Caroline Calloway's ex-best friend Natalie Beach has published a story about all her scams

Daniella Scott
Photo credit: Astrid Stawiarz - Getty Images
Photo credit: Astrid Stawiarz - Getty Images

From Cosmopolitan

Caroline Calloway's name is not new to headlines. She first gained notoriety in December of last year when her $165 'Creativity Workshops' were called out for being Fyre Fest-esque scams. A quick recap...

Having sold thousands of tickets to her tour, things began to come to light. Like the fact that Calloway hadn't actually booked any venues, was trying to get photographers to work for free, and having promised her fans homecooked lunches and personalised gift bags, had started asking fans to bring their own meals.

She then proceeded to try and move a lot of the workshops that were due to be held in Boston, Chicago and other cities to a loft in Brooklyn, meaning many of the fans who had already forked out nearly $200 would have to travel or lose their money.

After a scathing Twitter thread detailing the entire mess went viral, Calloway cancelled the rest of her tour, refunded ticket holders and went on an emotional insta-story rampage about the whole thing.

The few workshops that actually had taken place, that had been touted as four-hour learning sessions with orchid crowns and personalised letters quickly became a 1.5 hour meet and greet with no seating (attendees literally sat on the floor) and not a flower crown in sight.

The internet went wild, then it simmered and quietly Calloway-chat disappeared. Until now... Natalie Beach, Calloway's former friend has penned a long-read for The Cut, which offers the most detailed inside look at Calloway's scams.

The most shocking details aren't just about Calloway's notorious 'workshops' and the book proposal for which Calloway got a $100,000 advance (she never actually wrote the book), and which was actually ghostwritten by Beach. But also the toxic and manipulative way Beach says Calloway maintained their friendship.

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Just some more photos from the Snapvlog Archives while we’re talking about this orange ball gown /fuscia umbrella/pale lavender blazer look. Plus—most essentially—receipts that I have been saying “the secret to flower crowns is there is no secret” since 2016. For John’s May Ball that year I threw together my flower-hair as I jogged across town and through the dark college gardens. Kelsey was with me and we couldn’t stop laughing. I know people gave me a lot of shit for saying at my workshops/scams that all you need is tiny clips, but I have always been saying that. The most essential part of flower-hair creations is the creativity with which you pair hairstyles and species of flowers.

A post shared by Caroline Calloway (@carolinecalloway) on Aug 30, 2019 at 12:21pm PDT

After saying that she could stay in her studio apartment, Beach says Caroline quickly changed her mind and instead asked her to clean it in preparation for the arrival of some AirBnB guests:

“Caroline, I don’t want to be your maid,” I told her the next day over Skype. “I’m sorry I can’t help you out, but can you ask someone else?”

“Oh no, Natalie, I would,” she said, her new boyfriend sitting supportively next to her. “It’s just, you’re the only one of my friends who needs the money badly enough to take the job.”

Shockingly, Beach also says she was promised 35% of Calloway's $375,000 book deal to act as a ghostwriter (Calloway never fulfilled the contract), and that she ghostwrote the captions on the #Adventuregrams Instagram account that had made Calloway famous (for which Calloway bought thousands of followers).

The whole story is a brutal read. But even weirder than Beach’s account of Calloway's behaviour at the time is the fact that she's been posting about the story incessantly recently and even linked it in her bio. Watch this space, I guess?

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What THE FUCK is taking so long? Natalie told me on Wednesday the article was going to published. Today is Saturday. I keep running through the options of why @thecut still hasn’t dropped it. One possibility is that Natalie wasn’t done writing it when she told me the piece was going forward. But I don’t think that’s likely. Knowing Natalie, I don’t think she would have reached out before she even finished it—she would have saved emailing me for last so she could be measured and exhaustive in how she prepared me for it. Another possibility is that they are still editing it. Taking stuff out. Putting more stuff in. But I don’t think that’s likely only because I know for a fact no one can turn around a piece with edits with more efficiency and grace than Natalie. Even if her editor at @nymag gutted her piece and did an overhaul Natalie could flip it and have it ready to publish in one night. It’s been three. A crazy possibility is that they’re moving it from The Cut to the print principality of NY Mag proper. Maybe I don’t understand what The Cut is, but it is my belief that is a digital vertical. So: Online only. Moving it to the magazine would mean it wouldn’t be published until September 16th since the magazine is published every two weeks and yes I googled that that morning because the not-knowing is driving me crazy. Of all the possibilities this seems the wildest, but it would mean a bump in pay and prestige for Natalie and I know better than anyone how much that would mean to her so this is the option I’m rooting for. Wouldn’t it be great for Natalie if they moved it to the magazine? People are already buzzing about this essay. New Magazine loves a scam. Haters and Trolls, don’t you want to hear about the time six years just before this photo was taken when I visited Natalie’s apartment in Gowan’s and said, “How can you live like this?” because I was a spoiled brat. I never visited her again and no amount of public support today will ever change that. I think the most likely answer is that it’ll drop at any moment. I’ve done everything in my limited power to set the volleyball of this essay at the net so Natalie can spike it down. Let’s just fucking go.

A post shared by Caroline Calloway (@carolinecalloway) on Sep 7, 2019 at 8:58am PDT

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