What happened to Belle Delphine? Internet sensation’s life after bottling bath water explored amid Sydney Sweeney controversy

Belle Delphine, who once attempted to sell her own bath water in jars but was forced to stop after PayPal froze her account citing a violation of their policy, is once again getting attention, in light of the revelation that actresss Sydney Sweeney would be selling soaps made from her own bath water.

Sydney Sweeney recently made the announcement on her Instagram, adding that these limited edition soaps would be sold in collaboration with Dr. Squatch. The product range is named Syndey's Bathwater Bliss, will contain scents of Douglas fir and moss, and have pink bark extract essence, according to People. This move has generated wide range of reactions online. While some appreciate her business acumen, others have called her out on the collaboration.

About Belle Delphine's life after bath water controversy, as Sydney Sweeney announces bath water soaps

Sweeney's latest business project brings back to mind Belle Delphine, who tried a somewhat similar venture a few years ago. Mary-Belle Kirschner, or Belle Delphine as she is popularly known, in 2019 decided to sell her actual bath water in jars.

According to a July 12, 2019, report in The Guardian, she announced the news that she would be selling her own bath water for $30 through a now deleted Instagram post. The product, named Gamer Girl Bath Water, generated controversy, but at the same time there were people willing to buy it.

According to The Verge, her business move was inspired by comments her fans left on Instagram, much like Sydney Sweeney's current endeavour, and earned her around $90,000 in profits. However, in 2024, Belle Delphine made a lengthy post on X where she claimed she never actually received the money, as PayPal had chosen to close her account. She wrote:

"Since it’s been a couple years now I can finally share the biggest L I’ve ever taken. Not only did I not earn any money selling my bathwater, I in fact LOST money doing it. @PayPal without any warning closed my PayPal account and took the $90,000 that I earned from selling my bathwater."

She added:

"There was nothing I could do, I tried phoning them up and they just said ‘sorry, nothing we can do!’ I knew it would be a better news story to say that I made ‘sOoOo much money’ from selling my bathwater so I just kept this secret…Ultimately I’m still glad I did it since it was a really funny time on the internet when it happened, and I still did mail out all the bathwater people bought from me (which I did all by myself) Sooo... f*ck PayPal I guess?"

According to the former YouTuber, she had allegedly violated PayPal's policies, leading to a fine for each order sold. Belle Delphine, who later shifted from making videos on Instagram to making adult content, pointed out during a 2024 appearance on the Louis Theroux Podcast that whatever money she earned from her videos and the bath water sales helped her buy a house in the English countryside. She said:

"I didn't think anything of it. My plan wasn't to become big or popular or anything like that. I just wanted enough money to move out of my mum's place."

According to Business Insider, Belle Delphine was eventually able to get her money back, and said in a statement to the outlet that the company returned her funds only after she publicly posted about it on social media. She said:

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"If I didn't have any [social media] following, they wouldn't have given my money back. Which is so sh*tty because what are all the normal non-social media users meant to do in this situation? I followed all the normal protocols and was roadblocked and gave up."

Among other recent ventures, in 2020 Belle Delphine released a parody version of rapper 6ix9ine's song, Gooba, on YouTube. After the debacle with her bath water business, Belle Delphine, who has been banned on multiple platforms, took a short break from social media.

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