It was supposed to be a vulnerable moment raw, honest, and relatable. On the June 17, 2025, episode of her podcast Let’s Try This Again, comedian and influencer B. Simone, born Braelyn Simone Greenfield, broke into tears as she explained how her recent financial strain forced her to switch from shopping at Bloomingdale’s to H&M.
“I was literally in Bloomingdale’s, and I had to walk out because I couldn’t afford it right now,”
she confessed to her best friend and co-host Shekinah Yon, visibly emotional.
“Everything is tied up. I don’t have cash I can spend.”
The clip, quickly picked up by platforms like The Shade Room and Blavity, ignited a digital firestorm across X and Instagram. What was meant as a moment of openness backfired dramatically in a climate where many are struggling just to pay rent or afford groceries.
By June 22, the backlash had peaked. Online users blasted Simone’s statement as “tone-deaf,” with one viral comment summing up the sentiment:
“Bloomingdale’s vs H&M? Girl, people are out here deciding between Dollar Tree and ramen noodles.”
The timing didn’t help either 2025 has also faced continuous inflation, layoffs, and cost of living increases for both U.S. and U.K. Many found it hard to sympathize with someone equating a shopping downgrade with financial hardship, especially during a podcast where Yon herself shared that she had been evicted and was living off food stamps.
This wasn’t Simone’s first brush with controversy. In 2020, she was dragged for saying she couldn’t date a man with a 9-to-5 job, and later that year, faced a plagiarism scandal for her book Baby Girl: Manifest the Life You Want.
As one post on The Root put it,
“She cried over H&M while her co-host cried over survival.”
Just days later, Simone struck back with what many saw as a troll move. On June 24, she posted a picture of her grocery receipt totaling $24.14. The caption? A cheeky nod that read more like a wink at the haters than a genuine update.
A post from X.
Reactions were instant and split. Some labeled it “cringy,” “corny,” or “just sad,” while others called it bold and hilarious.
“Imagine flexing a $24 grocery run like it’s a Birkin bag,”
one user quipped on X.
Still, her defenders applauded the gesture as playful defiance.
“She’s being real. Money comes and goes,”
another supporter commented.
“Let her live.”
Behind the memes and mockery lies a deeper issue: the tricky balance influencers must strike between vulnerability and relatability.
Simone’s story is also a cautionary tale about the volatility of influencer income. Once pulling in nearly $1 million a month, reports say she now brings in closer to $10,000, partly due to sponsorship losses and public backlash over past missteps.
She’s also reinvested heavily into her LTTA app a $9.99/month subscription platform offering exclusive content which she says is tying up all her “liquid” funds.
“I’m not broke, y’all. My wealth is just not in my bank account right now,”
she explained on the podcast.
