Influencer, not nepo baby
Say it three times fast: Camille Co, Claudine Co, Camille Co. A tongue twister, maybe, but also the root of a very public mix-up.
Lately, an angry mob of netizens has been confusing longtime fashion and lifestyle content creator Camille Co with Claudine Co. The latter, Claudine, is the daughter of contractor and Bicol partylist representative Christopher Co, as well as the niece of Ako Bicol representative and Sunwest Group of Companies CEO Zaldy Co.
Claudine was thrust into headlines for her voluntary, extravagant displays of wealth—from private plane rides between Bicol and Manila, to installing a food elevator at home, to posting restaurant receipts running up to P938,000. Her social media, now deleted, once broke down outfits in both dollars and pesos (like a Hermès Kelly bag for $26,000 or P1.47 million, and Chanel rubber rain boots for $2,766 or P158,376).
Camille, on the other hand, has nothing to do with any of this.
The confusion
The confusion started innocently enough.
Besides both women having similar-sounding names and Youtube handles (“It’s Camille Co” and “It’s Claudine Co”), that’s where the similarities end. When the intense corruption of flood control projects blew up, so did the harassment on Camille.
“I remember just waking up to a lot of comments on my TikTok… people asking if I was related to them, assuming that Claudine and I were one and the same,” Camille says. “I thought I could just reply casually and squash the suspicions. I didn’t think it would become this big.”
To drive the point home, her Instagram bio now reads with a disclaimer: “No, I’m not related to them.” She has also released public statements clarifying she’s not “that Co” on her TikTok.
But even so, it’s spiraled.
“It just kept getting worse. I was getting emails and really threatening messages. Someone even dragged my young daughters into it, hoping that we would get raped. That was when it got so scary.”
Who is Camille Co?
Camille first rose to prominence in the early 2010s blogging era, alongside Tricia Gosingtian and Laureen Uy, and became part of the wave that shaped Filipino digital style culture.
From the old-school fashion site, Lookbook.nu (millennials will remember), to collaborations with top brands, she has built her platform on fashion, beauty, and travel. Even today, she continues to create polished content while juggling her new role as a mom.
Far from being an heiress, Camille describes her upbringing as grounded in hustle and grit. “My parents are entrepreneurs. My dad is really an example of hard work. He paid for his own college tuition as a working student. Everything they have, they worked hard for. I can confidently say 100 percent my parents are self-made.”
Her own work ethic mirrors theirs. “I started from scratch, not knowing anyone in the industry. My name and my reputation mean so much to me because this is all I have. I would never do anything to shame my family or ruin the reputation I worked so hard for.”
“I don’t think our jobs are the hardest in the world, but influencing is still a legitimate career,” Camille explains. “It’s like any other business—you do marketing, research, strategy, you hone your skills. For the longest time, I did everything myself, from editing to shooting. Longevity in this industry doesn’t happen by accident.”
Built on real, hard work
For Camille, the mix-up has been an eye-opener about the state of online discourse. Despite clear statements, comprehension has been low. “I’ve always known fake news is a huge problem in our country. But now that I’ve been at the center of one, I see just how quickly misinformation can spread—and how powerless you can feel once it does,” Camille laments. “People don’t slow down to check sources; they share what confirms what they already believe. And by the time the truth catches up, the damage is already done.”
“Fact-checking isn’t something only journalists or experts have to do,” she adds. “It’s on all of us. If we don’t stop to question before reposting, we become part of the problem.”
Beyond the issue of identity, Camille fights not just the confusion with Claudine, but also defends the name she has built over the course of a decade.
For the record: she is Camille Co—influencer, entrepreneur, mom. Not Claudine Co.
“I’m not here to flaunt a lifestyle I didn’t earn,” she ends. “I’m here because I love sharing my passion and creativity. I just hope people are more careful with their words, the way I am careful with the influence I was given.”
