Latest news with #NestAndGlow
Telegraph
12 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Gossip website founder facing £2m defamation bill is vegan influencer
A gossip website founder has been unmasked as a male vegan influencer after nearly a decade of anonymity. Sebastian Bond, 41, was revealed as the architect of the popular online forum Tattle Life after losing a £300,000 defamation case, in which he was also ordered to pay costs of £1.8 million. The British businessman has run the website since 2017 under the pseudonym Helen McDougal. The site encourages its 12 million monthly visitors to share their opinions of those in the public eye, which critics say has allowed for vicious 'trolling'. Mr Bond, who runs plant-based recipe Instagram page Nest and Glow, was sued by Neil and Donna Sands for defamation and harassment at the High Court in Northern Ireland in 2023. The pair were awarded £300,000. Mr Bond has now had his anonymity waived after reporting restrictions were lifted last week. He was also ordered to cover the Sands's legal costs and third-party compliance expenses, which came to £1.8 million. The pair were also granted injunctive relief to prevent the site from posting about them in the future. Mr and Mrs Sands, who work in fashion and AI respectively, said they had contacted the site in 2021 to request the comments be taken down and threatened legal action. Mr Justice McAlinden said in December 2023 that Mr Bond's running of the site 'constitutes behaviour solely aimed at making profit out of people's misery'. 'Zero-tolerance policy' He added: 'People facilitating this are making money out of it… protecting their income streams by protecting the identity of the individual posters.' Tattle Life informs users that it has a 'zero-tolerance policy to any content that is abusive, hateful, harmful and a team of moderators online 24/7 to remove any content that breaks our strict rules - often in minutes'. It adds: 'We allow people to express their views on businesses away from an influencer's feed on a site where they would have to go out of their way to read, this is not trolling.' 'Forced to take action' Reporting restrictions preventing Mr Bond from being named were lifted at the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland last week, while his assets were also frozen. The court was shown a letter from Mr Bond's legal team, sent to one of the plaintiffs, claiming he was the Tattle Life founder but was 'unaware of any legal proceedings against him'. In an Instagram post over the weekend, Donna and Neil said: 'As a couple we never wanted or expected to undertake this work, however when we discovered the hate site Tattle Life we were forced to take action. 'We are very grateful for your support and hope that this serves as a reminder to those who want to attack others from behind a screen - that the internet is not an anonymous place. 'We will share more soon, but for today, we hope that this news will provide some peace to those affected by online hate and harassment and that the internet can be a safer space for us all. Onward.' 'Anonymous online attacks' Neil Sands later told The Journal: 'We undertook this case not just for ourselves but for the many people who have suffered serious personal and professional harm through anonymous online attacks on this and other websites. 'We believe in free speech, but not consequence-free speech – particularly where it is intended to, and succeeds in, causing real-world damage to people's lives, livelihoods and mental health. We were in the fortunate position to be able to take the fight to these faceless operators, and it took a lot of time, effort and expense.'
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Creator of Tattle Life finally unmasked: Founder of the 'most toxic place on the internet' is revealed as a male vegan influencer - as he's sued over posts on gossip forum where stars and 'normal mums' were 'relentlessly harassed'
The anonymous blogger who made money running a gossip site dubbed a 'trolls' paradise' has been revealed to be a male vegan food influencer - after a two-year legal battle saw an Irish couple successfully get £300,000 in damages after suing the publisher. A 41-year-old English man called Sebastian Bond is now confirmed to be behind Tattle Life, a forum which became synonymous with venomous posts about influencers, A-listers and anyone in the public eye; spurred on by countless of accounts sporting vague, untraceable usernames. Users dissect and annihilate, every minute detail of their targets' posts, from cleaning guru Mrs Hinch 's perceived struggle to fasten the poppers on her son's outfit (sample quote: 'like she'd never even seen a baby let alone dressed one before') to presenter Stacey Solomon 's toenails ('they could snatch salmon out of the river they are that long'). But now, a court has promised that a 'day of reckoning' it coming both for the cogs running the platform as well as those who used it to spit vitriol. For nearly a decade, since the site was set up in 2017, no one knew who ran Tattle Life. But many may be surprised to hear that he is a businessman 'going under a number of aliases' - and is reportedly known online as the author and foodie behind plant-based recipe Instagram page Nest and Glow (boasting 135,000 followers), according to the plaintiffs' legal team. Sebastian's identity can be revealed after the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland last week granted an application to lift reporting restrictions, The Journal reports. Couple Neil and Donna Sands pursued legal action after facing 'defamation and harassment' on Tattle Life 'threads'. Donna, who runs Sylkie along with other brands, and Neil, an AI founder, said they found a 45-page thread of which they were subject to. This was deleted in May of this year. As per the outlet, Neil first reached out to the site operators in 2021 and asked them to take down the commentary about himself and Donna 'or face legal action'. In 2023, they initiated the process. Neil and Donna got £150,000 each in damages, and the Court granted an injunctive relief to prevent Tattle Life from posting about the couple again. It was also ordered that the Sands' legal costs be paid, with 'further costs and third-party compliance expenses' amounting to £1.8 million. The defendants' cessation figure - the amount which is payable to lift freezing orders against them - is currently at £1,077,173.00. The judge hit out at Tattle Life, stating there was 'clearly a case of peddling untruths for profit'. 'It is the exercise of extreme cynicism - the calculated exercise of extreme cynicism,' they continued. 'Which in reality constitutes behaviour solely aimed at making profit out of people's misery. 'People facilitating this are making money out of it… protecting their income streams by protecting the identity of the individual posters.' It is also understood that Sebastian uses different names online - one of them being Bastian Durward - and owns a number of businesses across the world. Two of them, Mr Justice Colton confirmed, include UK-registered Yuzu Zest Limited and Hong Kong-registered Kumquat Tree Limited. According to Companies House information, the former is currently in liquidation but alleged to offer 'media representation services'. At a hearing last Thursday, the court saw a letter from Sebastian's legal team, sent to one of the plaintiffs, claiming he was the Tattle Life founder but was 'unaware of any legal proceedings against him'. The Sands legal representatives disputed that he was unaware. An initial glimpse at Nest and Glow doesn't won't rouse suspicions that its founder is running a social media platform that has become known for its 'cruel' remarks. Aesthetic photos of mango chia seed pots and sweet potato snacks dominate the feed, along with instructions for recipes. An Amazon author page for his cookbook - being flogged for £20 online - claims that 'Bastian' has a 'passion for sharing healthy recipes to inspire everyone to eat natural food full of nutrients and vitamins' 'I've been vegan for over 30 years and on a nutrient-dense plant-based healthy diet for 15 of those,' he added. 'In 2015 I decided to leave my office job in order to follow my passions. This resulted in setting up the site Nest and Glow where I share healthy recipes and other natural lifestyle content.' However, the Irish couple who unmasked him as Tattle Life, have shared the names of his alises on their social media - stating that he was masking under the false name as a site moderator, Helen McDougal. 'Dear Friends,' Neil and Donna shared in an Instagram statement this weekend. 'As a couple we never wanted or expected to undertake this work, however when we discovered the hate site we were forced to take action. 'We are very grateful for your support, and hope that this serves as a reminder to those who want to attack others from behind a screen - that the internet is not an anonymous place. 'We will share more soon, but for today, we hope that this news will provide some peace to those affected by online hate and harassment, and that the internet can be a safer space for us all. Onward.' Tattle Life states on its site that it has a 'zero-tolerance policy to any content that is abusive, hateful, harmful and a team of moderators online 24/7 to remove any content that breaks our strict rules - often in minutes'. However, it adds that 'influencer marketing is insidious' and 'revolves around people that occupy the space between celebrity and friend to stealthy sell when in reality it's a parasocial relationship. 'It's an important part of a healthy, free and fair society for members of the public to have an opinion on those in a position of power and influence; that is why tattle exists. 'We allow people to express their views on businesses away from an influencers feed on a site where they would have to go out of their way to read, this is not trolling.' As reported per The Journal, Neil Sands also said: 'We undertook this case not just for ourselves but for the many people who have suffered serious personal and professional harm through anonymous online attacks on this and other websites. 'We believe in free speech, but not consequence-free speech – particularly where it is intended to, and succeeds in, causing real-world damage to people's lives, livelihoods and mental health. We were in the fortunate position to be able to take the fight to these faceless operators, and it took a lot of time, effort and expense.' Countless celebrities have been subject to vitriol at the hands of vicious comment threads - as well as those with smaller online presences. One tribe seems to draw particular malice: so-called mumfluencers, Instagram influencers who make their trade in sharing the exploits of themselves and their children online. In 2023, former mummy blogger Clemmie Hooper was handed a caution order for a period of one-year following a midwifery misconduct hearing - four years after she engaged in trolling other influencers on a gossip forum. The mother-of-four from Kent, once boasted 700,000 followers on Instagram and had partnered with brands such as Mothercare and Boden on sponsored posts. But in 2019, Clemmie - who worked part-time as a midwife - came off social media after her account on Tattle Life, a website devoted to discussing influencers, was exposed. Among the posts made under the Alice in Wanderlust psuedonym, was one accusing Black mummy blogger Candice Brathwaite of social climbing, being 'aggressive' and using her 'race as a weapon'. Just two months before, Clemmie had invited Candice onto her podcast to discuss her traumatic birth experience and how she developed life-threatening sepsis following an emergency C-section. Following the Fitness To Practise Committee Substantive Hearing with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, which started on February 28, of that year the panel's decision was announced on March 7. Earlier in the hearing, Clemmie had admitted to three of the charges facing her - that she made the comments in question, and that they had been intended to 'undermine or humiliate' their target. She also accepted that elements of the posts were 'racially offensive and/or discriminatory', but maintains that she was unaware of this offence at the time. The panel took into account some mitigating factors, including Clemmie's health at the time of making the posts, which was said to have clouded her objectivity. It also considered positive testimonials with regards to her midwifery practice, her public apology, her reflection and insight into her conduct, and her 'evident remorse', as well as how she had been affected by reading a very large volume of negative comments about herself online. Her self-removal from social media, and what the panel considered to be her negligible risk of repetition, were also considered mitigating factors. In addition, the panel said it accepts that Clemmie was unaware that describing a Black woman as aggressive was a racial trope when writing the posts, and that she has since engaged in self-directed training and reading around equality and diversity. Speaking to Grazia in 2021, Candice Brathwaite, said it had been 'painful' reading the posts on Tattle.
