Covid 19 coronavirus: Star slammed for insensitive supermarket photo shoot

Instagram ifluencer and former reality star Skye Wheatley has been roasted by her followers after posting photos of herself posing among empty supermarket shelves to promote sponsored content.

The former Big Brother star turned influencer shared a series of photos on Instagram yesterday featuring her and son Forest posing on shelves that previously held toilet paper.

Supermarket shelves have been stripped bare across Australia as shoppers panic-buy amid fears a coronavirus pandemic could disrupt supplies.

In the caption, Wheatley told her followers how they could enter a giveaway to win a range of prizes.

The influencer sat on empty shelves with her son. Photo / Instagram

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Edit: please be kind to one another, please send love not hate, please focus on the positives and be aware of the negatives but shift your energy to the light not the darkness. I honestly recommend googling the law of attraction guys it’s really helped me through some pretty dark times. Obviously there is a lot of sadness in the world but PLEASE keep your minds and bodies strong with love not hate 🙅‍♀️ if this post doesn’t sit well with you please don’t focus and scroll past, fill your soul with things that will make you happy during this time not angry. Anger isn’t helping the world right now. ⁣ To Enter:⁣ 1. Head to @mfbpromotions to enter⁣ 2. Don’t forget to tag a friend to let know about this amazing competition.⁣ ⁣ ⁣ This giveaway is hosted by Minifashion Blogger & Kellective by Nikki⁣ ⁣ ⁣ This competition will run from Sunday 22nd March 2020 (8pm AEDT) until 29th March 2020 (9pm AEDT). Two winner(s) will be chosen at random and announced by MFB Promotions by 30th March 2020. Winner(s) will have 48 hours to claim prize. If winner(s) does not claim within the 48hour timeframe a new winner will be randomly chosen. Open to both public and private pages.⁣ ⁣ ⁣ Please note that this giveaway is in no way affiliated, endorsed, associated or sponsored by Instagram. By entering our giveaway, you are confirming that you are 18+ years of age and you release Instagram of any and all responsibility and agree to the terms in use. Open internationally but prize will be paid in AUD. Full terms and conditions are available via Minifashion Blogger.

A post shared by 𝒮𝓀𝓎𝑒 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒲𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓉𝓁𝑒𝓎🦄🌈⚡️ (@skye.wheatley) on Mar 22, 2020 at 2:08am PDT

However, it didn't sit well with Wheatley's followers, who accused the Gold Coast influencer of being insensitive given the current climate.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

"People can't afford food, employees have been violently assaulted, people have died, families forced apart because of isolation. (I could keep going but clearly probably don't care) yet you think it's appropriate to have a giveaway purely to promote the profiles involved???" one person wrote. "I really hope your son has at-least one peer with morals in his life."

"Spreading positivity would look like volunteering, supporting small businesses or sharing an uplifting quote … not using a sensitive setting from a current world pandemic to attract attention for a giveaway," another commented.

"If you want to gain some more likes how about take your $10000 and put it to good use at the Red Cross instead of plugging a business," one furious person wrote.

"And seriously who the f**k just goes to the supermarket dressed like that to take pictures of empty shelves. Pull ya head out of your ass."

Stages of alert.

After the backlash, Wheatley edited her post, telling her followers to "scroll on" if they didn't like what she had shared and that "anger isn't helping the world right now".

"Please be kind to one another, please send love not hate, please focus on the positives and be aware of the negatives but shift your energy to the light not the darkness," she wrote.

"I honestly recommend googling the law of attraction guys it's really helped me through some pretty dark times. Obviously there is a lot of sadness in the world but PLEASE keep your minds and bodies strong with love not hate."

News.com.au has also contacted Wheatley for comment.