Alix Earle Has Denied Rumors That She Trademarked Her Old Social Media Posts
Her early racist posts may have been trademarked, but she's saying they weren't.
Published Aug. 27 2024, 9:59 a.m. ET
When you live your life on the internet and eventually rise to some level of fame or prominence, you can learn exactly how much old posts on somewhat obscure forums can come back to bite you. Influencer Alix Earle is learning this very lesson right now after old posts from an anonymous question forum called ASKfm have resurfaced online.
The posts, which are objectively racist, have faced another controversy after rumors began to swirl that Alix had trademarked the racist posts in order to prevent them from being shared across the internet. Now, Alix has responded to the rumors about the posts themselves and the rumors that she trademarked them.
Alix Earle denies that she trademarked her racist posts.
In a post on Instagram Stories, Alix Earle shared an apology for her racist remarks and her repeated use of the n-word.
“A couple of weeks ago, screenshots surfaced from my old ask.fm account showing me using a slur in the summer of 2014,” she 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 absolutely is not the way I speak or what I stand for," the post continued.
These old posts, which have been making the rounds online for weeks, led many to wonder why Alix didn't respond sooner. In response, Alix said that she regretted her handling of the situation and that she let “too many people to talk me out of saying something for too long.”
Even as she apologized for the comments, Alix also said that the rumor that she had trademarked the posts was “absolutely ridiculous and untrue.” She also denied that she had lost any brand partnerships as a result of the ordeal.
"Regardless of what's being said online, I wanted to come on here and address the facts and most importantly apologize," she concluded the post.
Many found the apology's timing suspicious.
Although the apology was a much-needed response to an ongoing controversy, many found the timing to be a little convenient, given how long the posts have been circulating, and how recently the rumor of her trademarking the posts began to add fuel to the fire. Some on Reddit suggested that she only issued the apology specifically because she wanted to make it clear that she hadn't trademarked the posts.
"I feel like she only decided to speak on this finally bc of that rumor about her trademarking posts …idk. I guess I just don’t necessarily understand why she would wait soo long," one person wrote.
The rumor that Alix had trademarked her posts began circulating after Do We Know Them? podcast hosts and YouTubers Jessi Smiles and Lily Marston said they received a notice from her legal team saying they had violated the copyright around specific posts.
“People had posted screenshots of [the comments] in our subreddit and her lawyer said they have a trademark to that. Which is like, you trademarked her racist AskFM things?” Jessi said. Alix's denial has not cleared up this part of the story, which many are still wondering about.
