Zoella has accused those who criticised a selfie where her underwear was visible of sexualising and shaming her body-confidence.
The vlogging star, real name Zoe Sugg, shared a picture of herself wearing a t-shirt and Calvin Kleins on Snapchat before going to bed. The image was criticised by some fans, with one suggesting it was inappropriate for her younger followers.
The picture also prompted The Sun to declare Zoella, 25, was debuting a more “risqué” side while Mail Online dedicated an entire article to the “VERY revealing” selfie. What they didn’t count on was the outrage of her millions of dedicated fans, who responded by launching a “#westandwithZoe” solidarity hashtag and sharing their own underwear selfies.
Her boyfriend and fellow vlogger Alfie Deyes also decided to join the tweets by replicating the picture and wearing her underwear in it.
“Brimming with love at all your support,” Zoella wrote on Wednesday evening. “The world is full of amazing people. I hope one day we will live in a world where promoting self-love & body confidence won't be sexualised or shamed.”
Together, Zoella and Dayes have established a social media empire and over 15 million YouTube subscribers. Zoella built up her online profile with her hair and make-up tutorials while Deyes launched The Pointless Blog, a collection of his “pointless” video diaries, in 2009.
Now, the pair dubbed “Zalfie” by their followers often feature in each others videos. Their status as leading social media influencers was cemented when a video of the pair quizzing each other on how well they know each other was watched over 16 million times. Zoella now earns £50,000 a month, according to figures obtained by The Sunday Times.
But after building up a following by sharing their quizzes and seemingly day-to-day aspects of their lives, both bemoaned their lack of privacy after fans began reportedly turning up at their house. Zoella responded to suggestions they should have expected this by claiming the pair had "never set out to become famous".
