Busker Jeff Ng accused of buying followers: Can he recover from controversies?

A fresh wave of allegations has emerged with regards to busker Jeff Ng buying followers on Instagram after his recent brush with controversy. The busker, who shot to fame for several viral TikTok videos and for singing outside The Cathay, has again raised eyebrows for a spike in his followers, with netizens accusing him of buying bots to keep a healthy following. While much of the negative sentiment and conversation has been occurring on Reddit and Hardware Zone, there were also some who came in to defend the busker pointing out that fake followers can be bought by just about anyone, and not necessarily the owner of the account alone, reported an article on Today.

A quick check by Meltwater found that most of the sentiments online with regards to Ng is negative (31%). Some key words that have been associated with the once celebrated busker are now “worst person”, “alleged abuse”, “attitude” and “followers”. The total number of mentions around Ng has also increased by 985% over the past week alone. The mentions also peaked on 2 July 2022.

Yesterday, a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE also found that brands such as Atome, previously associated with Ng, have also now deleted posts and distanced itself from him post allegations of cheating. The brand has removed all posts of Ng on Instagram and TikTok. In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, industry professionals urged the busker to now lay low and out of the limelight until the tension dissipates. While it is generally recommended to swiftly issue a sincere apology when such instances occur, as Ng did, unfortunately for him more allegations continued to emerge despite the situation.

Jose Raymond, director of strategic communications of PRecious Communications, shared that while it is unfortunate that his past is coming back to haunt his current successes, the overall "rebuilding of his image will take time and recovery will not happen overnight".

Despite his apology, Raymond said circumstances will always differ. “What is important for Ng now would be to acknowledge that he has not been perfect (which he has), and for others to accept that he, like all of us, has had histories and may not have been perfect at all,” he added.

Speaking under anonymity, a professional within the influencer marketing community shared that if Ng was part of his team of content creators, a mandatory apology for past actions would be implemented. “My advice would be for him to apologise for all his past actions (if he has caused hurt to anyone), admit that he is displaying acts of mental health issues and commit to seeking professional help to be a better influencer and musician,” he said. He added that the busker could also donate the money he has made for his last few shows to a charity to show his sincerity.

Previously, Ng's girlfriend had claimed that Ng is "the worst person" she had ever met during their three years of living together in a Facebook post. She alleged that Jeff Ng made her cut ties with her friends, controlled her movements, called her incessantly until she answered, and refused to reveal their relationship as he was afraid of losing female fans.

She also alleged that he had a habit of making his own partners kneel and bow to him for saying or doing something wrong. According to the ex-girlfriend, she had "permanently ruined many relationships" by defending Ng but eventually realised that he will never change. According to media outlets, Ng reportedly apologised on Instagram on 1 July, acknowledging that he was "young and reckless" in his 20s, adding that he is working to improve and become a better person. The post is no longer available.

Other than his ex-girlfriend, local musician Khim Ng had also spoken up about his behaviour in a separate Facebook post. She claimed that he is entitled and scolds bar patrons for being noisy during his sets and lacks work ethic. 

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