Instagram stars accused of creating fake paparazzi account for clout

Brothers Ryan and Sammy Halsa have been accused by YouTuber Danny Gonzales of creating fake paparazzi accounts on different social media platforms to make themselves appear more famous.

Social media is a strange place. From having its own language to making people famous overnight, you never know what the next trend or drama might be.

YouTuber Danny Gonzales recently came across the TikTok page Hollywood Paparazzi which seemed to be devoted to chronicling the paparazzi’s obsession with the apparently very famous influencers Sammy and David Halsa.

Both the Halsa brothers have 4.8 million followers each on their personal Instagram accounts. But according to Gonzales, Ryan Halsa gained 1.4 million followers in July 2022 but soon lost more than 708,000 followers two months later in September 2022. This could indicate that Halsa is buying followers, said Gonzales.

But despite their millions of followers, the paparazzi and news clips of the brothers are often met with comments wondering who Ryan and Sammy Halsa are.

Who are the Halsa Brothers?

According to an article in New York Weekly, a publication that people can pay to be featured in, the two brothers grew up in Newport Beach, California, and have been attempting social media fame for the past several years.

The article also says that Ryan “has reached an audience of over 3.6 million followers and turned into one of the world’s most media/paparazzi-covered influencers. Not too different is Sammy Halsa, an American social media star with a strong fanbase on Instagram. Sammy has also been one of Hollywood’s top media-covered celebrities.”

Ryan is also an aspiring musician and has recently hinted on his Instagram that he’s about to release music.

A separate TikTok channel devoted specifically to sharing news reports and paparazzi encounters about the brothers has also drawn suspicion after they are often connected to Justin Bieber and Jake Paul.

But despite the hundreds of news videos about the brothers on the “Behind ur back” TikTok channel, information and other news stories about the brothers are hard to come by outside these channels.

In his video, Gonzales discusses why the brothers might allegedly be making these paparazzi and news accounts about themselves. He brought up the fact that some viewers believe that the videos are made as a satire of real celebrities.

However, Gonzales does not agree. He believes that the brothers are doing this to make themselves look more famous than they are – sort of like a fake it ’til you make it situation.

“I just feel like, if it was a joke, their posts would probably be a little bit funnier. And they’d be leaning into goofiness a little bit more,” said Gonzales.