2024-08-27 13:55:02
Photo: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images
Social media influencer Alix Earle denies the rumor that she had allegedly trademarked her old racist comments from AskFM in 2014, an anonymous question forum, to stop people from sharing them online. In a statement shared on her Instagram Story, she apologized for the “deeply offensive” slur she used in the posts and said she regretted not releasing a statement sooner. Earle does address whispers circulating on TikTok and Reddit that people who repost her racist comments online received warnings from Earle’s legal team of trademark infringement. “In the absence of my addressing this, my silence allowed others to fill the void with rumors that simply aren’t true. One rumor in particular is that I tried to trademark my old posts, which is absolutely ridiculous and untrue,” Earle claimed. “Another is that a brand announced they are no longer working with me, even though we have never been in conversations with them about a partnership in any capacity.”
Two weeks ago, Do We Know Them? podcast hosts and YouTubers Jessi Smiles and Lily Marston reportedly received an email from Earle’s legal team for “violating their copyright” for activity happening on the podcast subreddit, one with which the creators have stated they have no affiliation. “We had violated a dozen laws according to this, including money laundering,” Marston noted in the episode as the screen showed an alleged copy of the email from her lawyers. “People had posted screenshots of [the comments] in our subreddit and her lawyer said they have a trademark to that. Which is like, you trademarked her racist AskFM things?” Smiles added. Earle does hold a trademark to her name, but it is unclear if the trademark could extend to her name on the original screenshots or if the trademark in question is for the screenshots themselves. Either way, has Earle ever heard of the Barbra Streisand Effect?
