When Public Bashing Backfires -- (Influencer vs. Business)

Does brand or business bashing even work?

There's a new TikTok drama hot off the press, and it's about hair.

This drama involves a hair stylist and an influencer who, after genuinely discussing the content, bashing the stylist and salon being satire, decided to flip the switch and bash her long-term hair stylist instead.

But what is the hair stylist and beauty world all about, anyway? How did this whole corner of the internet start?

The beauty community has seen a recent rise since COVID-19, with a significant beginning in the early to mid-2020s.

It wasn't until the start of 2025 that public bashing of small businesses, large companies, or even pop-up stores made the rounds across the TikTok and internet space.

So, getting back into the drama with the hair stylist and influencer, where did the internet align in this feud?

This time, it was the many, many hair stylists on TikTok who stood against said influencer and instead sided with their fellow stylist-in-arms.

As always with a good internet call-out, there was the initial video upload done by Party A, distinctly edited to look a certain way. Then Party B would come back with receipts, debunking most (if not all, in some cases) of the claims, and then two things would happen.

The first is that Party A doubles down. This can either come in the form of a story time, a repost of a comment in favor of their beliefs, or even a like. Then, they will ghost the internet for months to a time, return with a scripted apology, or even a "non-apology."

Though, this was unlike anything we've witnessed.

As the videos and uploads progressed on both sides with no signs of stopping, it seemed there was no clear resolution.

Initially, the influencer and stylist were on the same side of the coin. They were going to work together to spin a false narrative that the hair stylist was the "worst stylist ever" and have it be a satire approach to a salon review.

Now, as a business over, I personally would never agree to such a prompt to begin with. There's the saying "bad press is good press" but wouldn't you, as the business owner (or stylist), want to be associated with good press?

It seemed to be a lose-lose situation from the beginning, and now both parties have since said their peace on the issue.

How familiar are you with this hair stylist/influencer drama? Did you witness it happening on your For You Page while it was happening or did you hear about it on a podcast after? If you were in the hair stylist's position, how would you respond? Would you respond at all?

Another internet drama of the week has come and left the central internet hub station, and the general public is off to the races with the next one.