A British influencer has apologized for lying to her friends about having cancer years ago, and said she was in a “dark place” on the time.
Brittany Miller, 29, admitted to the lie in a video posted to TikTok on Monday, one week after U.K. tabloid the Sun published an article claiming to “reveal” the “dark truth” behind Miller claiming she had Stage 3 gastric cancer in 2017 with a fundraising page arrange for her.
An individual near Miller told the publication that lots of her followers “could have relations living with cancer, but little do they know that each time they watch considered one of her videos, they’re giving money to a fraud.”
Now, Miller has broken her silence about her past in her apology video, which has greater than 10 million views as of Wednesday.
“Back in 2017, I had extremely bad mental health and on the time, I didn’t realize how bad, however it was bad,” Miller said to her 3.5 million TikTok followers.
“I used to be depressed, I used to be suicidal, I used to be lost, I used to be confused, I’d lost my partner, I’d lost my job, and there was a number of things in that yr that led me to be mentally sick.”
“I said something to someone inside my immediate circle, in confidence, one silly sentence that I deeply regret,” Miller continued. “I said I had an illness, which was cancer.”
The mom of two said she “didn’t do that for malicious intent, or to scam people.”
“I did this out of desperation. I did it to maintain the people near me, to maintain the people in my life near me,” she said. “I don’t condone it. I understand why I did it and I’ve learnt from my mistakes.”
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Miller said that it was not “a long-running scam or a manipulative story prefer it’s been made out to be.”
“The those that I told then told a few others and there was a fundraiser page made on behalf of me, which I knew about. As soon as I saw those donations — there was two donations — I had the page immediately shut down and I didn’t take a penny from it,” she explained.
“I forgive myself because I used to be mentally sick and I’m so deeply sorry to anyone that I’ve upset or triggered from saying what I said,” she said.
Miller desired to make it clear to her followers that the incident took place years before she was on social media, so she didn’t just do that “for likes or followers.”
“I know the way horrible this disease is, and I know the way much it affects people, so for that I’m so, so sorry,” Miller said.
Miller assured her followers that she is “mentally well again” and she or he is happy with how far she’s come.
“If I could return and alter what I did, I’d do it in a heartbeat. It was one silly sentence that I said almost a decade ago, and I’ve learnt a lot from it,” Miller said.
She credited her fiancé, Ash Griffiths, for helping her get to a greater place and called him the “light at the top of the tunnel.”
“He helped me be well again and forgive myself…. I’m here because I need to be an advocate for mental health,” Miller said. “I need to assist people, because I do know what it’s prefer to be in a dark, dark place.”
Miller concluded her video by saying how grateful she is for all the individuals who support her and added, “I actually, really love you so, a lot.”
Miller isn’t the primary influencer who has lied about having cancer.
Belle Gibson, an Australian cookbook writer, built a public profile in 2013 round her claim through her book, Instagram and Facebook accounts that she was diagnosed with brain cancer as a 20-year-old and was given 4 months to live.
She claimed to have rejected conventional cancer treatments in favour of a quest to heal herself naturally and falsely said she beat cancer through healthy eating.
With media questioning lots of her claims, she admitted in 2015 that she never had cancer.
Gibson was fined by a court in 2017 for misleading consumers by lying about her charitable donations.
The judge had ruled in March 2017 that Gibson’s deceptive claims of donating the proceeds from the sales of The Whole Pantry and a related app constituted unconscionable conduct under Australian consumer law. The book and app were withdrawn.
Federal Court Justice Debra Mortimer ordered Gibson to pay a complete of AU$410,000 (about C$375,600) for five contraventions of the law regarding false claims that the proceeds would go to varied charities.
— With files from The Associated Press
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