A Southampton marketing firm that promotes luxury real estate has severed its relationship with social media influencer Daniella Salvi over her “bad behavior.”
On the Inside Media Group Inc. canceled a contract with Salvi’s firm, D&Y Brand of Yonkers, after photographs of Salvi surfaced that On the Inside considers offensive.
D&Y Brand, controlled by Salvi, 21, of New York City, and Yamile Ramirez, her mother, sued On the Inside Media Group for $35,000 for allegedly not paying for videos, July 15 in Westchester Supreme Court.
“On the Inside is prepared to face her head on,” Ryan Clark, a representative of the firm, responded in an email. “There is more to the story than Daniella and her team are letting on. We will not be bullied or intimidated. We look forward to exposing Ms. Salvi and having our day in court.”
Salvi is an actress, model and social media influencer with 1.1 million Instagram followers, according to the D&Y Brand complaint.
On the Inside Media Group, founded in 2015 by real estate broker Jonathan Davis, often uses videos to market and sell luxury real estate, according to its website, “revealing peeks inside the doors of some of the most prestigious addresses around the world.”
In February, the firms struck a deal whereby D&Y would create videos with Salvi as the host-model.
D&Y would make two videos a month, the lawsuit states, and would be paid $5,000 each even if the videos were not required or used.
On the Inside got exclusive right to use Salvi’s name and image in the videos, and she agreed not to perform similar services for other real estate companies.
On the Inside also was entitled to a permanent post on Salvi’s Instagram page.
Salvi was responsible for her makeup, hair styling and outfits for each production.
In May, Salvi went to the designated location for a shoot, according to the lawsuit, but no one from On the Inside Media Group showed up.
Then on June 3, On the Inside gave a 30-day notice canceling the contract.
D&Y claims that On the Inside owes $35,000 for six videos it did not require and for an extra video that was produced one month.
The Yonkers firm says On the Inside also posted a message on Salvi’s Instagram page stating that her contract was terminated because of “your bad behavior.”
“This statement is false,” according to the complaint, and “appears intended to harm (Salvi’s) career as a social media influencer.”
The message also asked why Salvi was posting photos from a client’s house without permission from On the Inside, and demanded that she remove them.
One photo, Clark said, is of Salvi “lifting up her dress in a $20M townhouse we were filming at so she could post on her personal website.”
On the Inside threatened to sue D&Y for slander, according to a June 24 cease and desist demand, for disparaging statements that Salvi allegedly made to a client of the firm.
“From Day 1,” Clark said in the message to the Westchester County Business Journal, Salvi “hindered our ability to book shoots for our LUX real estate series that she was hired to host.”
Citing other photographs posted by Salvi, he said “it is embarrassing the way she promotes and conducts herself online.”
“We wish her the best,” Clark said, “but we do not tolerate working with anyone who behaves in this manner.”
D&Y charges On the Inside Media Group with breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment and defamation. It is represented by Manhattan attorney Galen J. Criscione.
