Lele Pons is a popular sketch YouTuber who's amassed nearly 5 million subscribers to date. Her subsequent social media channels have millions of fans and followers.
But on Wednesday, Pons drew controversy and downright confusion when she shared this photo (that's since been deleted). Pons is seen with a fresh haircut, and her friend holding her lock of chopped blonde hair. "DONATED MY HAIR!!!" Pons captioned the photo that was uploaded to Instagram, and then Twitter.
Fans and internet detectives who looked a little more closely at the locks noticed that the ends appeared to have tracks commonly found on hair extensions. The images soon disappeared from all of Pons' social channels.
@DmelloLeona @lelepons @inanna Don't worry, she'll have it back when she puts the extensions back in.
It's caused a lot of people online to question whether Pons had donated her real hair, and/or if she had donated at all.
Care to explain how you chopped off your "hair" and "donated" it @lelepons?? Last time I checked you can't donate e⦠https://t.co/23unWlYs96
This tweet from user @Emily_graceffa demanding Pons give an explanation for the extension tracks has gone viral.
"Last time I checked you can't donate extensions," @Emily_graceffa added facetiously.
@Emily_graceffa also claimed the star blocked her on Twitter.
@lelepons Her explanation π»π»π»π»π»
People also pointed out that, assuming Pons' hair is bleached, most donation organizations do not accept bleached hair.
Lele pons literally pretended to donate her hair when It was extensions and her hair is bleached loool
@Emily_graceffa @gothictoddys @lelepons even if the extensions were just for βdemonstrationβ you canβt donate bleached hair bye girly
It caused tides of people across social media to accuse the YouTube star of lying.
Lele pons is an egomaniac who cares about numbers&goes to the extent of lying about donating to an organization just to get praised for it
i'm so proud of lele pons! she donated her hair extensions π’ such a lovely girl with a big heart
Pons responded to the uproar Friday night in a series of tweets, saying she indeed did cut her hair with the intention of donating it, but learned afterward she couldn't because it had been color treated.
1/ To help clear any assumptions, I cut my hair with the intention of donating it.
2/ Sadly after trying, I learned charities who donate wigs donβt accept color treated hair.
She did not, however, address why extensions were used for the Instagram picture.
3/ So Iβm finding other ways to help those affected by hair loss b/c of cancer. This is still a priority for me.
Pons declined BuzzFeed News' requests for comment, but she provided a picture of what she said was her real hair she intended to donate to charity.
A person close to Pons told BuzzFeed News that the YouTuber did not intend to mislead her fans with the extensions used in the Instagram picture.
"The locks of hair that you see in the Instagram photo were a reference to how many inches she cut, since her real hair was being gathered and prepped to be donated," the person, who did not want to be identified said. "It was never intended to pass off extensions as real hair."
The post angered some, but a lot of people are finding the ridiculousness in both the allegations and the now-deleted 'gram.
@lelepons i'm laughing so hard why are you donating extentions
@timberscd @lelepons YOU CAN LITERALLY SEE THE TRACKS
It's even become a parody and meme.
i was inspired by @lelepons to donate my hair yes it's mine it's a little light from the sun hehe xoxo
@lelepons really inspired me so I decided to chop off my hair and donate it as well!!π€πΌπππ©