Instagram “influencer” Marcella Zoia caused fury this week after being filmed throwing a chair off the balcony of a 45th floor apartment in downtown Toronto — but it seems to be growing her fan base.
Zoia turned herself into police after being identified as the person behind the controversial video, and she was charged with mischief, endangering life, damage to property over $5,000 and common nuisance. She has since been released on $2,000 bail.
You can see the video here:
However, the publicity appears to be drastically increasing her number of followers on Instagram, which has more than doubled in the past few days. Her account — @marcellacz_ — had around 4,000 followers earlier this week when it suddenly disappeared after her name was made public.
Another account — @marcellacz_to — then surfaced, and was made public for a few hours, sharing photos of Marcella and apologizing for the behavior.
This profile then vanished as well. Another Instagram profile later surfaced called @marcella.zoia with the title Marcella Zoia Official and 486 followers at the time of writing.
This profile is private, but the bio says its owner is living in Toronto, attending York
However, the original profile then returned — and now shows her as having 10,600 followers at the time of writing, more than double what it had when it disappeared earlier this week.
Toronto residents were angry and furious when the video was first leaked, asking the police to punish her to the fullest extent of the law.
Some feared it could have hit people below, or have flown on to the Gardiner Express Way, a highway that runs through the Toronto downtown core.
On Twitter, frustrations grew after Marcella Zoia was released on bail, with many commenting on photos of her smiling for the cameras.
Zoia has yet to explain her actions or why she chose to toss the chair over the balcony, however her lawyer Greg Leslie said she was under “peer pressure” and suffered a “momentary lapse of judgment”.
Zoia was released on $2,000 bail, but she could end up in prisonif found guilty. She is due in court on March 22.