Influencer demanded free painting and $200 for 'exposure' — artist responded with the ultimate clapback

In today's digital world, influencers are known to promote products in exchange for free items. This marketing trend helps brands gain exposure while influencers enjoy trying new products. However, things can take an ugly turn when close relatives or family members try to take advantage of this opportunity. Similarly, a 25-year-old artist—who goes by u/paletteofemotionss on Reddit—found herself in chaos when her mother's goddaughter, Jen, pressured her to give away a painting for free. 

When Jen saw the artist give a painting to their mutual friend, Anna, she asked for a similar one as a gift for her father, a retired photographer. Notably, Anna had purchased the painting and even shared a picture of it with her mom, to whom she was gifting it.

"Jen saw that painting and became interested in one for her father. The problem is, she wanted me to do it for free. She said she would advertise it on her Instagram and tell her 'fans' to buy from me in exchange for the painting," the woman shared. However, she politely declined the offer since she was not in a great financial position. Furthermore, she calmly explained that the canvas Jen wanted was quite expensive, but she refused to understand. 

"She accused me of being greedy and not having a vision for business, claiming that her exposure would be more valuable than my art. She also said she wanted me to pay her $200 on top of the free painting, arguing that with her help, I would make so much money, and companies pay her to review things," she revealed.

Moreover, when Jen noticed the artist was not responding, she went overboard, calling her out for not making her parents proud—something that stuck with the artist for long. "Since I wasn’t replying, she called my mom to complain that I didn’t want to do a free painting for her," the artist shared. Since her mother was extremely close to Jen, she called up the woman and ordered her to do the painting for free. Enraged with the situation, she quickly made a "2-second sketch" and asked Jen to leave her alone.

“She became really angry and threatened to post on her socials, telling her followers not to buy from me and to ruin my art career,” the woman wrote. To teach Jen a lesson, she made all her hateful messages public, sharing them online as well as with her family. She also included screenshots of the messages in her Reddit post.

Meanwhile, reacting to the story, u/mcindy28 commented, "Go fully nuclear and share receipts of all the a******* moves she's pulled including roping your Mom into her entitlement. Tell everyone you can... hopefully, her followers start dropping her! This is why I can't stand 'influencers.' Entitled jerks!"

u/robopirateninjasaur wrote, "Tell her to pay full price and have her post it on her socials with a 5% discount code, and every time someone uses it, you'll give her 10%. Point out if she has such a huge reach, she will end up making money off the deal, and if she doesn't, she isn't very business-minded." u/chocolatekey2229 said, "I think Jen is the one who doesn’t have a 'vision' for business. She’s failing at marketing herself; I don’t see her being successful in 'advertising' for you."