Here are some of the shitty experiences I’ve had w Brands… In this thread I will talk about Refinery 29, Marc Jacobs, Playboy, THINX, LELO, Wild Flower Sex, Imiloa Institute, VidCon, Buffer Fest, Clarks Shoes, Foria, Le Wand/B-Vibe, Samsung, Nylon, TomboyX, IG/FB, Dame, Unbound.

Let’s start with the most obvious, Refinery 29. In June of 2020, they changed their “pride” plans to finally be inclusive of Black folks. They did this by requesting over an hour of live content be created for them with no payment other than exposure.

When I told R29 it was gross for them to use a traumatic time in the Black community to use creators for their optics, they essentially said …I hear you, I see you, and FINE we won’t ever reach out again.

Marc Jacobs did the same bullshit. Used June 2020 as a way to offer free exposure to Black creators in order to make it look like they supported the Black community. It’s disgusting and blatant and when I asked them why they thought that was ok. They ghosted.

Playboy. No clue why the creatives at playboy can get back to me in 12 hours, but the accounting dept seems to take issue with paying people for their work. One of the biggest brands, making people question if they’ll be able to pay rent. After already doing the work… why?

THINX. I had to follow up with their agency (GOAT AGENCY) 12 times to get my clientS paid. Oh it's contracted but hiring a lawyer is SO EXPENSIVE. I reached out to Thinx on LinkedIn + IG...hey the agency you’re working with is not paying creators. They fully *SEEN* and ghosted.

LELO once requested 7 edits of a video. Why? Because THEY SENT THE WRONG TOY & THEY got their launch date wrong. They fully never paid a diff client. After months of trying to get them to send that lil $750 we gave up bc it was miserable. All they still reach out...GO AWAY.

Wild Flower Sex has taken advantage of multiple Black creators (google dildon’t disrespect black femmes) AND they tried to trademark the word Enby because a non-binary Black individual opened a shop called Shop Envy (best sex store hands down).

WFSex tried to TM "Enby" AFTER Shop Enby was already opened and are still trying to make this person's life hell!! Non-Binary identities exist because of Black and Indigenous communities. White people can't OWN THAT WORD. Also they are rich as fuck with their google job.

Imiloa Institute, a retreat center for rich white people. Reached out to MY CLIENTS to see if they wanted to host a retreat. THEY DID! We paid the money (via fundraising) and then it got postponed due to Covid --

August 2020 rolled around we were like "Hey Imiloa, covid ain’t going anywhere" and requested cancellation. We were contracted the ability to cancel 90 days in advance, this was 120 days in advance. TLDR; they ghosted us and stole $30,000 from a Black woman Owned healing retreat.

VidCon, June 2020, tried to say their pride was about Black people and reached out to request Black clients sit on a panel with J*mes Ch*rles. I said ‘that boy is racist and why aren’t you offering compensation’ they said ‘I hear you, I see you. no we won't pay anything...’

Also we have thousands of stories about Vidcon being racist, ableist, and transphobic… A LOT OF US DO And we have expressed these concerns to the people in charge but they DON'T CARE and won't make changes. It's so upsetting!

Buffer Fest, one of their owners or whatever was “held accountable” for his repulsive relationship with multiple young women. And then allowed into the hotel rooms, parties, and events with all of the young women Buffer Fest said it was protecting by not letting him show up….

WHY was A literal known abuser VIP at Buffer Fest? Not to mention the blatant racism and homophobia at the overall event. AS WELL AS, Buffer Fest forcing me to disclose why my disabled client was in a need of a caregiver. Saying they could just have an intern handle it. Fuck off.

Clarks Shoes, Multiple stories with multiple clients. THEY WERE ASSHOLES to my disabled client and borderline refused to accept their work. After asking them to WAY over extend themselves in order to do it and then called that person unprofessional.

AND THEN Clarks, in June 2020 had multiple black creators show up for a ‘casual small’ photoshoot with a complete shitstain of a white photographer who FORCED THEM to hold fake BLM signs and act angry while marching. I literally hate this brand.

Foria Wellness, pushing the Black agenda without a single Black person on staff. A client signed a contract, created content, and sent it in for approval. Only to be ghosted after multiple follow ups, not paid, and no offer of reimbursement for creating the content they asked for

AND Foria get me on a call asking “if you know a black person we can hire we’ll pay you a fee.” WTF??? I asked what protocols were in place to be sure a new Black employee would feel safe. They said there's a weekly meeting called “PrioriTEAS” where people can express themself...

Le Wand & B-Vibe, FOUR different creators being misgendered more than once. Talking shit about Black employees only to celebrate them on Social media. And no support or engagement w Black creators that they added to their list of ‘fave sex educators’ in June 2020.

I once suggested to Le Wand / B Vibe that disabled and trans people might benefit from a toy that wasn’t so hard and vibratey and didn’t look like a traditional vibrator…I was shut up immediately and told I know nothing about the market…why did u even hire me?

Samsung, whoever they hired had my client edit their video NINE TIMES. Cut what they were paying them IN HALF after content was already created. And referred to my client as a TOUGH NUT when she asked for clear notes so she didn’t have to edit another 9 times… WHATINTHEFUCK

Nylon, I wrote a piece for them about non-binary and queer fashion. Most of the people included were either already non-binary or about to be :} They made the title of the piece ‘queer women…’ I asked them to change it they said no bc it was better for SEO.

Nylon then PROCEEDED TO CONTINUE WORKING WITH THE QUEERS THAT I BROUGHT THEM who they were misgendering for SEO purposes and essentially never hired me as a freelancer ever again.

TomboyX was going to send over undies for a shoot. They were excited, asked to see the list of influencers involved. I send, they canceled the collab TWO DAYS before the shoot, and sent a separate email asking if they could work with three of the influencers on our list…. ????

AND THEN TomboyX proceeded to have a photoshoot where my Black & non-binary client felt SO OUT OF PLACE because nearly everyone on set was cis & white with little education on other communities.

DAME + Unbound will fully say they want to give thousands of dollars to my Black client's efforts and then are like ‘oh nm we meant do you want a free vibrator.’ JUST DON'T SAY YOU WANT TO SUPPORT THEN. IF YOU CAN’T SUPPORT THE BLACK COMMUNITY. JUST BE FOR WHITE PEOPLE.

Here are the best brands to work with from my personal experience and how they treated my clients: HBO, Oshihana / Momotaro, Lovers, Coral, HBOMax, Clue App, Best Fiends, Better Help, Dollar Shave Club, Reebok, Tinder, Apple TV (Dickinson), and here’s why I’m tweeting this…

These brands have every opportunity to come forward and accept accountability. They know how to fire people. They know how to hire people. They can google where to get consulting. They can say out loud “We have not prioritized Black creators in any real way.” JUST BE HONEST. And-

Since these brands are not going to be honest, at least now y’all know some true AND RECENT stories. I have been apologized to by almost every one of these brands and there has been no active change. I don't give a shit what they do, I don't trust them but here's what I want-

I want y'all to KNOW these Brands are not safe. And you do not have to do anything for free to get on their good side. They don't care about you or us. They care about their money. ASK FOR DOUBLE. If they're going to profit off of you make sure you are profiting off of them!

I know the fear is "if i ask for too much money they will find another artist" ... NO THEY WON'T they literally have no clue how to find Black or disabled creators, they are n panic mode trying to grasp onto ANYTHING that will diversify their IG feed. Here's what you can do-

"I do know about your brand and I am definitely taking on work right now. I'm happy to do this job for $xxxx but I can not accept below that rate." Link them to this thread. Tell them thanks and hope to hear back. They will try to BEFRIEND YOU instead of doing business with you-

Brands try to BEFRIEND you so they can gaslight you. Don’t fall for it. You don’t need more friends. They can have our pictures if they redistribute their money. I PROMISE you do not need their exposure. Their audiences are NOT aligned with you. Ask for double.

Brands THRIVE off of your imposter syndrome. They will act friendly so you work for free and when you ask for money they will guilt you or make you feel like you’re *actually* not worth that amount. SHAME ON THESE BRANDS. And allow them to fuck right off.

I have seen what happens when marginalized creators turn down work that is not respectful of them and their time. Something bigger and better comes through. If one brand knows who you are, MANY brands know who you are. TRUST ME.