Influencer offends cancer survivors with bizarre purse video
So vein?
An Italian fashion designer and digital entrepreneur has gone viral for sharing a bizarre video of herself hooked up to a “handbag drip.”
“I need a new wish,” Giulia Nati, 32, posted on Instagram this week as a caption to a video showing her lying in bed with an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose.
A tube connects her arm to a reddish-pink Hermès handbag as if it were an IV drip. A beeping sound can be heard in the background — mimicking a vital signs monitor.
Seven more pricey Hermès purses can be seen on her bedside table in the clip, which has drawn over 17,600 likes on Instagram.
But others thought Nati got carried away.
“As a former oncology patient, this image doesn’t make me laugh,” commented Venezuelan-born actress and reality star Carolina Marconi, 45, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. “On the contrary, I find it very sad.”
“I would take you for a walk in these [hospital] wards to make you really understand the conditions these poor people are in,” she continued. “Then let’s see how you feel about publishing something like this.”
“Hi, Carolina, you know that we can talk privately,” Nati responded. “And you know how much I respect you as a woman for your strength.”
She added: “My mother-in-law’s experiencing the same illness every day, I’m experiencing it first-hand. But that’s beside the point. It was just a light-hearted video. That’s all! Sending you a hug.”
“I’ve spent 8 months in the hospital recovering from severe burns. Despite that, I really enjoyed this video and adore the concept!” wrote YouTuber Týnuš Třešničková, who was badly burned when a flame stunt at celebrity chef Salt Bae’s Istanbul restaurant went horribly wrong in 2018. “People just lack sense of humor and take [the] internet too seriously.”
Another person exclaimed: “As the daughter of two cancer parents you are more terrible than funny!!”
And a fourth stated: “I would take you on a tour of the oncology departments and then like hell you would do this type of irony! That chair is a nightmare and I don’t wish it on anyone, don’t be ironic, be human!”
Jam Press reports that Nati — who has two kids, including one named Hermes — defended the controversial post in an Instagram Story.
“The video has received likes from 17,000 people,” she argued. “Below the video, there are 2,700 comments, including 2,000 insults.”
She reasoned: “So, 17,000 plus 700 equals 17,700 people who approve of the video, as opposed to 2,000 who don’t.”