Keith Lemon is heartbroken after learning that companies have been selling fake versions of the Caroline Flack charity t-shirts he released last week.
The Celebrity Juice host launched a line of tees with ‘Be Kind’ printed on the front to crack down on social media trolls after Caroline died by suicide at the age of on 15 February.
Since then, Keith’s t-shirts have been selling fast with proceeds going towards mental health charity Samaritans.
However, he was upset to learn that brands have been selling fake versions of the tops which has possibly deprived Samaritans of the donations.
‘Unfortunately a company called @teespring has stolen the design and has started selling them,’ Keith captioned one of three videos sharing his frustration.
‘That’s profits that would’ve gone to Samaritans. Hopefully they’ll do the right thing and hand over what profits they make to the Samaritans. Can’t trust anyone! Disappointing.’
He later added: ‘Last count we’d sold 11,280! Once again big Fanks to everyone who has already bought one! You are the RADest!
‘So disappointed. Not very nice. I give up! Probably gonna be more out there.’
But one of the companies – Teespring – explained how the fake t-shirts ended up on their website.
‘Hi @keithlemon Teespring is a user-generated platform and all designs are created by independent individuals,’ they responded.
‘In response to your recent post, we have ensured the sellers account has been disabled. Rest assured, we do not support this behaviour on our platform and will work with you to make this right!’
Keith, 46, had been close friends with Caroline after working together on the sketch show Bo Selecta in 2002.
Following her tragic death, the TV star also revealed his initial plans to honour Caroline with a festival after one of his Twitter followers suggested the ‘great’ idea.
‘I don’t know how it would work or what I could do? But then I thought what can I do? Well ya know I do t-shirts? I do t-shirts,’ Keith tweeted at the time.
‘I thought the least I can do is draw her a t-shirt where all the proceeds go to mental health. So I’ve done this. I’ll let you know when a where you can get one as soon as it’s available. #bekind [sic]’
The design features a black and white picture of Caroline, and the words ‘be kind!’, the slogan which has become synonymous for since taking her own life on 15 February.
