caught Using a Slimming Video Filter

Today’s proof that everything on social media is an illusion: Twitter users slowed down a video Kendall Jenner posted on her Stories this week, highlighting an obvious glitch in what is clearly a “slimming” video filter. (If this technology is news to you, it’s as nefarious as it sounds—video editing is becoming more and more popular, and FaceTune has added the feature as well.) 

This comes after the backlash against Kendall for her obviously photoshopped Ken Doll-crotch picture. 

This is a good reminder that literally nothing you see on Instagram is real. As I mentioned last week, Jenner has the best surgeons, personal trainers, and home chefs you could imagine—so, no wonder she looks great. (Her personality, on the other hand, is a different story.

 Jenner’s sister Khloe Kardashian recently came under fire as well for what appears to be a bad photoshop job, though she denied the accusations on Twitter. (The feet, y’all. I refuse to believe that’s just a “camera lens.”) 

 Can we kancel the Kardashians once and for all, already?