Disgraced Instagram influencer accused of returning to social media under a different identity

The world of social media influencers can be a strange and confusing place.

Why are these young, good-looking people paid so much money to post things about themselves online and why do so many people care?

That's another story for another day but the extent of these obsessions can lead to very strange phenomenons.

Take, for instance, the case of Paul Zimmer.

For those who don't know who Zimmer he is a young man who was very big on websites such as Instagram, YouTube and musical.ly, a precursor to TikTok.

However, after a few years of fame, Zimmer found himself 'cancelled' after he was accused of benefiting financially from his followers who had made special requests but didn't follow through with the favours.

This led to #BanPaulZimmer hashtag and eventually, he disappeared from social media altogether. However, he now appears to be back and this is where things get really strange.

The above image was posted on Zimmer's Instagram account back in October and claims that a young actor called Troy Becker is his doppelganger and we have to say that they do look-a-like.

However, in an exclusive and extensive report by the New Statesman's digital culture writer Sarah Manavis, it would appear that Zimmer has adopted an alias in order to return to social media and avoid any further criticism.

On December 18, an image was posted on Zimmer's account with a lengthy caption attached to it explaining that the account would now be run by Becker, who Zimmer had seemingly befriended.

Manavis reported that Zimmer's TikTok account has also been handed over to Becker.

However, people are not convinced that these are two completely different people.

As New Statesman reports, an almost conspiracy theory level fascination has developed among people who are eager to prove that Becker is Zimmer's alter-ego.

It's wild.

YouTuber's have pointed out that besides looking the same Zimmer and Becker have almost identical voices. There are also pictures from an LA acting school that show 'Becker' in a class with Zimmer's fiance.

Posts have continued to appear on Zimmer's account, many of which tag in an Instagram account belonging to Becker but nearly every post, regardless of which platform it appears on, are flooded with comments accusing Becker of being Zimmer.

There is also an IMDb page for Becker which features no entries but does state that he "recently move to Los Angeles to take his career to the next level" and is written by Troy Becker.

Any evidence that proves that these are two different people remain inconclusive but the internet has had some fun with this bizarre story in the past few weeks and Zimmer has inadvertently turned himself into a meme.

HT New Statesman / Sarah Manavis

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