TikTok’s headline “Tradwife“, Nara Smith, has been accused by a South African creator of copying her videos. While there is support for Onezwa Mbola, many online have called her allegations a clout-grab. All the same, we cannot wait to hear Nara’s response to this allegation in her famous ASMR-voice which sounds like she’s trying to coax a puppy awake from its nap.
Earlier this week, Onezwa, a lifestyle and food creator with over half a million followers on TikTok, published a video accusing 22-year-old Lesotho-German model Nara of pinching her video ideas.
The video was a re-upload, published to a separate account that is not owned by Onezwa who is thought to have deleted the original video.
“For months now, I have watched a very, very popular content creator use my ideas … to get views,” she began, before going on to explain that in South Africa, her TikToks aren’t monetised the way they are in other countries.
Onezwa then claims that the creator has “changed the videos just enough” that she can’t claim they’re straight copy/pastes.
According to the South African creator, her boyfriend and friends advised her to keep quiet on the issue, warning her that the creator’s followers would drag her.
The nail in the coffin, from Onezwa’s perspective, was the publishing of her own boba-tea video, followed by Nara’s boba tea video two days later.
“I am very disheartened … I am lucky to get a brand collaboration every three months.”
In the comments section of her own Boba video, Nara wrote, “I’ve never seen her videos nor do I follow her … I’m not the first or last person to make boba.”
While it’s true that both creators cook a lot of dishes from scratch, many have stated that stylistically, the videos are extremely different.
“I just looked at a few of Onezwa Mbola’s and they don’t look like Nara Smith’s at all I don’t get it,” wrote one user.
“There is NO similarity come on guys, she has made so many recipes, I’m not putting Onezwa down but I just went through her page!” Added another.
Others have backed Onezwa, writing, “y’all please go through Onezwa’s page, she literally made the majority of things Nara cooks, a loong [sic] time ago”.
“I am one of the people who used to call you South Africa’s version of Nara. Such disrespect towards your craft” penned another.
Nara Smith, the wife of male model Lucky Blue Smith, rose to fame this year for her apparent adoption of the so-called “tradwife” aesthetic.
You can read PEDESTRIAN.TV’s full explainer on the controversial tradwife ideology here.
