• An Hermès whistleblower account has accused a prominent TikToker of attempting to re-sell counterfeit Birkins.
• The TikToker BirkinTrash was forced into a confession this week as he toasted to his "first cancellation." 
• Luxury resell brand Fashionphile told Insider it is ending its relationship with BirkinTrash amid the scandal.

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A swath of TikTok is currently consumed by a controversy involving Birkin handbags – arguably the most expensive purses on earth, which are vended by the French luxury house Hermès, and cannot be purchased at will but by appointment.

The bags start at $9,000 when purchased in-store, per Sotheby's, but are valued at multiples of that figure on the secondhand market — with rarer configurations in exotic animal skins re-selling for as much as six figures.

The drama kicked off when the Birkin whistleblower account on Instagram, The Fake Birkin Slayer, accused prominent TikToker @BirkinTrash of attempting to re-sell several fake Birkin bags earlier this week. @BirkinTrash, aka Alex Pardoe, a man who has amassed 212,000 followers on TikTok largely on the strength of his Hermès obsession, has since come out with a public confession.

In a TikTok he posted on Monday, Pardoe claimed he has happened upon fake Birkins over the ten years he's been collecting them and has "tried to get rid of" the dupes. He added that he's taken those questionable listings down. 

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Still, the accusations and admissions have sent a corner of TikTok that's obsessed with following Hermès handbag content into a tailspin this week. Many are shocked, and continue to side-eye the creator despite his confession. A major luxury reseller told Insider it has ended its partnership with Pardoe "after becoming aware of his statement regarding selling counterfeit bags."

The Fake Birkin Slayer account, which has amassed 23,000 followers in a week, told Insider it's important to them to out this behavior on social media because it's illegal. Its Instagram bio links to further context that the fake designer industry also has troubling ties to organized crime and child labor.

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"Counterfeiting funds many dark things," an account holder, who wished to remain anonymous, said over Instagram DM. They added that the page was founded by a group who "have all been defrauded buying bags that were represented to be real."

The popular Birkin TikToker at the center of the scandal

In a series of Instagram Stories shared on Monday, The Fake Birkin Slayer posted screenshots of several Birkin sale listings that it said were being offered by Pardoe on the mobile marketplace OfferUp. The listings included a red ostrich Birkin for $1,000 and a black crocodile bag for $5,000, which The Fake Birkin Slayer cross-referenced with bags Pardoe had showcased in his closet in a previous TikTok.  

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Pardoe, who is also a hairstylist by trade, regularly unboxes Hermès purchases, and has been interviewed in the press as a Birkin connoisseur.

According to The Fake Birkin Slayer, Pardoe alluded in his listings that he was selling counterfeits, but even trying to sell them is a major no-no in the high end designer world. 

"Selling counterfeits is illegal," The Fake Birkin Slayer told Insider. "Especially when you've crafted a persona that is quoted in magazines and allegedly sponsored by entities such as Fashionphile."

Pardoe answered The Fake Birkin Slayer's allegations soon after, confirming that he has listed fake Birkins for sale in the past, but then took down the listings a day later and donated them after having a "weird" feeling.

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"In the 10 years that I've been collecting Hermès pieces — mostly preloved, up until a couple years ago — I have been sold non-authentic pieces. And that was my fault, " he said in his TikTok confession that has 261,000 views. "I didn't do my due diligence."

Pardoe said that when he's received fake bags in the past, he's sought to "get rid of them," despite the fact that he disagrees with the practice and its associations with "forced labor." He then claimed he donated all of his counterfeits.

Pardoe did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Birkin fans on TikTok are undecided if the creator should be "cancelled"

While some TikTokers condemned Pardoe for his lack of integrity, with the TikToker @verifiedbluecheckmarc noting that the screenshots appeared to suggest that the listings were up for two months, others seemed confounded by the inanity of the saga.

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"People are getting cancelled over handbags," one commenter wrote. "I'm so done."

As the drama unfolded publicly, fashion brand Fashionphile removed all recent content featuring Pardoe from its page. A representative for the company told Insider that it's ceasing its partnership with him, as Fashionphile is built on "trust" and "authenticity." 

"As a luxury resale company built on consumer trust, authentication is the foundation of Fashionphile's business," the company said in a statement on Thursday. "We recently partnered with Alex Pardoe but have since removed the content after becoming aware of his statement regarding selling counterfeit bags on OfferUp. We would never knowingly be involved in any partnerships that compromise our values or question our integrity."

But Pardoe appears to be taking the controversy in stride. "Alright ya'll," he said, holding a cocktail with some friends in a swimming pool in his most recent TikTok post. "Cheers to my first cancellation."

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