Cape Town – South African beauty influencer and YouTuber, Mihlali Ndamase has explained why her brand partnerships still exist despite the social media backlash she has been receiving.
Mihlali and her partner and businessman, Leeroy Sidambe, shared pictures of one another on their Instagram stories which sent social media users into a frenzy, claiming that Sidambe was a married man, as his alleged wife had not signed divorce papers, reported TshisaLIVE.
During an interview on Kaya959’s breakfast show, the influencer maintained that she had done nothing to jeopardise her relationships with her brands.
This was after she was asked how her brands were responding to the social media backlash she has been getting.
“I do believe there is certain bad PR because things that are said can have some sort of harm on your brand but it all depends on what base you established your brand. Your work speaks for itself. Negative PR has nothing to do with how you’ve established your brand,” she said.
She was also asked how she deals with panicking brands when she tops the Twitter trends.
“If you are being harmful then you will definitely have an issue with your brand. I’ve had conversations with my brands and I haven’t done anything harmful. I haven’t spoken ill about anyone’s religion,” she said.
Mihlali was also asked about the recent added name to her Twitter handle as she now goes by Mihlali “Hot Topic” Ndamase.
“Because there’s been a lot of talk right now, I’m just like eish since I’m the hot topic ke sane let me own it,” she said.
When probed about how she feels about some of the things said about her, she said: “I tried not to read too much into it… everyone is entitled to share their own opinion, that what you sign up for when you’re in the public space. So they are allowed to share, they are allowed to talk.”
The interview comes shortly after her partner, Leeroy Sidambe issued a statement denying that he left his wife, known as Mary Jane, to be with Mihlali.
In the statement, Sidambe said he and his wife took the decision to go on separation earlier this year which meant that they were both free to live their lives however they saw fit as single individuals.
“In this time I met a woman, that I fell in love with and it has been heartbreaking to see her being dragged on social media for loving me loudly and boldly. The constant harassment she receives, instigated by my estranged wife’s associates, is unbearable and quite frankly not safe for anyone’s mental wellbeing,” he said in the statement.
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Picture: Twitter/ @mihlalii_n
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
