Influencers have taken over Cannes’ famed main drag, La Croisette — and while their lives may look glamorous, hilarious and perfect online, it also takes a lot of work.
Model Emira D’Spain — who has 1.3 million TikTok followers, and is appearing on the new Bravo reality show “Next Gen NYC” — tells us that while putting yourself out there can sometimes be tough, “haters pay the bills.”
“They’re very mean,” she told us of some online trolls at the Forbes Top Creators List bash at Influential Beach. “At the end of the day I try my best to not care what other people think. Haters are still gonna pay the bills. They are still gonna tune in and hate watch. The people who love and support, I love you even more.”
Jake Shane, who has 3.6 million followers on TikTok, took time off from his “Therapuss LIVE “ tour to speak on a panel at Cannes Lions 2025.
“It’s so fun we all have one week where we get to work and hang out at the same time,” he told us at the bash. “It’s kind of like how school trips felt in high school and middle school. I feel super lucky I get to say stuff like that.”
When it comes to touring, Shane says “I get really tired emotionally.”
“Sometimes you can have a really good show and you feel amazing,” he told Page Six. “Then the next night it won’t be good and your brain doesn’t know how to handle both at the same time. It’s both extremes. I am the type of person who gets embarrassed really easily and I get really hard on myself. But when I do a good job, that feeling outweighs everything.”
Haley Kalil — known as Haleyybaley to her 14.4 million TikTok followers, and 8 million on Instagram — told a crowd from a panel: “My parents now know I have a real job. I’m like mom, dad I’m in Forbes, it matters now.”
Brandon Edelman (who has 1.3 million Instagram fans at @bran__flakezz) can relate, saying he loves that everyone at Lions “gets it.”
“We still have a massive amount of haters who do not think this is a real job at all,” Edelman told us of being an influencer. “I think that’s what’s so refreshing about being here. Everyone gets it and they really get it.”
Edelman recently went viral for revealing that he made $768,000 last year, but pocketed $300,000 after expenses and taxes.
“There will always be red tape around certain conversations,” he told us. But, “It’s always important for me to be transparent.” He says, however, “I would never go on and reveal how much a certain brand paid me. That would be no good.”
Also at the bash was Jeffrey Katzenberg, and social media stars Adam Waheed and Mason Smith.
