Molly-Mae Hague criticised for ‘gross’ and ‘tone deaf’ comments on wealth inequality

Molly-Mae Hague has been criticised for a viral video in which she talks about wealth inequality and poverty.

The formerLove Island star, who is now a social media influencer and the creative director of the fast fashion brand Pretty Little Thing, made the comments on the YouTube series The Diary of a CEO. The episode she appeared in was called “Molly-Mae: How She Became Creative Director Of PLT At 22”.

While the interview was first shared on YouTube on 13 December, a clip from the episode went viral on Wednesday (5 January) when it was shared on Twitter.

In the clip, Hague said: “I just think you’re given one life and it’s down to you what you do with it. You can literally go in any direction.

“When I’ve spoken in the past I’ve been slammed a little bit, with people saying, ‘It’s easy for you to say that, you’ve not grown up in poverty, you’ve not grown up with major money struggles. So for you to sit there and say we all have the same 24 hours in a day is not correct.’

“And I’m like, but technically what I’m saying is correct – we do.

“So I understand we all have different backgrounds and we’re raised in different ways and have different financial situations, but if you want something enough you can achieve it and it just depends to what lengths you want to go to get to where you want to be in the future.”

She added: “And I’ll go to any length. I’ve worked my absolute arse off to get where I am now.”

Many social media users took issue with Hague’s comments. The account holder whose tweet of the clip went viral, @tsrbys, captioned the video: “If you’re homeless just buy a house.”

One commenter wrote: “So funny that people have gassed her up so much that she feels comfortable to be able to say this. She’s always been well off and for her to say this is so tone deaf.”

Another user shared the video and wrote: “I’m not shocked, like at all, but MM has really taken girlboss, gaslight, gatekeep to a whole other level here, it’s feels like a sitcom script.”

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“Do you think the children of billionaires, attending private school & living in crime-free gated communities have the same odds at ‘making it’ as children who don’t?” added another.

A fourth wrote: “Has she stood on site freezing at 7.30am in the pissing rain lugging timber about first day back after Christmas? Then how can she say with a straight face that she’s worked hard to get where she is????”

A fifth person called the comments “unbelievably gross”, while another said Hague’s “lack of self-awareness is crazy”.

The Independent has contacted Hague’s representatives for comment.

The former reality star announced her appointment with Pretty Little Thing last year, attracting criticism for her involvement in the fast fashion brand that was found to be paying garment workers in Leicester just £3.50 per hour following a 2020 investigation by The Sunday Times.