Who Is Elijah CEO hits back as ‘feud' with Sarah's Day goes viral
Sarah Stevenson, best known as Sarah's Day online, attracted over 1.2 million views with a video announcing she was no longer working with Who Is Elijah, an Australian fragrance company owned by Raquel Bouris and her husband Adam.
In the 1-minute clip, Stevenson tells her 1.2 million followers that her collaboration with the beauty brand was 'no longer happening' after two years of work, explaining she was 'frustrated' as she had no idea why the partnership was binned.
But after Stevenson posted the video captioned, 'not the update I anticipated but onto bigger and better things�', Ms Bouris said she was inundated with messages from random people online, causing the CEO to respond.
News.com.au is not suggesting Stevenson had any knowledge or involvement with the messages, nor that she encouraged them.
'It's disappointing to see this false narrative about myself and my brand,' she told news.com.au.
'The decision to pause the planned perfume collaboration was not made lightly and certainly not without reason.
'As our brand expands rapidly across international markets, we have had to make some tough strategic choices to protect our global distribution plans and long-term vision. It wasn't a reflection of Sarah or the project itself.'
However, Stevenson's video – in which she pleaded with fans to 'wipe it' from their memories and repeatedly stated 'I'm fine, I'm fine,' – had already sparked an onslaught of speculation on social media, with many suggesting Who Is Elijah was making a 'huge mistake'.
The avalanche of social media commentary following Stevenson's video led Ms Bouris to post her own public statement in which she addressed what she claimed was a 'false narrative'.
'We ended a contract well within the agreed terms, there was no breach,' she stated.
'The decision to end the collab was sent by me personally to the other party via email … and I left the door open for further discussion but what I received in response was unprofessional.'
She went on to explain that if the collaboration had gone ahead, Who Is Elijah would have been 'responsible for everything including fragrance sampling, product manufacturing, logistics, compliance and global registration. In contrast, she said Stevenson's 'involvement stopped at the sampling stage'.
She also claimed that any marketing shared by Stevenson on the jilted collaboration was done off her own back, insisting she was not obligated to at that stage of the process.
'What is being said is deeply misleading and is harmful to the brand,' Ms Bouris concluded.
'This was a business decision, we offered for the project to continue under the party's own brand with our full support, but that offer was declined.
'There's no scandal here, no villain. Just a strategic decision for the future of my business, one I fully stand by.'
Ms Bouris also claimed the fitness influencer's suggestion she had done 'two years of work' on the now-axed fragrance was 'simply untrue' as the pair only began communicating on the potential project in May 2024.
In a statement to news.com.au, Stevenson disagreed with Bouris' characterisation of when the work started.
'One of my main roles and obligations within our contract was to 'organically promote the product' which of course I was excited to do,' the 32-year-old said.
'I was documenting and creating content in good faith that this collaboration would come to fruition and the finished product would be accessible to my audience.
'Our contract allowed either party to terminate on 6 months given notice. Ultimately I did not see this coming after working on this together for such an extended period of time.'
With the public battle lines drawn, the videos have gone viral causing some social media users to weigh in on the 'feud' and declare the situation 'salty'.
One brand expert explained on TikTok that since launching overseas, Who Is Elijah has become a 'clean, luxe brand that has been able to translate to the celeb spaces'.
Whereas in contrast 'Stevenson is a mum influencer from 'straya' and simply is not the brand's target market anymore.
Stevenson, who found online fame in the mid 2010s and has been at the centre of several social media controversies over the years, said she now just wants to move on from the ordeal and didn't anticipate the reaction.
'This is a collaboration that obviously wasn't meant to be and that's OK. I truly wish Who is Elijah the best in their future endeavours and I'm excited to be focusing on upcoming projects of my own,' she told news.com.au.
Stevenson also stressed her initial video announcing the cancelled collaboration was 'was in no way malicious'.
Ms Bouris launched her 'luxury' perfume brand in 2018 after recreating a scent she uncovered while attending Coachella festival the year before.
Fast-forward seven years and the genderless fragrance company now has 15 different scents and is reportedly worth a cool $20 million.
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