Social media personality Alix Earle has addressed recent claims about her trademarking offensive comments she previously made on Askfm.
In a statement shared on her Instagram story on Monday, Earle admitted she had repeatedly used a racial slur on the question-and-answer website in 2014. She apologized for making those comments.
“A couple of weeks ago, screenshots surfaced from my old ask.fm account showing me using a slur in the summer of 2014,” Earle wrote. “I am taking accountability and want to make it clear that I was 13 years old and did not understand the deeply offensive meaning behind that word. That is no excuse for using that word in any context or at any age. That is absolutely not the way I speak or what I stand for.”
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She continued: “I am deeply sorry that my words have hurt many and have led people to believe that I have any prejudice in my heart. I promise you that could not be further from the truth.”
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Screenshots of these offensive comments — which were posted on the “Alix Earle Snark” page on Reddit in 2023 — resurfaced on platforms like TikTok and other subreddits this month. After they appeared on a subreddit named after the “Do We Know Them?” podcast hosted by Jessi Smiles and Lily Marston, Earle’s legal team allegedly contacted the two hosts.
“Her lawyer contacted us and said that we have violated their copyright,” Smiles said in the Aug. 12 episode of the “Do We Know Them?” podcast. “People posted screenshots of [her racist posts] in our subreddit, and her lawyer said that they have a trademark to that,” she added.
Smiles noted that she and Marston have no affiliation with that subreddit, saying, “We don’t moderate it, we don’t have any access to it.”
In her statement, Earle responded to the claims that she trademarked these older posts to prevent others from sharing them, calling them “absolutely ridiculous and untrue.”
“In the absence of my addressing this, my silence allowed others to fill the void with rumors that simply aren’t true,” Earle wrote.
“I regret how I handled this situation, allowing too many people to talk me out of saying something for too long,” Earle added. “I wasn’t sure how to handle it and unfortunately the advice I was given, although well intended, was wrong. There is no one to blame but myself for not standing my ground and going with my gut to speak right away.”
On Monday evening, “Do We Know Them?” hosts Smiles and Marston shared a joint statement with Variety regarding the email they received from an entity claiming to represent Earle.
“While we cannot speak to the legitimacy or existence of any trademarks or copyrights, we can confirm that we received an email from an entity identifying itself as WEB SHERIFF,” the statement reads. “This entity claimed to act as the rights agent for Alix Earle, and had written the email to notify us of 11 different alleged infringements and violations. The email was signed by John E. Henehan LL.B., who asserted under penalty of perjury that he is ‘either the intellectual property rights owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owners of the exclusive rights that are allegedly infringed.’”
The podcast hosts also commented on Earle’s response to the trademarking claims, saying: “Based on Alix’s statement, the implication is that this email was sent without her knowledge or authorization. If that is the case, while unfortunate and out of her control, it would certainly be in her best interest to clarify that to set the record straight.”
Read Smiles and Marston’s full statement below:
While we cannot speak to the legitimacy or existence of any trademarks or copyrights, we can confirm that we received an email from an entity identifying itself as WEB SHERIFF. This entity claimed to act as the rights agent for Alix Earle, and had written the email to notify us of 11 different alleged infringements and violations. The email was signed by John E. Henehan LL.B., who asserted under penalty of perjury that he is “either the intellectual property rights owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owners of the exclusive rights that are allegedly infringed.”
The email referenced a user created post on a fan-run subreddit for our podcast, a page over which we have no authorship or control. The post in question, linked within the email, featured screenshots of Earle’s unfavorable past comments on AskFM, which had already been circulating online. The email purports that this post is guilty of a laundry list of violations including but not limited to Copyright Infringement, Human Rights Violations, and Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering Violations.
It’s important to note that we received this notice despite every post on the subreddit featuring a clearly visible disclaimer stating that we are in no way affiliated with the subreddit or any of its content. In fact, we were unaware of the existence of the post in question prior to receiving this email notification.
Based on Alix’s statement, the implication is that this email was sent without her knowledge or authorization. If that is the case, while unfortunate and out of her control, it would certainly be in her best interest to clarify that to set the record straight.
