She Built a Platform for Body Positivity. Then She Lost Thousands of Followers When She Opened Up About Her Boob Job (Exclusive) Valerie MesaOctober 15, 2025 at 3:00 AM 0 Clara Dao Clara Dao Clara Dao built an online presence that celebrated body positivity and her flat chest, garnering a following ...
- - She Built a Platform for Body Positivity. Then She Lost Thousands of Followers When She Opened Up About Her Boob Job (Exclusive)
Valerie MesaOctober 15, 2025 at 3:00 AM
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Clara Dao
Clara Dao -
Clara Dao built an online presence that celebrated body positivity and her flat chest, garnering a following of over 8 million across all platforms
Her choice to undergo breast augmentation surgery in March sparked intense backlash, leading to the loss of followers, straining both her personal and professional life
Despite the scrutiny and difficult breakup, Dao says she's emerged stronger, with her career thriving and a renewed sense of resilience
In the ever-evolving world of social media, content creators often find themselves navigating a fine line between their personal growth and their followers' expectations.
After all, in a platform built on parasocial relationships — where audiences forge connections with creators they've never met — even the most personal choices can spark a sense of scrutiny.
Clara Dao, 27, grew her following in 2019 as a body positivity creator, creating a space online for women with small or flat chests to feel seen and celebrated.Over the past six years, she has produced hundreds of videos that have resonated globally, building a loyal community of over 8 million followers across platforms.But when she made the deeply personal decision to undergo breast augmentation earlier this year, her decision fueled a wave of backlash she never expected."After six years of doing the same thing, it's just got to the point for me personally of like wanting to do something else," Dao tells PEOPLE exclusively. "I wanted to pivot into other types of content, or just stop talking about my flat chest. It was very spontaneous."
The Vietnamese-Canadian influencer says she never struggled with having a flat chest. On the contrary, she embraced it with confidence and built a career uplifting women with similar body types.But while visiting her parents in Vietnam earlier this year, a lighthearted conversation took an unexpected turn.While touring a house in her hometown, Dao joked with her parents — who had originally encouraged her to consider implants — that she'd go through with the surgery if they bought the home for her."They didn't get me the house or anything like that, but after that, I suddenly started considering it for real, the possibility of getting implants," she says."I had basically built my dream life and got everything I wanted, not just because of my flat chest, but because I proved that having any body type doesn't stop you from becoming the best version of yourself," she says. "So, I reached that point in my life where I wanted something new."Still, as a creator, Dao noticed a clear pattern: while her other videos performed well, her flat-chested content consistently outperformed all her other posts. It became both her signature and her most reliable driver of growth, reinforcing the brand she had built, even as she began to crave something new.
"I knew that it would definitely stir up a lot of discussions," she says. "I also anticipated getting canceled because it would ruffle a lot of feathers."
Dao went through with her breast augmentation surgery in March of this year, a decision that she says was both "terrifying" and "liberating."
"I think the way I revealed it was very triggering to people," she says. "I specifically used the phrase 'for fun,' like if the main reason I did the surgery was for fun, which wasn't the case."After announcing her surgery, Dao saw an immediate dip in her numbers. She estimates that she has lost approximately 200,000 subscribers on YouTube and another 100,000 on TikTok, with her Instagram numbers still fluctuating.
"I definitely have a lot of moments when I question my decision and whether I made the right choice. There were so many times like that when the whole cancellation was happening, especially shortly after the surgery," she says.
"I also went through a breakup with my boyfriend, so I kept thinking to myself: 'Oh my God, if I did not go through with the surgery, would I still be with him? Would things still be normal?'"Dao had already made the choice to have surgery before telling her boyfriend, and while he was fully supportive of her decision, the wave of backlash that followed took a toll on their shared presence online.The scrutiny spilled into their couple content, adding stress to both their brand and their relationship."After going through the surgery and announcing it, people started turning their backs on me with all of the unfollowing," she says. "This also affected our couple channel, one I shared with him, which I've recently made private, but it used to have over two million followers.""I was so sure about him; I truly believed he was the person I was going to end up with," Dao says.The challenges Dao faced in both personal and professional life made her stronger than ever. She describes the experience as "chaotic and painful at times, but ultimately transformative."
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This period of her life tested her resilience, but it proved her ability to keep moving forward, no matter the obstacles.
"The truth is I love my body then, and I love my body even more now," she says.Despite the backlash, Dao says her business remained strong. Aside from one brand deal that fell through during negotiations during her "cancellation," she notes that opportunities have only grown, and the controversy hasn't negatively impacted her.
on People
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