Celebrity busker Jeff Ng may be keeping a low profile for now, but the negative buzz surrounding him has yet to die down after close to a week.

Jeff rose to fame almost overnight in June after reports of huge crowds of up to 2,000 people turning up to catch his outdoor performances. But his fall from grace was just as swift.

The backlash against him came fast and furious, following reports last Friday (July 1) of Jeff's alleged emotional abuse of his ex-girlfriend, and they only gained steam over the weekend.

Among the many allegations levelled at Jeff was his passive-aggressive attitude towards viewers of his livestream, as well as the most recent accusation that he'd bought followers on his Instagram account.

As a result, it seems Atome Singapore, which had endorsed Jeff, is now putting distance between the company and the latter. 

According to Marketing Interactive on Tuesday (July 5), the brand, which offers instalment plans on consumer purchases, has deleted posts of Jeff on Instagram and also TikTok following his scandal.

In screengrabs of posts from Atome's Instagram page that were captured by Marketing Interactive as well as from Jeff's now-privatised Instagram account, equipment at his performances had been labelled with the company's branding. 

Captions by Atome Singapore on the since-deleted posts also seemed to signal a collaboration between the two as it rode on Jeff's popularity.

However, a reel which showed Jeff picking out outfits for his performances is still visible on Atome's Instagram account. In spite of the negative publicity, or perhaps because of it, the video is its most popular clip with 209,000 views and counting.

AsiaOne has reached out to Atome Singapore for more information.

Despite the brickbats thrown at Jeff however, some have chosen to see the funny side by posting their own humorous takes online.

One by Annette Lee shows her taking on her influencer Chantelle persona and confronting someone who unfollowed her, which is, of course, an unmistakable dig at Jeff.

"I just wanted to DM you this video because I noticed you unfollowed me and I just wanted to find out, is it some kind of Instagram error?" Lee expresses in the clip to hilarious effect.

"Or is it an accident? Like you wanted to like my post but your finger is too fat so you pressed the unfollow button?"

Several parodies on TikTok also poked fun at how Jeff allegedly "scolded" audience members for talking while he was singing.

TikToker AlmightyAlicia on the other hand, offered viewers a snippet of what happens when a busking collaboration goes wrong.

"It's ok, if that's the case, you guys don't need to go, I'll go… I booked this session, but it's okay, I want everyone to be happy, never mind, I go." Sounds familiar? If not, this might help provide some background.

ALSO READ: 'Try not to chat': Livestream of Cathay busker Jeff Ng shutting down viewers goes viral

candicecai@asiaone.com

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