Emma Chamberlain slammed for charging fans $10,000 for an Instagram DM

21 March 2023, 16:48

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By Emma Kershaw

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The social media star has come under fire for charging five figures for an Instagram DM.

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Emma Chamberlain shut down her online store following backlash after it emerged she charged fans $10,000 to receive an Instagram DM.

The 21-year-old, who rose to fame after joining YouTube in 2017, was slammed for offering a "Personal Thank You Note From Emma in Instagram DM!" for the five-figure sum.

Those who couldn't afford the $10,000 balance upfront had the option to pay in $958.02 monthly instalments for a year.

People began calling out the social media star on Twitter, with user Layla Saliba posting a screenshot of the DM offering and writing, "why is emma chamberlain charging 10K for an instagram DM this is wild". The Tweet has been viewed 1.2 million times.

READ MORE: Emma Chamberlain is being called out for selling $60 coffee

Emma Chamberlain
Emma Chamberlain. Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage, @laylaanna_

Since the Tweet was posted, Emma's online store, shopemmachamberlain.com, has been "under construction" and locked with a password.

Layla spoke with BuzzFeed News about her thoughts on the whole situation, adding that she used to be a fan of Emma's Anything Goes podcast, but stopped listening to it once it started to not be relatable anymore.

She told the outlet, "Nothing against her, but I’m a WOC working multiple jobs in grad school and I just got tired of someone who was very wealthy complain about how hard their life is,"

Layla explained that she had done a quick Google search to find out what she had missed after not listening to the podcast for some time, which is when she stumbled across the Instagram DM charge.

Of course, once Layla's tweet had started to blow up and the internet cottoned on to Emma's $10,000 DMs, the hilarious reactions came in thick and fast.

"Hey man I don’t think I can go out tonight, I still got my monthly affirm payment for the emma chamberlain dm I got a couple months ago" one person said.

"i wonder if you reply back to the personal emma chamberlain dm does she respond or do you have to pay another 10k" queried another.

A third wrote: "Something about financing an Instagram DM is just so funny to me. Like imagine someone putting “Emma Chamberlain DM” on a bankruptcy filing".

A fourth commented: "you can either buy one carton of eggs in 2023 or pay for an instagram dm from emma chamberlain. what will you choose?"

The Instagram DM debacle isn't the first time that Emma has face backlash for the price of her products. In 2020, the YouTuber riled up fans after she began charging $60 for a bag of Chamberlain Coffee.

Chamberlain Coffee uses steeped coffee bags, which are essentially compostable tea bags filled with fresh coffee grounds. Her cold brew recipe is a fan favourite, but if you want to make it yourself at home, you're going to have to use three of the steeped bags per serving. If you factor in shipping costs and the number of coffees you drink each day, the price would quickly begin to add up.

While Emma's pricey Instagram DM has been removed for now, only time will tell if she decides to keep selling them.

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