Influencer who went viral for marrying herself passes away at 29
Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of suicide.
A Turkish influencer, who made the rounds online for her solo wedding, has died after falling from the fifth floor of a luxury apartment in Istanbul. She was 29.
Local outlet Türkiye Today reported that Kubra Aykut's death occurred on Sept. 23. It has sparked debates over whether it was an accident or a possible suicide.
Hours before her passing, Aykut on her social media platforms expressed concerns over her difficulty gaining weight.
“I’ve gathered my energy, but I can’t seem to gain weight," she said. "Today I saw that I dropped to 44 kilograms. I lose a kilogram every day. I don’t know what to do. I urgently need to gain weight."
In another video posted around the same time, Aykut appeared to be cleaning her home, adding mystery to what happened.
Authorities also found a note supposedly penned by Aykut. It's now under review.
Her body was moved to a private hospital morgue, Türkiye Today reported, and Dilan Polat, her close friend and fellow influencer, arrived there promptly.
Authorities are still conducting their investigation, speaking to people that knew Aykut.
Wixir Creative, the Turkish social media agency representing Aykut, paid tribute to her via a series of Instagram posts.
One post featured a monochrome photo of Aykut, with a heartfelt caption written in Turkish.
"Our pride, our life, our blood, our joy is a part of our family," an English translation of Wixir's caption read. "We will never forget you, we will always wait for you to enter through that door suddenly."
Aykut rose to fame in 2023 for her "wedding without a groom" video, in which she got married to herself.
The video included footage from her "nuptials," where she danced in a white ball gown with her loved ones.
In its description on YouTube written in Turkish, Aykut explained her reason for holding the unusual celebration.
"Since I don't see anyone as worthy of me, I decided to get married on my own and took action to make it happen," an English translation of the description read. "I had a beautiful wedding with my friends. We had a lot of fun, I hope you had fun too."
At the time of her death, Aykut had over 24,600 subscribers on YouTube, 226,000 followers on Instagram, and 1 million followers on TikTok.
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If you think you, your friend, or your family member is considering self-harm or suicide, you may call the National Mental Health Crisis Hotline at 1553 (Luzon-wide, landline toll-free), 0966-351-4518 or 0917-899-USAP (8727) for Globe/TM users, or 0908-639-2672 for Smart users.