A small business owner who refused to give an influencer a free birthday cake was outraged when Instagram removed her post branding it “fake and boring.”
Reshmi Bennett, 39, is a children’s author, baker and baker from London who runs Anges de Sucre, a luxury cake business.
Last month, the mother received an email from London-based influencer Anna Kurtglian (243,000 Instagram followers), offering her a birthday cake for a friend in exchange for social media coverage. I asked if I could have one.
In response, Lesmi told her, “Don’t be so pissed off, just buy a cake from somewhere,” but accused her post of violating the community guideline of “showing respect” to other users. has been removed from Instagram.
Reshmi Bennett from London (pictured in 2021) runs her luxury cake business, Anges de Sucre
A screenshot of Anna’s email posted by Lesi on Instagram reads, “I’ve been a huge fan of your brand for quite some time now. I am always happy to support you guys xx
“I wanted to reach out and see if you would like to cooperate? It’s my best friend’s birthday soon. My friend is a big fan too, so it’s great to order a cake from Anges de Sucre. This will be a perfect surprise!”
She then ends the email by offering to “create content in exchange for cake.”
Later that day, Reshmi replied to Anna, accusing the influencer of “begging for freebies” after declining her offer.
She wrote, “Thanks for writing! It’s always nice to hear from real fans. You say you’ve been a big fan for quite some time.”
Influencer Anna Kurtglian asked Reshmi if she would make a free cake for her friend’s birthday in exchange for coverage on social media.Photo: Influencers in London
Left: Anna’s email requesting a free cake from Reshmi in exchange for social media coverage.Right: Reshmi’s response to asking influencers to stop “begging for freebies” later in the day
“But I just noticed you aren’t following my page, and I don’t know or care about your best friend.
Don’t get too fed up with just buying a cake from somewhere else.
‘Your friends will adore your faux-baked efforts instead of begging for freebies. Merry Christmas! ‘
Alongside her bespoke cakes, Reshmi has an Instagram following of 56,000 thanks to her ‘fake bakes’ series.
Anna replied to Reshmi’s post, telling her she made a “cooler cake” for Alina.
Left: Alina, whose birthday was that day, detailed her perspective on her Instagram story.Right: Anna asked her followers to participate in a poll, with 78% siding with Reshmi
After Reshmi shared the email exchange on Instagram, Anna’s influencer friend Alina Rafikova (on her 25th birthday) jumped to defend her friend in a comment on the now-deleted post. rice field.
she wrote:
“You don’t have to be disrespectful. After being published in a major magazine, many people start thinking they’re the best in the field, but your cake is no better than Peggy Porchen’s.”
“I just want to say that it is not very professional to answer this way from your side. Luxury companies would never allow this behavior to a potential customer.
Reshmi (pictured) accused influencers of leaving multiple one-star reviews on Google.
Left: Arinal labeled Reshmi “rude” in a comment on the original Instagram post.Right: Reshmi was upset to find some 1-star reviews of her new girlfriend left on her Google page for her own business
Additionally, Anna said the pair made an “even cooler cake” to celebrate Alina’s birthday, which was featured on the reels on her page.
“By the way, we’re Chanel fans, but we’re not following the page, so aren’t we real fans?!”
In the wake of the controversy, Anna created a poll asking her followers if they thought Reshmi’s behavior was “rude and offensive”.
While 22% sided with influencers, the majority believed Reshmi was right.
With her posts repeatedly removed from the page, Reshmi wrote in her story:
Left: One of Reshmi’s recent birthday cake orders. Right: Reshmi’s 10lb Crunchy Nut “Fake Bake”
In a follow-up post, Reshmi later claimed that Anna and Alina began creating fake Google accounts to leave multiple one-star reviews online, calling the two “qualified, fake, petty. pathetic” label. Since then, Anna has denied she leaves a one-star review.
She claims that
Then they tried to drag my name through the mud of Insta and TikTok, but they didn’t like me biting. Then they beat me up by scoring some epic own goals in polls for their story, then created fake Google profiles and left reviews for me to stay up late at night.
‘Grifters – Your 250k+ followers doesn’t impress me. Get a real job and stop having companies fund your fake lifestyle. Society’s absolute bottom-eating cretin.
Instagram has removed the post several times since it was uploaded this morning after it was repeatedly reported for “violating our community guidelines.”
In her Story, Reshmi likened it to a “yo-yo” and said, “Instagram, the irony of you deleting my post and being met by two trolls is haunting to me.”
Reshmi’s followers quickly flocked around the bakery in the comments.
“My New Year’s resolution is not to buy from companies that give gifts to influencers,” said one respondent.
“The days of influencers (freeloaders/ponce) will come to an end,” added another. “But a great cake will live on!”
A third wrote: We work hard as a small business and nothing comes for free.
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