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“I really didn’t know that it was contagious,” claimed the 30-year-old influencer, but her TikTok followers weren't having it and took to the comments section to fire off: "going out with pink eye is wild."
TikToker Madeleine White has found herself facing some intense social media blowback after attending a massive music festival while visibly suffering from pink eye.
On Saturday, November 8, the UK influencer, known for her lifestyle and fashion content, shared a TikTok video showing her getting ready to celebrate her 30th birthday at the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in Orlando, Florida, alongside her husband, Andrew Fedyk. The video, however, quickly drew fire from fans and critics alike due to her clearly inflamed and contagious eye condition (also known as conjunctivitis).
White, who was totally aware of her condition, saying she caught it from her boyfriend who “gave himself” pink eye while using a cheap makeup kit from Spirit Halloween, shrugged it off as no big deal, telling her followers, “I’m just going to cover it up with sparkles and a pair of sunglasses and call it a goddamn day.”
“I really didn’t know that it was contagious,” she claimed. “I thought he got it from the makeup. I didn’t know that I could get it. I was definitely nowhere near as cautious as I should’ve been with him.”
White's followers weren't having it and the outrage was swift. Commenters on her original TikTok video were quick to "slam" the star for knowingly attending a huge social gathering where the highly contagious nature of pink eye could pose a risk to thousands of attendees. The comments section became a cascade of criticism, with one user encapsulating the general sentiment by simply stating: "going out with pink eye is wild."
“Girl pink eye is literally VERY CONTAGIOUS, the doctors will give you days off because of this??” wrote another commenter.
“This is very contagious for you to be out the house around a bunch of people 😭😭” scribed another.
The outcry led to White responding defensively to several of the harsh comments, attempting to justify her decision by drawing a distinction between UK and US health protocols.
"This is my first time hearing in my life you're expected to stay home with conjunctivitis," she shot back in one comment. She continued to explain the standard approach she was accustomed to, adding, "in uk we wash hands, don't touch eyes and continue as normal."
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She later posted a follow-up video on her secondary account where she acknowledged the cultural confusion. Over a video of her acting shocked, she wrote, "Today I learned conjunctivitis / pink eye is treated very differently in the US than the UK lol." She further noted in the caption: "Back in the day I didn’t even get a day off school for this…"
Just two days after her birthday, White took to Instagram to share a carousel of photos from her big birthday bash.
“30, flirty + in bed for the foreseeable future ❤️ feeling very loved,” she captioned the post.
But it wasn’t long before her followers fired off with another flurry of comments that called out her pink eye condition.
“Pink eye never looked better❤️🙌,” commented one user.
“she wore pink to match her eyes 💕💕.” quipped another.
“Gross and tasteless. Pink eye?!?! Stay at home,” wrote another angry follower.
