Erroneously targeted by irate viewers of a TikTok from a World Cup match, Miami-based jewelry designer Elizabeth Buenaventura (pictured) says she’s chosen love over hatred—an attitude akin to her beliefs and the kind of connection she wants to create with her jewelry.
Buenaventura’s phone and social media began to blow up within hours of the Mexico-versus-Czechia game on June 24 in Mexico City. A TikTok was circulating that showed a woman getting doused with beer by someone in the stands behind her—and, somehow, Buenaventura was misidentified as the beer-throwing villain.
She was shocked. Buenaventura wasn’t at the game—she’s never even been to Mexico City—but was home in south Florida when the brew was flung. But the damage was already done: On both her personal and business Instagrams, Buenaventura started to receive harsh comments, which accelerated into death threats.
“At first I had absolutely no idea what was happening,” she tells JCK. “I was trying to block people and delete comments from both of my Instagram accounts, but they just kept coming.
“What struck me was that many of the comments were in English and Mexican Spanish, using slang I didn’t even understand. I actually had to Google some of the insults because I had never heard them before. That seemed especially strange since I don’t really have a Mexican audience.”
Buenaventura posted an Instagram story asking her community if anyone knew what was going on—she thought it was a bot attack because the comments were so relentless. A woman responded that someone watching the viral video had tagged Buenaventura’s Instagram account, incorrectly identifying her as the blond woman who appeared to throw the beer.
“After that, several other people messaged me encouraging me to make a video explaining that it wasn’t me before the misinformation spread even further. That was when I recorded my response, explaining that I was not the woman in the video, I was not in Mexico City, and I had nothing to do with the incident,” Buenaventura says.
She still doesn’t know exactly how her Instagram account became associated with the video. The only possibility she’s come up with is that Cha Cha Cha, a Mexican restaurant in Miami, had invited her to dinner about two months earlier and they were also tagged.
“I don’t know whether that had anything to do with it, and I don’t want to speculate. It’s simply the only connection I can think of,” Buenaventura says.
Since posting multiple times about not being the woman in the video, Buenaventura says the fury of comments has slowed. And rather than focus on the negative, she is now reflecting on her work as a jeweler and how she can be a positive force in the world.
That brings her back to EB Connection, the collection she had recently introduced and continues to grow. Most of the EB pieces are made of links—which, according to the brand’s website, represent “shared experiences and the moments that shape our journey.”
The design is inspired “by all the ways we’re linked to each other. The people we meet, the moments that change us, the energy that flows between us—it’s all connected,” Buenaventura says.
“My main reason for creating EB Connection and that link was to invite people to come together in a world that’s so divided by politics and religion. Because at the end of the day, we are all one,” she adds. “This experience proves my belief in connection even more.
“This is not all about me or the bullying. This is about spreading a message of love and trying to help people,” says Buenaventura. “I’m in a place of calm and peace, and I want to share that with people. My message is to step back, think before acting, and respect people where they are. That is my passion and my mission in life.”
(Photos courtesy of Elizabeth Buenaventura)
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