Real estate agent under fire because Pink fan body shamed her outfit
An estate agent is under fire after his Facebook account made a series of offensive ‘body shaming’ comments towards a fan of pop superstar Pink.
Taylor Johnson on Thursday excitedly shared a photo of herself modeling the outfit she bought to wear to Pink’s March 12 concert at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium.
“Had to share, will also get my hair done and nails done… If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all,” the young mother wrote to the Pink 2024 World Tour Facebook group.
However, shortly after the post was posted, among the many supportive comments, there was one from Troy Merker’s story that said: ‘Have you looked in the mirror?’.
The comment sparked a wave of backlash from other Pink fans in the group, but that only resulted in even more offensive comments coming from Mr. Merker’s account.
By the weekend, the fallout had spread to Merker’s two Brisbane-based businesses – a real estate agency and a hair salon – as Pink fans left a flood of unfavorable reviews.
Taylor Johnson took to the Pink World Tour 2024 Facebook group to share a photo of her outfit she bought (pictured) for her March 12 concert at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium
Ms Johnson specifically asked people in her post to keep negative comments to themselves
However, an account belonging to Troy Merker (pictured) made a series of offensive comments
Mr Merker operates a @Realty business that was actively selling property listings in mid-last year, serving the Brisbane, Caboolture and Bribie Island markets in south-east Queensland.
He is also the founder and creative director of Frank and Ginger Hair Studio in Northlakes in Brisbane’s north, whose social media is filled with clients showing off their styled locks.
Mr Merker told Daily Mail Australia on Saturday that he is being ‘spammed by these women’ after the comments on the Pink fan page.
“There are 196 hits on my business account and 200 hits on my personal account,” he said.
“I spent nine years building my business to a five-star rating on Google, and overnight it dropped to a 1.6.”
After being asked if he agreed with the “body shaming” comments, Mr. Merker said he did not.
Mr Merker claimed that someone he knew used his phone and sent the rude messages on his account.
However, Ms Johnson showed Daily Mail Australia messages sent to her on Friday evening by a Nathan Young claiming to be Merker’s partner, with a different explanation.
They said that Mr Merker’s account had been hacked and that it was the hacker who had posted messages on the Pink fan page.
The first comment that sparked the fiery interaction
One of the comments in Merker’s story was that he told the young mother to go get an ‘honest’ mirror
Many other commentators were accused of body-shaming the comments
It is understood that Mr. Merker once worked for Ray White, but now runs his own @Realty franchise and also runs the Frank and Ginger Hair Studio in Northlakes.
The comments sparked backlash that Merker said affected his hairdressing business
Ms Johnson said that while she was initially hurt by the comments, she also found a lot of support online.
“People online feel like they can say whatever they want, regardless of the effect, and they can’t be touched,” Ms. Johnson said.
“I don’t know Mr. Merker at all, but after seeing the comments I was discouraged. I had been planning that outfit for months.
‘But whatever one person would say, there were also hundreds of people saying how amazing and good I look and how they wanted the outfit for themselves.
‘That made my heart so full and yes, I will wear that to Pink
‘I hope that anyone who is bullied remembers that they are amazing and that it doesn’t pay to try to push that pain onto others; they will go so much further by being kind,” she said.