Abbie Chatfield furiously lashed out at Married at First Sight star Samuel Levi this week, after he shared a cryptic post on Instagram amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
On Saturday, Abbie, 26, revealed she had sent a private message to Samuel asking for ‘context’ after he shared the vague post, which read: ‘You don’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to know that something ain’t f**king right.’
The Bachelor star raged that his words were an ‘irresponsible use of a platform’ which was ‘encouraging anti-vaxxers’, before saying that she was going to ‘tear him to shreds on my podcast unless you explain this.’
Not happy: Abbie Chatfield, 26, (pictured) furiously lashed out at Married at First Sight star Samuel Levi this week, after he shared a cryptic post on Instagram amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic
While Samuel was quick to apologise and delete the post, he later said he found the public shaming ‘distressing and outright rude’ – a sentiment which was echoed by Samuel’s roommate and Abbie’s former Bachelor co-star Chelsie McLeod later in the day.
‘Hey dude, I’m going to tear you to shreds on my podcast tomorrow unless you explain this. Thanks,’ Abbie began in her messages to Samuel, which she shared to her Instagram stories.
‘What exactly isn’t right? Use your platform to encourage vaccination, not to scare people with vague statements?’
She captioned the post saying she ‘probably shouldn’t have used the words ‘rip to shreds”, but was asking for an explanation for a ‘vague statement that encourages anti-vaxxers’.
Cryptic: On Saturday, Abbie revealed she had sent a private message to Samuel asking for ‘context’ after he shared the bizarre post, which read: ‘You don’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to know that something ain’t f**king right’
Distressed: While Samuel (left) was quick to apologise and delete the post, he said in a statement he found the public shaming ‘distressing and outright rude’ – a sentiment that was echoed by his roommate and Abbie’s former Bachelor co-star Chelsie McLeod (right) later in the day
Samuel was quick to say sorry over the message, claiming he is in ‘no way against’ vaccinations and he ‘didn’t even realise that would have been taken that way.’
The MAFS New Zealand star added that he intends to be vaccinated ‘100 per cent’ yet is in a rural area which is ‘limited’.
But Abbie furiously responded saying he should clarify to his followers he was planning to get a vaccine ‘because if I were a follower, I would unfollow.’
‘I just saw the last part, that ‘something ain’t f**king right’ which is the one thing that hit me,’ Sam added. ‘Didn’t even look at it as a whole, and more saw it as a sixth lockdown and triggering.’
Answers: The Bachelor star raged that his words were an ‘irresponsible use of a platform’ which was ‘encouraging anti-vaxxers’, before saying that she was going to ‘tear him to shreds on my podcast tomorrow unless you explain this’
After Abbie continued to ask him questions, Samuel later confirmed he had taken the post down and did ‘not mean to push that agenda on to others at all’.
The line of questioning did not sit well with Samuel, who later shared an emotional statement saying he felt ‘distressed and saddened’ being called out in front of Abbie’s 289,000 followers.
After again apologising for the post and saying he ‘didn’t think through’ the meaning of the post, he wrote: ‘Social media can be a scary place, where it takes just one thing to be taken in the wrong way for people to then be attacked.
Unhappy: The line of questioning did not sit well with Samuel, who later shared an emotional statement saying he felt ‘distressed and saddened’ by being called out in front of Abbie’s 289,000 followers
‘The same night, someone I had never met, but has a big following slid into my DMs. It was unprovoked, unhinged and outright rude. The distressing message included the threat to publicly ‘rip me to shreds’. I was up all night to the point of tears.
‘I’m unaware if she was looking for shock value or a response from me or a response from me in which I would retaliate or start an argument.
‘What I do know is the feelings I have after I was addressed in this manner. I felt intimated, distressed and saddened.’
He went on to say he had never met or spoke to Abbie, and followed her because he ‘enjoyed her content’ before posting the numbers for Lifeline.
Abbie later shared a video saying that she stood by the sentiment of what she said, but again added she ‘probably shouldn’t have said the words ‘rip to shreds”.
‘I should have chosen different words, it was a bit aggressive. At that point I had had hundreds of DMs about influencers doing things like this, and the reason I messaged him was to give an explanation – which he didn’t really give,’ she said.
Speaking out: Sam’s roommate, Abbie’s fellow Bachelor co-star Chelsie McLeod, also weighed in on the debate in a video she shared online
‘I would just like to see influencers use their platform for good, not for vague messaging about conspiracy theories.’
Sam’s roommate, chemical engineer-turned-reality star Chelsie McLeod, also weighed in on the debate in a video she shared online.
‘Emotions are running high, and this whole Covid thing can be quite dividing – I know Sam put a post up the other day, literally left it up for about 15 minutes,’ she said.
‘It didn’t have much context behind it – he was absolutely ripped to shreds. Bullied beyond the point of tears. I found it disgusting the way he was treated.
‘People do have a tendency to attack people behind a screen, which I think is quite saddening. I’m not someone who is going to put Covid down your throat, or tell you that a vaccine… all the information is out there, you make your own decision.’
Statement: She later shared a statement of her own saying she had been ‘ripped to shreds’ over her message of defence for Samuel
She later shared a statement of her own saying she had been ‘ripped to shreds’ over her message of defence for Samuel.
‘Lol now I’m being ripped to shreds,’ she said. ‘Never did I saw I was anti-vax. I said I’m not going to force it down people’s throats, it’s not my job to. I am anti-bullying though!
‘Sam apologised for his post. He didn’t need to be slammed for making a mistake. I didn’t say I don’t trust scientists at all – I am one!
‘All I said was when it comes to giving out information (particularly around nutrition etc) trust the experts – the scientists in that specific field!’
Defence: ‘Sam apologised for his post. He didn’t need to be slammed for making a mistake. I didn’t say I don’t trust scientists at all – I am one!’ Chelsie said