Overview
- Naomie Pilula’s June Instagram selfie drew more than 530,000 comments and shares, with much of the criticism targeting her appearance, particularly her nose.
- She briefly posted a passive-aggressive response video before deleting it, then later shared a longer message explaining her stance and deleted another video that attracted fresh abuse.
- Pilula chose to keep the selfie online, saying her decision stems from her Christian beliefs and a commitment to self-acceptance.
- She reports that the backlash coincided with rapid growth in her audience, rising from roughly 1,000 followers in April to about 20,000 by August.
- The 37-year-old Zambia-based lawyer, who studied in Australia and New Zealand, had earlier faced comments questioning whether she used filters or AI.