Gabby Epstein came under fire on Saturday when she shared an Instagram post about the country being ‘in shambles’ due to a park bench.
The Australian model, 30, posted an image to her Stories of a ‘happy to chat bench’ she found on the Gold Coast which encouraged people to sit and talk with strangers.
Followers quickly turned on Gabby when she slammed the bench sign, with many flooding her inbox with messages telling her to ‘grow the f*** up’.
The benches have been installed across Australia as part of a UK-born initiative to fight loneliness in the community.
Each one is called a ‘happy to chat bench’ and have signs which say: ‘Sit here if you don’t mind someone stopping to say hello.’
Gabby snapped a photo of one she discovered in Queensland, saying: ‘I would literally throw up on someone if they sat next to me on a bench and started talking.
Gabby Epstein, 30, (pictured) came under fire on Saturday when she shared an Instagram post about the country being ‘in shambles’ due to a park bench
‘This country is in shambles.’
Hours after sharing the photo, which Gabby later claimed was ‘just a joke’, the model shared another picture of her inbox filled with people slamming her bench post.
‘How is this country in shambles? Don’t sit on the chair then,’ one message from an enraged fan said.
‘Kids are starving to death and getting their legs blown off and this is your biggest complaint? Grow the f*** up.’
Someone else messaged her: ‘QLD’s take on abortion, celebrating genocide on the 26th, the current economy and the possibility of Peter Dutton being our next PM.
‘But nah this bench got the country in shambles.’
Others added, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ and, ‘Then don’t sit there.’
Gabby shared screenshots of these messages and hit back at her 3.9 million followers.
The Australian model posted an image to her Stories of a ‘happy to chat bench’ she found on the Gold Coast which encouraged people to sit and talk with strangers
Followers quickly turned on Gabby when she slammed the bench sign, with many flooding her inbox with messages telling her to ‘grow the f*** up’
Hours after sharing the photo, which Gabby later claimed was ‘just a joke’, the model shared pictures of her inbox filled with people slamming her bench post
‘Out of all the things I have posted, THIS is what ya’ll are most upset about? Might I suggest touching some grass?’ she said.
On another screenshot she wrote: ‘Oh, sweet mother of Mary. Am I actually insane or do people not get that this is a joke?’
Gabby later told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday that the post she made about the bench was ‘just a joke’ and she had ‘no idea it would spark such a strong reaction’.
‘If a simple photo like that can trigger people so much, maybe it’s a sign we all need to take a step back and not take things so seriously,’ she said.
‘Calling the country “in shambles” was just me being tongue-in-cheek, not launching a political crusade.’
She added: ‘Let’s save our energy for more significant issues.’
