Influencer Poupette Kenza (real name Kenza Benchrif) was fined for promoting a tooth whitener banned for sale in France, Fraud Repression announced on Wednesday. The procedure for “deceptive commercial practices” had been launched by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention, which proposed a “criminal settlement” of 50,000 euros. The proceedings are closed, with Ms Benchrif’s company, called Seyana Society, having agreed to pay this amount rather than face criminal prosecution.
The DGCCRF accuses the influencer of “not having indicated the true commercial intention of the content for which the company received compensation”, and of “having given the impression that the sale of a Crest brand tooth whitener 3D White is legal although it is prohibited for sale on French territory. Poupette Kenza, or Poupette, 23, had 1.6 million subscribers on Snapchat, 1.1 million on TikTok and one million on Instagram when she publicly denounced this procedure in August. “It’s theft”, “I want to vomit”, she proclaimed, admitting that she was “happy to leave” from Rouen to Dubai, where she lives today.
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Since then, she has accumulated other more serious troubles: a blogger specializing in reality TV, Aqababe (real name Aniss Zitouni), filed a complaint against her for “death threats” after invectives launched by the young woman on the social networks. He claims to have been attacked by three men on November 21 at his home in Villeneuve-la-Garenne (Hauts-de-Seine), with a gun in his hand. And according to his testimony, these attackers made him understand that he had to stop talking about Poupette Kenza. She responded by announcing that she would file a complaint for defamation. “For me, this attack was fabricated. There is no aggression, everything is false,” she told a YouTuber, Sam Zirah, who broadcast the influencer’s response on Monday.