A minimalist wardrobe, an organized lifestyle, and neutral colors galore…not a formula one would think would justify a legal battle.
However, influencers Sydney Nicole Gifford, who now resides in Minnesota after moving from Texas, and Alyssa Sheil, from Austin, are fighting for exactly that, and both are probably hoping to prove that their version of the “aesthetic of the clean girl” is exclusively yours. .
Gifford, 24, who has 298,000 followers on Instagram and another 599,6,000 on TikTok, has filed what has been called the first lawsuit of its kind accusing fellow content creator Sheil, 21, of copying her TikTok , Instagram and Amazon Storefront. publications.
It claims Sheil doubled down on its “neutral, beige and cream aesthetic,” promoted the same Amazon products and used similar language, according to Texas court reports. The New York Post.
Gifford also alleges in her lawsuit that her rival copied her specific frames in videos, her way of speaking, her appearance and even her tattoos. This similarity between their pages apparently affected Gifford’s earnings as an influencer.
But opening up in an interview with The edge This week, Sheil, who has fewer than 440,000 followers across the two social media platforms, insisted: “There are hundreds of people with the exact same aesthetic, and I’m the only one who has to go through this.”
“He comes across as a gatekeeper… Like, ‘I’m the only one allowed to succeed in this program, I’m the only one allowed to get a foot in the door.’
“I think there is room and definitely enough money for everyone who is in the (Amazon influencer) program.”
Sydney Nicole Gifford (pictured left), who now lives in Minnesota after moving from Texas, and Alyssa Sheil (pictured right), from Austin, are two influencers.
The two women met in Austin in December 2022 with the goal of supporting each other in their businesses. However, after a joint photo shoot in January 2023 (with opinions from both sides differing as to how well it went), Sheil blocked Gifford online.
She says it’s because she didn’t feel the need to keep the relationship online if it wasn’t so brilliant in real life.
While Gifford was not offended, she later discovered from her followers that Sheil’s content had allegedly started to resemble her own.
A scroll through the pages of both may reveal similar products, outfits and decor from Amazon, and both fit into the modern “clean girl aesthetic”, with creams, grays and beiges proving to be the most popular color choices for most people. articles.
According to court documents filed in the Western District of Texas this spring, at least 30 posts on Sheil’s platforms allegedly featured “identical style, tone, camera angle and/or text” as Gifford’s.
Gifford’s legal team sent cease-and-desist letters warning Sheil to stop, court documents report, while the influencer also successfully pressured social platforms to remove some of her rival’s allegedly infringing posts.
Then in April, Gifford sued Sheil after she apparently continued to copy her content. She is reportedly being sued for damages that could run into the millions. In November, a judge ruled that Gifford’s case could continue.
Gifford (pictured left), 24, who has 298,000 followers on Instagram and another 599,6,000 on TikTok, has filed what is being called a lawsuit, the first of its kind, accusing her fellow content creator Shei (pictured right), 21, copying her TikTok, Instagram and Amazon Storefront posts
Gifford (pictured left) claims Sheil (pictured right) doubled down on her “neutral, beige and cream aesthetic,” promoted the same Amazon products and used similar language, according to Texas court records, reported The New York Post.
Influencers, who are like online personal shoppers in that they suggest and review various products for their hundreds of thousands of followers, have bought homes thanks to their work.
Gifford, who now goes by Sydney Nicole Slone on social media following her wedding, told The Verge how the amount she now earns is largely back to what it apparently was.
The TikTok star, who is currently pregnant with a baby, claims this is because Sheil supposedly makes fewer posts that match her ‘vibe’ and because she has changed the way she shoots her footage; He has stopped using decoration similar to that found in his rival’s clips and shows more of his face.
Gifford is asking a judge to ban her counterpart from duplicating her content, along with unspecified damages. Sheil “strongly denies all allegations,” his attorney Jason McManis has said.
Meanwhile, Amazon declined to comment on the lawsuit, according to The Verge.
MailOnline has contacted Gifford, Sheil and Amazon for comment.