"I Hope I Don't Get Cancelled": SA Content Creator Calls Out Toxic Influencer Culture
- Melissa Willis, a South African content creator with seven years of experience, called out the toxic behaviour she has witnessed in the local influencer industry
- Willis said some popular creators treat service staff badly at events, actively gatekeep information, and fail to support fellow creators despite preaching otherwise
- Her candid TikTok video sparked hundreds of comments from South Africans who said they had experienced the same treatment first-hand
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Source: Instagram
Melissa Willis, a South African content creator, posted a candid TikTok video on 19 September 2026 calling out the behaviour she has witnessed in the local influencer industry over seven years of working in it.
Filming from her bedroom in a selfie-style video, Willis spoke directly to camera while applying makeup, opening with the words:
"I hope I don't get cancelled for this."
What followed was a frank, confessional take on the reality behind the curated world of South African content creation.
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Explore the gap between online and real life
Willis said the personalities many followers admire online often bear little resemblance to who those creators actually are in person. She described witnessing creators treat waiters, bartenders and event staff poorly, and said it had become so normalised that people were genuinely surprised when someone was kind.
"I've actually had more than one person message me, or come up to me at an event or after an event saying, thank you for being so nice, which just means that they are so used to people being so rude in this industry that they are shocked when someone's actually nice."
She also addressed the culture of gatekeeping, calling out creators who publicly discourage it while privately ignoring messages from fellow creators asking for basic advice or supplier contacts.
Set boundaries with brands and support fellow creators
Willis urged South African creators to hold firm on being paid for their work, particularly when working with large brands that have the budget to compensate them fairly. She acknowledged that smaller brands with limited resources are a different case but said big companies have no excuse.
She wrapped up with a call for creators to support one another, noting that engaging with someone else's content costs nothing and harms no one.
View the TikTok video below:
Mzansi reacts to the honest take
The video drew hundreds of comments from South Africans who said her words hit close to home:
@Ashley👩🏾🍳🎀 said:
"Events in CPT are so cliquey and weird. Joburg on the other hand? TOP TIER! I don't know what's in the Cape Town water 👀"
@phiA shared:
"I have 2000 followers, I 'delusionally' applied to attend some influencer event because I noticed it was in my area and the brand aligns with my content. Long story short, I got an invite and when I tell you I felt like furniture at that event 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭"
@YourGirl_Clauds wrote:
"The names I could share!!! So true. Very sad! 🥺 Have also met some MEAN girls…"
@Alice🇿🇦 added:
"Yessss! I looked up to a girl and loved her content until I met her. She didn't talk for a solid 2 hours, sat on her phone the whole time and when she managed to chat it was all about her and how much money she makes 😤 Unfollowed immediately."
@natalieamywilliams wrote:
"👏🏼👏🏼 The internet could be deleted tomorrow and then what 😭"
@Jade Biko noted:
"There is a content creator who seems like a girls' girl online but in reality she's a mean girl for real, even to her own 'friends'."
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Source: Briefly News
