Best friend called influencer ‘paranoid’ after private talks leaked on a gossip page and cost her $3500 brand deal. Then judge revealed the IP address
'With friends like this, you don’t need enemies,' Judge Eboni Williams told the former friends
Friendship between two influencers recently turned into a courtroom drama after beauty influencer Kiara Benson accused her former best friend Danielle Cross of launching a smear campaign that cost her a $3,500 brand deal. In conversation with the television show judge Eboni K. Williams (@justicecentraltv), Cross defended herself with various excuses. It wasn’t until the judge ordered an investigation report of the account's IP address that the betrayer was unmasked. Turned out, Cross had been reposting memes and photos targeted at Benson. The October 27, 2026, episode of the courtroom hearing has since amassed 29,000 views.
A series of unusual events
Benson told Williams that while she works as a beauty influencer, Cross works as a fitness influencer. The two met in high school and were besties until she started noticing a trail of events that aroused her suspicions regarding Cross. For instance, a lot of things she told her in private conversations were starting to appear on gossip pages. Then the other day, she got a $3,500 offer from a makeup brand both of them had loved since high school. She confided about the meeting with Cross and shared that she was nervous. But on the same day, she came across a now-deleted page called @ExposingATL＿Guru indirectly gossiping about Benson.
The judge read out the gibberish message written on the account: "Word on the street is a certain 'flawless' local influencer is currently shaking in her boots because a major beauty brand is finally catching on to her little lies and schemes...Isn't buying followers so 2016?"
“Even though my name is not on it, everybody is hitting me about it,” Benson said, and reported that the page seemed to bombard the viewers with information that only Cross knew about her. In some of the posts, she said, Cross was trying to frame her relationship. Behind the scenes, she was suggesting Benson break up with her romantic partner while on the account; she was indirectly accusing her of cheating. Eventually, Benson lost the brand offer because they didn’t want to work with her due to so much negative publicity.
Stabbed in the back
Benson clarified to Williams that she was suing her former best friend for “defamation, loss of wages, and emotional trauma.” In her defense, Cross stated that the tweets or the brand’s rejection had nothing to do with their relationship. She said she was always highly supportive of her friend and never tried to demean her. The page was simply a way for her to earn. “It's a career path, and it pays very well. However, I never tag or direct anything to anybody,” Cross told Williams. Instead, she started gaslighting Benson for being "paranoid" over social media.
Then the judge read out the records of Benson’s investigator, who traced the IP location and found Cross as the 100% likely operator of the negative account. Cross suddenly paused and went silent for a few moments, then confessed that she, actually, was the operator of the account, with the excuse that the IP was attached to her cellphone. She said she lends her cellphone to several individuals, including her brothers.
She even admitted she had been reposting defamatory memes, messages, and posts targeted at Benson, but that was all "business." The judge announced the verdict: “With friends like this, you don’t need enemies,” she told Benson. “We are not even that close anymore,” Cross grunted. Turning to Cross, she said, "It's your phone. It’s your IP address. It’s on you.”
Betrayal is a common occurrence
Being stabbed in the back by a friend sounds like a movie plot, but it happens with nearly a quarter of adolescents. For instance, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology found that victimization by a close friend is surprisingly common, with up to 20% to 30% of adolescents reporting significant relational victimization, such as gossiping, exclusion, or narrative twisting from someone they considered a friend.
Karma will find you
Viewers roasted Cross for her uncontrollable expression of jealousy. @julieschwartz8911 commented, “It's sad when your friend stabs you in the back like this because she is jealous of you and your success. Karma to her!” @cynthiarivers7919 remarked, “Jealousy is a green-eyed monster.”
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