Want to Sue an Influencer?

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]So, some of you have been asking me about my skin care routine.

[00:00:04]Just kidding. A beauty influencer uses a filter, Botox, and a nose job to sell you a $100 serum, but the serum doesn't work. Here's who can actually get sued, and it's probably not who you're guessing.

[00:00:16]Most people think filters are fun.

[00:00:18]Plastic surgeries, their choice.

[00:00:20]Nobody's liable. Well, that's half right and half wrong.

[00:00:24]Filters by themselves, legal. Plastic surgery by itself, legal. Here's where the line gets crossed. When the altered appearance is used to represent what the product does, the FTC calls that deceptive. Their own guideline uses the exact example of an endorser's complexion in an acne treatment ad. If the face you're showing isn't the face the product gave you, you've got legal problems. And since the FTC's 2023 updates, it's just not the brand that gets sued, it's the brand, the influencer, and the agency that set up the deal.

[00:00:55]What are the possible penalties, you ask? Up to $51,744 per post. Per post. And here's what nobody wants you to know. The brand has a legal duty to monitor its own influencers. "We didn't know they used filters" isn't a defense anymore. So, if you bought a product based on a filtered before and after, and especially if the product hurt your skin, you may have a real case, not just a social media grievance. Simple as that, case closed.

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