A Current Affair is threatening to expose the identity of controversial Instagram ‘snark’ account Celeb Spellcheck, days after the page was deleted.
The Channel Nine program will air its investigation on Wednesday night, and a trailer for the show suggests that the mystery ‘gossip girl’ behind Celeb Spellcheck will also be unmasked.
‘Hashtag fail! Celebs… sports stars… even mums, outed for their silly social media mistakes. But who’s Australia’s mystery ‘gossip girl?” a voice-over declares in the trailer, as examples of Celeb Spellcheck’s most controversial posts flash on-screen.
A Current Affair is threatening to expose the identity of controversial Instagram ‘snark’ account Celeb Spellcheck during Wednesday night’s episode. Pictured: ACA host Tracy Grimshaw
In another shot, Australian mummy blogger Olivia White can be seen scrolling through Instagram on her computer.
Olivia, who was famously shamed by Celeb Spellcheck for mistaking a capsicum for a cucumber, tells the camera: ‘Being anonymous is a big copout.’
The account owner has never revealed her name, but has offered bits of biographical information in her Q&As – including that she is a Melbourne woman in her late twenties who works in public relations.
Celeb Spellcheck began a few years ago as an account making fun of poor spelling on sponsored Instagram posts, but has since become a platform for holding influencers to account for their lies and irresponsible behaviour.
Thanks to its controversial content, the account attracted criticism from a number of influencers, with the likes of Skye Wheatley and Tayla Damir accusing the page of ‘bullying’ them by correcting their spelling mistakes.
The page was also recently slammed by Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics at Monash University, who claimed that correcting influencers’ poor spelling was an example of ‘linguistic bigotry.’
‘Linguistic prejudices just seem to be accepted without challenge’: Celeb Spellcheck was recently slammed by Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics at Monash University, who claimed that correcting influencers’ poor spelling was an example of ‘linguistic bigotry’ (stock photo)
‘Linguistic prejudices just seem to be accepted without challenge,’ Ms Burridge told MTV Australia in March.
‘You get this, whether it’s conscious or unconscious discrimination against these speakers of non-standard dialects and low-status accents,’ she continued.
Ms Burridge insisted that pointing out spelling mistakes is ‘very harmful’ and ‘arrogant’, as doing so implies that ‘my language is pure and yours isn’t.”
‘Wallah’: The account previously made headlines when it shared this screenshot of model Elyse Knowles misspelling ‘voilà’ as ‘wallah’. The gaffe went viral in December when it was picked up by U.S. social media sensation Joshua Ostrovsky, a.k.a. The Fat Jewish
The post that spelled disaster: Celeb Spellcheck memorably mocked Tayla Damir (right) for misspelling the word ‘tournament’ back in January. Pictured with her boyfriend, AFL player Nathan Broad
However, the admin has denied bullying the influencers she features on the account, saying: ‘This page is meant to be lighthearted and fun. I have definitely posted things in the past that I’m not proud of, but I do try to never cross the line.’
The account previously made headlines when it shared a screenshot of model Elyse Knowles misspelling ‘voilà’ as ‘wallah’.
The gaffe went viral in December when it was picked up by U.S. social media sensation Joshua Ostrovsky, a.k.a. The Fat Jewish.
What? Model Natasha Oakley (pictured) was also roasted in January for posting an unintelligible caption on Instagram
Celeb Spellcheck was permanently deleted on Monday, a day after the anonymous administrator announced the page had become become ‘too big and powerful’ to enjoy anymore.
‘After weighing up many options, the time has come for me to say goodbye to Celeb Spellcheck,’ the user wrote on Sunday.
‘This account has become too big, too powerful and too time consuming for me to enjoy running it anymore.’
End of an era: Celeb Spellcheck permanently deleted its account on Monday (stock photo)
The page, which shares user-submitted gossip and mocks D-list celebrities for their typographical errors, went on say the farewell was by choice.
‘There is no scandalous reason behind this decision – I’m not being threatened, sued or controlled in any way,’ they wrote.
They continued: ‘I will be permanently deleting the account tomorrow.’
Celeb Spellcheck went on to thank its 165,000 followers, writing: ‘Thank you so much to everyone who has followed and supported the page.’
Bye: ‘There is no scandalous reason behind this decision – I’m not being threatened, sued or controlled in any way,’ they wrote, telling their 162,000 followers