Trending 9th May 2017 by Grace McGettigan

Caught Out: Here Are All The Influencers Who’ve Been Warned Over Their Undisclosed Sponsored Posts

They’re in trouble for not stating clearly that their online posts are being paid for.

We’ve all seen the hashtags on social media to alert us to sponsored content. From #ad, to #spon, influencers are (for the most part) honest and up front about their paid collaborations.

But not everyone discloses what they’re being paid for, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has called out over 40 well-known names for not being transparent enough with their followers.

“If you write about how much you like something you bought on your own and you’re not being rewarded, you don’t have to worry,” said the FTC in a letter to the influencers.

However, “connections consisting of monetary payment should be clearly disclosed, unless the connection is already clear from the context of the communication containing the endorsement.”

In other words, if an influencer is being paid by a brand to promote a certain product, they must make it absolutely clear to the consumer that they are being paid to do so.

A lot of familiar names have cropped up on the FTC’s list. How many do you recognise?

  1. Jen Selter
  2.  Nicky Jam
  3. Sean Combs
  4. Shay Mitchell
  5. Ciara
  6. Dorothy Wang
  7. Luke Bryan
  8. Kristin Cavallari
  9. Lucy Hale
  10. Naomi Campbell
  11. Giuliana Rancic
  12. Sofia Vergara
  13. Heidi Klum
  14. Rach Parcell
  15. JWoww
  16. Jamie Lynn Spears
  17. Maci Bookout McKinney
  18. Nicole Polizzi
  19. Tiona Fernan
  20. Amber Rose
  21. Vanessa Hudgens
  22. Valentina Vignali
  23. Lilly Ghalichi
  24. Caroline Manzo
  25. Allen Iverson
  26. Behati Prinsloo
  27. Anna Petrosian
  28. Victoria Beckham
  29. Chelsea Houska
  30. Troian Bellisario
  31. Nina Agdal
  32. Emily Ratajkowski
  33. Ashley Benson
  34. Denice Moberg
  35. James Harrison
  36. Scott Disick
  37. Lindsay Lohan
  38. Kourtney Kardashian
  39. Zendaya
  40. Bella Thorne
  41. Sophia Bush
  42. Massy Arias
  43. Farrah Abraham
  44. Lisa Rinna
  45. Akon
  46. Jennifer Lopez
  47. Vanessa Lachey

Now that we know who they are, we’ll be a lot more cautious about believing what they have to say. Don’t they know honesty is the best policy?