Celebrity stylist Jamie Azzopardi has exposed The Challenge Australia 2022’s Suzan Mutesi for not being a real influencer by breaking down everything he believes she has faked to gain success.
The fashion influencer slammed Suzan for stealing opportunities, buying followers and allegedly being “fraudulent” with brands and fake sponsorships, which has “snowballed” into her appearing on a major reality TV show for celebrities.
Suzan has claimed to be a social media influencer, socialite, actress, musician, podcaster, model, fashion designer, entrepreneur, businesswoman, reality TV star and “best award-winning author”. Say that five times fast!
Speaking on episode 229 of the So Dramatic! podcast, Jamie exclusively revealed exactly which of her MANY job titles he thinks are legit.
Stylist Jamie Azzopardi Suggests The Challenge Star Suzan Mutesi Gained Her Influencer Lifestyle by Buying Followers
Jamie – who has worked with the likes of Big Brother’s Imogen Anthony, Married at First Sight’s Selin Mengu, The Block’s Josh and Luke Packham and Love Island’s Anna McEvoy – has known Suzan for around eight years after working in the fashion and media industry.
He claimed that Suzan’s current follower count of 1.2 million is around six times more than she had in 2020.
“It fascinates me how she went from 200,000 followers pre-lockdown to 1.2 million and is on a reality TV show where she is representative of influencers,” Jamie told So Dramatic! host Megan Pustetto.
“What she’s built for herself is great. Do I think she legitimately got there? Absolutely not.”
He added: “I think she bought one million followers and thinks that the rest of us are idiots.”
Jamie alleged that Suzan’s Social Blade data proved that she “bought 75,000 followers” ahead of 2022 Fashion Week in Sydney. He then “challenged” (LOL) the influencer to prove him wrong.
“Just release your insights, and I’ll stop talking. I’ll admit I’m wrong, I don’t do it very often, but I will publicly say I was wrong,” he said.
And don’t even get us started on the frankly jarring Photoshop jobs she does on her Instagram pics… We’ll let Jamie sum that one up.
“I don’t know why she hasn’t just owned it,” the stylist said. “Man, if anybody ever deserved to be paid by FaceTune… Suzan Mutesi, that is literally the biggest pay cheque you’d be able to get.”
Adding that her dodgy edits are “like the Ninth Wonder of the World”, Jamie questioned if Suzan actually believes that fans are buying her claims that she doesn’t edit her photos.
“I actually just don’t understand if she has deluded herself so much that she believes that we believe that’s the truth.”
Jamie Azzopardi Says The Challenge‘s Suzan Mutesi Is “Defrauding” Brands by Falsifying Her Social Media
Jamie then likened buying a million Instagram followers to using fraudulent credentials in any other career path.
“You would never get in the sports world. You’d never hear of it in the academic world. You’d never see it in a world where you need a piece of people to prove [your credentials], like a doctorate. It is only really specific to our world [as influencers],” he said.
He explained that buying followers is essentially “defrauding” brands she’s worked with, as they would pay her a significantly higher rate for sponsored posts if she had 1.2 million followers versus 200,000.
“I think that it matters to a lot of people, considering that you’re taking jobs away from other people [influencers].”
Many social media users privy to Suzan’s foul play have likened her to high society fraud Anna Delvey (born Anna Sorokin), the fake European heiress who defrauded wealthy friends, hotels and banks.
The Moscow-born woman travelled to New York in 2014, conning her way into aristocracy while failing to pay hotel bills and swindling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the city’s elite.
She was arrested in 2017 by Los Angeles Police Department and was later sentenced to four to 12 years imprisonment for fraud. After serving nearly four years, Anna was released on good behaviour in February 11, 2021.
Influencer Jamie Azzopardi Breaks Down the Legitimacy of The Challenge’s Suzan Mutesi‘s Career Claims
Jamie believes many of Suzan’s job titles are hugely exaggerated, if not outright falsified.
While Suzan could technically be classified as an author, musician and actress, Jamie argued she hasn’t had the successful “career” that her social media profile suggests.
Actor
He claimed that while Suzan has appeared in several Hollywood films, her roles have primarily been “bit parts” or as an extra.
On her IMDb profile, the 36-year-old is listed as having appeared in the Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings as a “fight watcher”.
In the movie, numerous extras are lined up at the top of the shot, watching two main characters fight in an alien boxing ring, which is likely the role she was placed in. However, these extras would not have been listed in the films’ end credits.
Generally, the production company would send out a widespread casting call to all local talent agents, calling for background actors. These actors do not typically need prior experience or a showreel to be hired.
On the film’s IMDb, Suzan can be found in a very long list of cast and crew, noted as appearing in an “uncredited” role.
Musician
Similarly, Suzan has released music on various streaming platforms; however, practically anybody can upload self-recorded music to those platforms. Her verified Spotify has just six monthly listeners at the time of writing.
“She’s a musician like I’m a woman,” Jamie said, referencing that he wears dresses but identifies as a man.
A similar argument could be made for her title as a podcast host. NGL, literally anybody can have a podcast.
Author
One of Suzan’s most legitimate claims was her title as an author, as she is confirmed to have independently published two children’s books that explore being a young person of colour.
In her Instagram bio, Suzan describes herself as a “best award-winning author”, having been recognised in 2021 by the nonprofit organisation Celebration of African Australians Inc for her contribution to African Australian culture through her book.
While Suzan has every right to be proud of being recognised by her community, the title “best award-winning author” could be seen as misleading.
Much of the general public would assume “award-winning” would refer to an industry-based literary award rather than a cultural award.
Fashion Designer
Since Jamie is a professional stylist and has a prominent place in the Australian fashion industry, there’s no surprise that he threw some extra shade Suzan’s way when talking about her role as a “designer”.
Suzan was accepted into one of Australia’s top-ranked design institutions, Raffles KvB Institute of Technology. It appears the education program has either closed or rebranded.
Suzan has also been described as “the African designer that conquered Australian fashion”.
“Did she? I mean, when was her last collection?” Jamie asked sarcastically. “Her last collection was in 2013. It was also her first collection.
“As she could probably tell you firsthand, it went so well that she made many of the dresses and, I believe, didn’t sell them.”
Her website reports that she was titled the “Fashion Icon of the Year” at the Afro-Australia Music and Movie Awards in 2014 and the “Best Fashion Contributor” in the Diaspora in Uganda that same year.
The Challenge contestant has since claimed that she won the “Fashion Aid Forward” award in 2015; however, there doesn’t seem to be any record of that award online. Like, ever.
She also reportedly “dressed contestants for Australia’s Next Top Model, The Voice winner Diana Rouvas and Miss World contestants from Fiji and the Philippines”. Where are the receipts, though?
When asked whether he’d used any of Suzan’s designs as a stylist, Jamie replied: “I’d rather never have a client again.”
Ouch!
Want even more goss? Listen to episode 229 of the So Dramatic! podcast with Megan Pustetto below!
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