Instagram “influencer” Caroline Calloway is accused of ducking out on a more than $40,000 rent bill during her move from her West Village studio earlier this month.
Calloway—who was the subject of a March 7 article documenting the move—left having last paid the $2,734.64 rent in September 2020, according to a civil complaint filed by her landlord in New York County Supreme Court.
The allegations add to a long list of controversies for Calloway, who gained notoriety after securing a $500,000 book deal in 2015 only to have publishers withdraw the contract after she failed to write it, having already spent the advance. More recently, she charged guests for “creativity workshops” that sparked comparisons to the epically disorganized Fyre Festival of 2017.
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The story on Calloway’s departure from her longtime apartment is cited in an accompanying filing quoting the piece, in an attempt by Calloway’s landlord to evict subletter Rachel Rabbit White and her husband, Nico Walker, from the premises.
“We have never given Defendant White or any other individuals other than Defendant Calloway permission to occupy the Premises,” the filings say. “Nor has Defendant Calloway asked for permission for any individuals other than herself to live in the Premises. One of Defendant White's tweets specifically references that this will be her fourth apartment in four months, suggesting quite clearly that this act of moving into unauthorized apartments is hardly new to her, and confirming that she has only been in the Premises for at most two weeks.”
It was all confirmed by “an article in…New York magazine’s online vertical ‘Curbed’ titled ‘Good-Bye to All That Clout-Chasing—Farewell Dinners at Internet Celeb Caroline Calloway’s West Village Apartment of Ten Years,’” the filing states. “The article, dated March 7, 2022 explicitly mentioned that Defendant Calloway had vacated the Premises the week before and that Defendant White had moved in afterwards and taken occupancy.”
White, described as a “poet and former escort notorious for wild sex parties” by Patch, which first reported on the lawsuit, and Walker, whom the outlet called “a formerly incarcerated author who is portrayed by Tom Holland in the 2021 movie adaptation of his novel, Cherry,” moved in when Calloway vacated earlier this month, the complaint states.
Calloway never turned in her keys, the filing continues. “Building employees have…heard a man’s voice coming from the Premises since Defendant Calloway vacated. Our research into Defendant White, who maintains a strong online presence, reveals that Defendant Nico Walker is her husband, who we believe to be this male individual who is co-occupying the Premises,” the document says.
Worse yet, Calloway left the place filthy and virtually uninhabitable, the landlord alleges in an exhibit containing several photos of the grimy, dirt-encrusted space.
Calloway, 30, was dubbed “internet famous” by Curbed, which called her “undeniably entertaining” and argued “you just can’t easily say no to her; she sucks you in.”
“Through the screen, you can dismiss her as a crazy disaster, and maybe in so doing reassure yourself that you comparatively have it together,” the piece said. “In person, she traps you with her big doe-eyes and a flurry of compliments and scams you of any ability to deny her what she wants from you, whether that be validation, a bottle of wine, or your attendance at her party (or all three). It’s hard to say no because you think that you might just be witnessing something important—what that is you’re not sure—even though, deep down, you suspect it’s probably inconsequential.”
Calloway is now living in Florida, and the building owner has “already begun receiving complaints from other building tenants about noises coming from the premises since the current occupants unlawfully entered into possession,” according to the lawsuit.
On March 16, the suit continues, the landlord spoke to White on the phone and said she had no right to be there. When White asked if she could simply continue paying Calloway’s rent, the landlord said no and asked for the keys.
“In response, Defendant White burst into a series of profanities directed at me and shouted at me that we would not be able to remove her without going to Court,” the filing states. “When I responded that we would do so, she launched into another series of expletives and then hung up the phone.”
The landlord argues that White and Walker are “essentially no less than trespassers,” and that they present a “safety and convenience” issue for everyone else living in the 55-unit building.
“Defendants have no right to simply move in because they knew that their friend had packed up and left and this Court should not let them get away with it,” the suit argues.
Calloway did not immediately respond to a message from The Daily Beast on Friday night seeking comment. Her now-former landlord is asking for $40,844.56 in back rent, plus monetary damages of at least $25,000.
