Crypto influencer Nick O’Neill, known online as @chooserich or “Choose Rich,” is at the center of a social media firestorm after a viral photo he shared with actor and model Karsyn Bailee sparked major controversy.
On October 15, the 43-year-old co-founder of a crypto news platform posted a smiling photo of himself with Bailee at a marina, standing beside a yacht. In the picture, O’Neill wears a Hawaiian shirt and aviator sunglasses while holding a pink plush toy. Bailee, dressed casually in a white tank top and jeans, poses beside him.
O’Neill captioned the post:
“43 yrs old, new girlfriend, new yacht, no kids, crypto millionaire. Does it get any better than this?”
The post quickly went viral on X (formerly Twitter), racking up over 23 million views and thousands of comments—some congratulating O’Neill on his “new chapter,” while others poked fun at what they called “midlife crisis energy.”
But just days later, the story took a dramatic turn.
On October 19, Bailee took to X to set the record straight—revealing she was not O’Neill’s girlfriend, but a paid actor hired for content.
In her post, Bailee claimed she was paid $400 to appear in “a few skits,” saying she agreed to participate under clear boundaries about what she was comfortable filming. However, she said she had no idea the photo would be shared publicly or framed as a romantic relationship.
“I wasn’t informed the image would be posted or captioned like that,” Bailee wrote. “No amount of money is worth jeopardizing your moral compass.”
Bailee also alleged that O’Neill refused to tag her in the post, which she described as “embarrassing and misleading.”
Her message quickly went viral, shifting the online tone from admiration to outrage. Fans accused O’Neill of using Bailee for “clout” and “engagement farming.”
O’Neill fired back with a 3.5-minute video later that day, defending himself and claiming the pair had actually been dating for three months.
“We were dating. I supported her career by offering paid gigs through my company,” he said in the video, filmed in his dimly lit living room. “After the post went viral, she stopped responding and then started posting mean things about me. Relationships and business don’t go well together. My heart is broken.”
O’Neill also alleged that he paid Bailee $450 (slightly higher than her claim), offered her a $500 bonus when the post performed well, and even gifted her a Birkin bag worth tens of thousands of dollars.
The video has since been viewed over 1.5 million times, with reactions split between those sympathizing with O’Neill and those accusing him of manipulation.
Hashtags like #FakeGF and #ChooseRichDrama began trending as users debated who to believe. “She got $400 to be your fake arm candy? Gross,” one commenter wrote, while another defended O’Neill, saying, “He’s being dragged for trying to mix love and content—it happens.”
The online debate has even sparked broader conversations about authenticity and ethics in influencer culture.
As of now, neither Bailee nor O’Neill has issued any further statements. Bailee has pinned her “lesson learned” post to her profile, while O’Neill continues to engage with fans online.
For many viewers, the viral saga serves as yet another reminder of how blurry the line can be between real life and “content” in today’s influencer world.
“It’s not just a relationship drama,” one user wrote. “It’s about what happens when the chase for engagement goes too far.”
