PurseGate

Overview

PurseGate refers to a feud between TikTokers Emily Downey (@_EmilyBrooke_) and Lidia Lee (@paisleypepper3.0), who runs the online clothing shop Westernique LLC, over a purse that Downey purchased but was never shipped to her address. Downey sparked the drama in mid-August 2023 after posting a now-viral video to TikTok explaining how Lee purportedly never shipped her purse, wouldn't send her tracking information and sent her multiple aggressive DMs when she tried to get her purse. As the feud escalated, Downey shared emails in which Lee allegedly tells her to drink bleach, calls her "obsessed" and suggests she should kill herself.

Background

On August 12th, 2023, TikToker^[1] @_emilybrooke_ posted a story time video in which she explains how she was looking for a Louis Vuitton fringe bag, found a seller online on Facebook, Westernique LLC, and purchased one from her. She shows her receipt, order number and the date of purchase (June 10th, 2023) for proof, also showing how the order still says "order placed" rather than shipped. She says that on August 9th, Westernique, aka Lidia Lee, made a post announcing that bags would be shipped on the 10th and 11th.

Downey says she was already irritated that it had been six weeks, but that she didn't want to reach out as others allegedly have gotten banned for doing so. Downey asked via a comment under the post if tracking info would be given and Lidia writes that it will and she can contact her if it does not. By August 12th, Downey had allegedly not received tracking info, so she emailed Lee asking for a refund. Lee's refund policy states "NO REFUNDS WILL BE GIVEN UNLESS BAGS ARE DAMAGED DURING SHIPPING OR TAT (turnaround time) IS PAST."

Lee responds, writing, "I don't give refunds and as stated in the group's bags shipped yesterday if u would read," despite the turnaround time passing. Downey sends an email back writing that Lee's customer service is "disgusting" and that she'll get a refund through the bank. Lidia threatens to sue Downey and Lidia sends back another snarky message suggesting she didn't read that bags were being shipped Friday. Downey suggests she doesn't have a tracking number to send because she never shipped the bag and sends another email to Lee, claiming the drama wouldn't have happened if she just sent a tracking number. Lee responds, "Bitch u are dumb as fuck😂😭"

Downey then shares Lee's TikTok (now deleted) and Instagram^[7] pages for Westernique LLC and the Facebook^[8] page. She then shares that she disputed the purchase with her bag and got a refund. The video gained over 1.3 million views in 10 days (shown below).

Developments

On August 13th, 2023, TikToker^[2][3] @_emilybrooke_ posted two more videos sharing details of the ongoing feud between herself and Lidia Lee. In the first video, she responds to a comment by Lee left on the original callout video where Lee claims Downey asked for a $105 refund, which is more than her purchase amount. Downey denies this (shown below, left). The video gained over 600,000 views in nine days. That day, Lee made numerous videos responding to Downey and defending herself, although they have now been deleted with her account.

The second post responds to one of those videos where Lee claims Downey harassed her. Downey shares emails that show Lee harassing Downey, including an email where Lee tells Downey to "drink bleach and do everyone a favor." She also responds to Lee claiming she wasn't sent a tracking number because she never reached out, with Downey sharing a screenshot of a message where Lee says the tracking number will be sent to her email. Lee also claims the turnaround time for the bag listed was set to 25-45 days, although Downey refutes this, saying she waited much longer than that. The video gained over 900,000 views in nine days.

On August 16th, Downey posted a video to TikTok^[4] of a now-deleted video by Lee where she admits that her account was banned for doxxing Downey by sharing her address and tracking number publically, finishing the video, "bet you won't come for me again, though" (shown below). The video gained over 500,000 views in six days.

On August 17th, @paisleypepper3.0 posted a video to TikTok^[5] where she says, "since this girl is so obsessed with me do y'all think she would like a pair of my underwear," saying she's been thinking about sending her some, garnering over 57,000 views in five days. Downey responded to the video on TikTok^[6] that day, criticizing her behavior as inappropriate of a business owner (shown below).

On August 19th, Downey posted a video to TikTok^[9] announcing that another online clothing retailer sent her the purse she was looking for, garnering over 120,000 views in three days.

Online Presence

The drama became notably popularized on TikTok, with tea TikTokers reporting on it and digging further into the controversy. On August 15th, 2023, TikToker^[12] @bravobyb posted a video showing evidence of Lee overcharging for bags, garnering over 53,000 views, in a week. On August 16th, 2023, TikToker^[10] @shianesmith posted a video of an uncovered X^[11] post from 2018 (shown below) sharing an inmate record for Lidia Lee that claims she was arrested for identity theft, garnering over 106,000 views in six days.

On August 21st, 2023, YouTuber^[13] greenisnotnick posted a video explaining the drama, garnering over 224,000 views in a day (shown below). On August 22nd, Insider^[14] reported on the drama. According to the Better Business Bureau,^[15] Westernique LLC is not BBB accredited.

Search Interest

External References