Chiara Ferragni Apologizes for Misleading 'Charitable' #Sponcon, Facing Fine of More Than $1 Million
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Chiara Ferragni, the fashion influencer with nearly 30 million Instagram followers and her own Amazon Prime reality show, is facing a fine of more than $1 million (or €1.075 million) after Italian watchdog Autorita' Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) found that she misled consumers with a paid partnership she said would benefit charity.
Last November, she worked with Balocco on a special, viral holiday cake dubbed the "Pandoro Pink Christmas," the sales of which, Ferragni claimed, would go toward the Regina Margherita children's hospital in Turin. However, the BBC reports that AGCM didn't find any records of that donation — only one of €50,000 from Balocco, before the collaboration went on sale. It did, however, find a transaction of €1 million from Balocco to Ferragni's companies for the cake initiative, according to Reuters.
In an Instagram video posted on Monday, Ferragni apologized, saying: "My error, in good faith, was to link, via communications, a commercial activity with a charity one." She said will donate $1.1 million (€1 million) to the Regina Margherita hospital.
The AGCM fined two of Ferragni's companies €1.075m and Balocco €420,000. In her video, the influencer said she would be appealing the "disproportionate and unjust" fine.
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