Influencer culture has completely ruined how some people view actual hard work. There is an entire species of internet personalities who genuinely believe their follower count is an acceptable form of currency. They will aggressively demand free products from struggling small businesses and then throw a massive tantrum when the answer is no. One twenty-five-year-old artist on Reddit recently dealt with the absolute worst version of this scenario, and her petty revenge is a thing of beauty.
The Original Poster is an incredibly talented painter and a military veteran who was discharged for medical reasons beyond her control. She has a mutual friend named Anna who recently commissioned a beautiful piece of art. Anna did what normal people do. She paid the artist her full rate, had a perfectly smooth transaction, and posted a lovely photo gifting the artwork to her own mother.
That sweet social media post caught the attention of the Original Poster’s twenty-nine-year-old stepsister equivalent. This woman is the mother’s goddaughter, named Jen. Jen fancies herself a massive online influencer. Seeing Anna’s beautiful gift, Jen decided she wanted a custom painting for her own retired photographer father. But unlike Anna, Jen had absolutely no intention of opening her wallet to pay for the materials or the labor.
Jen bluntly stated she wanted the artwork for free. She offered to pay in the entirely fictional currency of exposure, promising to tell her fans to buy from the artist. The Original Poster firmly declined. She explained she was not in a great financial spot and simply could not afford to work for free. To make matters worse, Jen wanted a custom canvas size that the artist would have to specifically build or special order online.
Instead of accepting the rejection gracefully, the influencer doubled down on the delusion. Jen accused the artist of being greedy and lacking a solid vision for business. Then she dropped a demand so outrageous it almost sounds fake. Jen actually demanded the artist pay her two hundred dollars in cash on top of providing the free custom painting. She tried to justify this extortion by claiming companies usually pay her to review things.
While the artist was busy working at her actual job and unable to reply, Jen absolutely spiraled. She started viciously attacking the artist’s personal life. The influencer brought up the medical military discharge and cruelly called her a failure. She had the absolute audacity to say she was giving the artist a rare option to succeed and finally make her parents proud. Hitting someone with their own medical trauma just to score a free portrait is a new level of evil.
When text bullying failed, the twenty-nine-year-old woman ran crying to her godmother. The Original Poster’s own mother, who clearly favors Jen, called her daughter and demanded she give the influencer the free painting. Hearing those cruel words about her parents not being proud echo in her mind, the artist snapped. She decided to give Jen exactly what she asked for without spending a single dime on materials.
The artist grabbed a piece of paper, drew a messy two second sketch, and handed it over as the highly requested free artwork. She told Jen to take it and leave her alone. The influencer completely lost her mind. She became enraged, threatened to blast the artist to her followers, and promised to completely ruin her entire art career.
Instead of waiting to be canceled by a mob of angry followers, the artist took the nuclear route. She gathered up every single nasty text message, including the extortion attempt and the cruel comments about her military discharge, and exposed them all. She sent the receipts to their entire shared family and posted them directly to the internet for the whole world to see.
The Reddit community gave this artist a standing ovation and crowned her completely not the a**hole. You cannot threaten to destroy a small business just because you refuse to pay for a luxury service. Exposure does not buy groceries, and it certainly does not cover the cost of a custom canvas. The influencer thought she could bully a veteran into submission, but she ended up exposing her own horrific behavior to everyone she knows.