Ex- Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley claims 'horrendous' online abuse amid bakery dustup
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Let them eat cake... or not.
Ex-Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley has responded after receiving what she describes as a torrent of "horrendous" online abuse following allegations that she tried to leverage her fame for free baked goods from Three Little Birds, a small Yorkshire bakery.
Mike Marsland/WireImage Catherine Tyldesley
The situation goes like this: Event company NVRLND was hired to coordinate a 40th birthday party for an unidentified 'well-known' celebrity. Representatives allegedly reached out to the bakery to ask for a free cake and 100 cupcakes for the event. The treats, they proposed, would be a fair exchange for some social media promotion and the opportunity for NVRLND to tap the bakery for upcoming activations.
Rebecca Severs, bakery owner, declined the offer and shared the exchange on social media. "I'm so sorry to hear that your client has fallen on such hard times they can't afford to pay small businesses for their products," she wrote, adding that neither her mortgage provider nor her staff's children accepted "Instagram exposure" as valid currency.
The Daily Mail identified Tyldesley as the celebrity behind the order, prompting her to release an Instagram clip titled "CAKE GATE - The Truth." In it, the actress claims she was unaware of NVRLND's correspondence with the bake shop. "I had no idea those emails were being sent," she said, adding that NVRLND has "been completely misrepresented in this matter."
She adds, "I mean, I hope the cake lady got the [exposure] she was craving, whilst I've got journalists knocking on my front door while my kids are playing in the front room."
In the post's caption, she added that she "genuinely" hopes the bakers "receive lots of new orders" and that she's "always supported local and small businesses."
She concludes, "The abuse I have been receiving online is horrendous so hopefully this will put an end to it."
For its part, NVRLND released a statement saying its email was "completely misconstrued." The statement claims (via the Daily Mail) that "our client would cover all of Three Little Birds Bakery's expenses and costs in exchange for social media content and local and national exposure for their business." It adds, "We would never expect any business to be out of pocket and nor would our client."
Three Little Birds posted to its official Facebook page, thanking fans for the support they received after the situation blew up online: "We are blown away by all your support and so happy to see that so many other people agree that small business shouldn't be taken advantage of."
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