An Instagram Influencer Defended Posting Photos of Her Motorcycle Accident and She Insists It’s All Real

I still can’t figure out how this “influencer” culture that surrounds us actually works. So people are famous and make a living because they have a lot of followers on Instagram…but I’m not really sure what they actually do.

But what do I know? Very strange times we live in…

But let’s move on to the story.

A lifestyle blogger named Tiffany Mitchell, who has more than 200,000 Instagram followers, was called out by some people on the social media network because of her decision to turn her motorcycle accident into an impromptu photoshoot that she posted online.

A lot of Mitchell’s followers wished her well, but there were some who thought the whole accident (and photoshoot) was a staged scene.

One person commented, “This must have been super scary and I’m glad you’re okay, but… if my friend continued to take photos while I was lying semi-unconscious in the road, I’d be furious. I love your photos but it’s a little weird to include those.”

Here are some more responses from people who were cynical that the accident even took place:

Mitchell insists the accident was legit. She said, “I didn’t know she was taking them, but later on when she showed them to me I was so grateful that she captured such an intense moment for me.”

Mitchell further insisted, “All motives for taking the photos and sharing them along with the details of the experience were good. I’m really sad that raising this topic without all the context may inspire negativity and hatred, but I did my best and hope whatever happens can add to people’s lives in some way.”

Other commenters pointed out that the perfectly placed bottle of Smartwater was a little curious, but Mitchell insisted, “I would never turn a very important personal story like this into a brand campaign. The water was given to me while I was resting.”

In response to all the backlash, she posted this photo and explanation.

View this post on Instagram

I’ve been figuring out how to respond to everything that’s unfolded recently regarding the post I shared 3 weeks ago about my moto accident. I won’t get into that post here (see my Moto Accident story highlight for all the details), but I want to talk about the reactions I’ve been getting to the article @buzzfeednews posted sensationalizing what I went through that day, and making a mockery of the post I shared. As a result, I’ve been accused of staging the accident to get attention, using it as a product placement opportunity with a water company, and other things I can’t even wrap my head around. I’ve been sharing real life stories here since I started my account. I’ve opened up about miscarriage, divorce, anxiety, losing my partner in a moto accident 3 years ago, and navigating the grief that followed. I’ve chosen to use Instagram as a tool for healing and connecting with other humans who may be going through similar things so we can do it together. And it’s been beautiful. When I work with brands, they’re ones I personally enjoy, and I disclose every single sponsorship. Accusing someone of faking or exploiting an accident is extremely serious—because what if you’re wrong? It really happened to me, and I was scared. I really was injured and had to recover. I was in shock laying on the side of the road, having flashbacks to when I lost someone very important to me. Friends were by my side, strangers called an ambulance, waited while I was checked out and then gave me a ride home. When I found out my professional photographer friend who I’d been shooting with earlier took photos of everything, I was completely moved. I shared this on my feed with humans who have been on a journey with me for years because I knew they would understand what it meant to me and I understood what it would mean to them. I’m sad that something so true and personal has been treated this way, and disappointed in BuzzFeed for spinning it there. I would just ask that if you’re here because of this, consider that the post I made was something real that happened in my life that resonated deeply with me and those who have chosen to follow me. That’s what it was intended for.

A post shared by Tiffany / tifforelie (@tifforelie) on Aug 20, 2019 at 4:06pm PDT

Like I said, we live in strange times…

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