Influencer claims she's not rich despite splashing her cash on property, expensive cars and luxury items last year and earning $750,000

Karina Irby has doubled down on claims she's not wealthy after she was slammed as tone-deaf for saying she 'accidentally' bought her third investment property in 2024. 

The Gold Coast businesswoman and OnlyFans star appeared to cry poor again on Wednesday, despite splashing her cash on property, expensive cars and luxury items.

'Fun fact: I hate telling people I'm a business owner,' Karina said as she began her first 'Day in the life' vlog of the New Year. 

The body positive influencer founded designer swimwear label Moana Bikini in 2011, with $800 loaned from her quadriplegic father after she was fired from a local surf shop.    

'When people ask me what I do, I just say I work for an online company,' she said. 

'I don't know why but if I deep dive into it, when people know that you're a business owner - they kind of look at you differently.' 

Karina, who has 1.1million followers on Instagram, cheerily explained why she feels the need to lie about her bikini business empire when people ask what she does for a job.    

'They instantly think you've got all this money, fame, success - which is hilarious because that could not be further from the truth,' she said. 

The remainder of Karina's video showed her curating a welcome back brunch for her small team of staff at her company's headquarters, picking out 2025 diaries to gift them and explaining why she didn't 'sprinkle' them with cash this time around - after the process got 'awkward' in 2024 when some staff members wound up with more cash than others. 

This isn't the first time the influencer has landed herself in hot water by saying she isn't wealthy.

The 34-year-old lost 100,000 followers in July after she shared her resentment over Netflix's Owning Manhattan, a series that follows property mogul Ryan Serhant's eponymous company and his agents as they compete to secure New York City's most exclusive luxury listings.

'Holy wow I feel poor,' Karina wrote on Instagram. 'Some people's wealth is just unfathomable to me.' 

The post was picked up by influencer watchdog account @influencer.updates.au, which pointed out several Instagram Reels of Karina flaunting her wealth.

'Karina Irby is obviously trolling her followers with this comment,' the account wrote over screenshots of videos which showed Karina buying an investment unit and 'surprising' her 'work family' with new Apple products.

Other videos showed Karina purchasing a BMW for her friend and 'unboxing $500 worth of skincare'.

In April, Karina was called out over a tone deaf post claiming she 'accidentally' purchased an investment unit.

A follower pointed out it's not 'legally possible' to buy a home by accident - and others said she was being insensitive given how many young people are struggling to scrape together a deposit for their first home.

'I might have accidentally-kind-of-on-purpose bought an investment property!' she giggled in the video.

'And I can quite literally see it from my bed. Oh, my god... Do you see that?

'I just kind of bought it... God, now I have two mortgages. Am I the worst at adulting?

'If it was a massive risk I'm sure my accountant would have said don't buy it. I don't even remember what the repayments were.'

In a Q&A on her Instagram page last June, Karina revealed she had 3,135 subscribers on OnlyFans, placing her in the top 0.55 per cent of creators.

With a $20-per-month subscription fee, that means she makes a whopping $62,700 a month or $752,400 annually. 

That income is separate to whatever wage she pulls from Moana Bikini as the business owner. 

Karina has previously said the Mermaid Beach-based company is worth 'millions,' but that she takes as little as $700 per fortnight as her wage. 

She responded to criticism in the comments by arguing she was 'far from rich' and people were making 'assumptions' about her personal life.

'Let me help out. I’m far from rich. I was NEVER well off. Especially now. I’m sorry if this video upset you, or anyone. But this is my life that I choose and have chosen to post about publicly for the past 13 years. The good and bad times,' she said.

The young creator reminded her followers that they weren’t being held 'hostage' and that they didn’t need to watch her content if it bothered them.

'You can unfollow my journey in the blink of an eye. Money doesn’t grow on trees, and I’m very grateful to have this opportunity. But it didn’t come without its hard work, tears, and sacrifices,' she wrote.

'I never came from money, I was bought up to work hard for what you want. This is 13+ years of that mindset, dedication, and pure passion. So, forgive me for celebrating my own accomplishments. I’d be happy for you.'