Controversial TikToker Zoe Laverne appeared to charge fans $15 to see 'exclusive' photos of her newborn baby
- 20-year-old TikToker Zoe Laverne gave birth to her first baby over the weekend.
- Screenshots appear to show she offered fans "exclusive" photos of her baby, Emersyn, for $15.
- Laverne has now released publicly available photos of her new baby.
Controversial TikTok influencer Zoe Laverne has given birth to her first child, and purported screenshots of a now-deleted Instagram post suggest she charged fans $15 to see "exclusive" photos of the new baby.
Laverne, a 20-year-old TikToker with 21 million followers, rose to fame as a teenager. Her on-off relationship with her ex-boyfriend Cody Orlove became a huge part of her internet career, as they made videos together, released a single, and shared every time they broke up and made up. They split for a final time in June 2020.
In February this year, Laverne announced she was expecting a baby with her current boyfriend Dawson Day, who is also 20.
According to a screenshot tweeted by internet reporter Def Noodles, it appears Laverne posted a now-deleted Instagram post announcing her baby Emersyn had been born on October 3. The caption purportedly read, "Link in bio for more exclusive pics."
The current link in her bio takes users to a page created on Koji, a platform that allows social media users to sell specific pieces of content to fans. One option is titled "Meet Emersyn!" and now links back to a public Instagram post showing two photos of her holding Emersyn, where she thanked her fans for supporting her.
According to the screenshot, it previously offered followers the option to "unlock" some of their first photos together for $15. A purported screen recording posted on TikTok also appears to show the Instagram post, along with the $15 payment request to see the images.
In a subsequent Instagram post she thanked her fans for supporting her, and said, "I dropped some exclusive photos in my link that were extra special moments for me during the delivery."
Laverne also said she was given an emergency C-section, and had almost died during the birth.
"I am so blessed to be here with Dawson and Emersyn and I am so thankful that God didn't choose to take me away so soon," she wrote. "I'm so blessed I am here with the two people that mean the absolute world to me."
Laverne has been involved in a string of controversies over the past year. In September 2020 she was accused of getting close to a 13-year-old fan called Connor. A video later leaked of the pair kissing, and Laverne said she had developed "feelings" for the boy, but denied allegations of "grooming." This spurred an intense backlash against Laverne and her mother, who appeared to be supporting her. Laverne didn't post on social media until she announced her pregnancy in February.
Laverne did not immediately reply to Insider's request for comment.