This girl from my high school (we’ll call her N) has been consistently posting pictures of art she says is hers for several years now. N also frequently posts about her “animation internship with Disney” and how awesome it is, We have a lot of mutual contacts, including old mentors, teachers, friends... and they all post supportive comments quite frequently. 

A couple years ago, I did a little digging and reverse image searched her stuff and found that almost all of it was not original. She just blatantly ripped it off the web.  When I discovered this, I made a burner account and messaged her my proof and told her to stop lying to everyone. I stopped short of threatening her but I told her the truth may come out eventually if she keeps this up. 

N proceeded to block the account and post that someone has been stealing HER work and she is looking into legal options. After this, I just dropped it and left it alone. 

Fast-forward to now, N’s online following has grown and her followers really eat up her success, her art, and her (obviously) fake stories that tug on people’s emotions. She still continues to post plagiarized work but she’s gotten better at hiding it but I just found more proof on recent stuff she has shared. 

I am tempted to message the respected people in our circle and “expose” her because it’s not right that they are being manipulated and lied to. I work in the creative industry and it really grinds my gears to see people blatantly do this. 

At the same time, she is clearly obsessed and/or delusional and I’m wondering if I should just leave her be considering there is a mental issue at play. 

Am I the asshole?

Any feedback is appreciated!


