'Smug' selfie was Jade Tuncdoruk's mistake

Just when Jade Tuncdoruk thought the dust was settling following her social media disaster last week, her antics have become the focal point of a popular podcast – and the hosts have not gone lightly on her.

The Outspoke Podcast – hosted by journalists Amy, Sophie and Kate Taeuber – aired an episode on Monday discussing the influencer’s “cancellation”, claiming it was a “smug” photo the 26-year-old shared that really “rubbed people up the wrong way”.

The Outspoken Podcast hosts labelled Jade Tuncdoruk's actions 'disgusting'. Picture / Instagram

Things began to unravel for Tuncdoruk when she was slammed for publicly demanding a refund on a $2000 deposit for her honeymoon stay on Thursday.

In a series of now deleted posts, the 26-year-old said she cancelled her Hunter Valley honeymoon at Weekenda with fiance Lachie Brycki, after postponing her wedding due to Covid in last August.

Despite asking for a refund, Weekenda had initially declined as per its terms and conditions, with Tuncdoruk telling followers “they said the best they could do was put it back up online to be booked by someone else”.

When no one else took the March reservation, Tuncdoruk asked for a refund again last week, and took to Instagram to slam the venue when the request was declined.

However, her move backfired when influencer watchdog account Celeb Spellcheck criticised her for ignoring the terms and conditions of her booking, prompting a flurry of outrage.

The account also shared an old post from 2017 in which Tuncdoruk complained to Uber Eats about their “annoying non-English speaking delivery drivers” – causing the fashion and beauty creator to issue an apology on Friday.

She’s laid low over the last few days, but the debacle has since been labelled “tone deaf” in a new Outspoke Podcast episode.

“It’s quite clear that Jade is completely out of touch and really not reading the tone of 2022 and the past couple of years, because she does post things that are very inappropriate,” Kate Taeuber said.

“She also posts things with this smug grin and this sort of attitude that really rubs people up the wrong way.”

Jade Tuncdoruk has remained firm on her stance, hitting back at critics in an Instagram post. Picture / Instagram

Taeuber went on to say she has sympathy for anyone planning a wedding during the pandemic, labelling it “incredibly stressful” and adding that to most people $2000 is “a lot of money to be on the line”.

“However, I think that she hasn’t taken any of her privilege into consideration here.

“She is a well paid influencer who often gets given free holidays and free accommodation.

“I don’t think too many people are going to have sympathy for her blasting this small business.”

Sophie Taeuber agreed, saying: “It’s hard to see an influencer like Jade who posts so regularly about having luxury high end new items complaining about a $2000 deposit – particularly when you consider how much she would earn from one Instagram post.”

Amid the storm, Weekenda decided to issue a refund to Tuncdoruk, with CEO and founder Pete Smith later claiming “Jade was very demanding and threatening”.

The company is now also running a competition to gift the weekend away after gaining thousands of new followers.

“She completely understands how damaging one negative post can be about a company. I really feel like it was a case of ‘punching down’,” Sophie continued.

“And then to say, ‘Ahh well, it’s all worked out for them’ – I’m sorry but the only reason the company gained more followers is because everyone is so outraged at how disgusting your initial post was and how out of touch it was.”

Kate Taeuber agreed, describing Tuncdoruk’s post after confirming the refund as “the real kicker”.

“The real kicker is always the smug post afterwards, where she’s te lling her followers that she’s somehow won from the situation, it just seems to be the same expression and it really gets under people’s skin,” she said.

Despite the backlash, Tuncdoruk has remained firm on her stance, taking to her Instagram Stories on Friday to hit back at critics, telling them she’s “every bit entitled to request a refund from a business that’s charging $2k for accommodation I don’t need”.

“I gave them 8 months notice. 8 months!! Lots of people have had to reschedule their weddings in the middle of the pandemic and have rightfully requested and received refunds,” she said.

“This has nothing to do with supporting small businesses. If you guys want to go around throwing $2k at businesses for services you don’t need and won’t use that’s amazing! I can’t wait to see all your receipts! They’re not a charity though so I’m not doing that.”

Last year, the Sydney-based influencer caused controversy when she revealed companies cut ties when she refused to reduce fees amid the global pandemic.