LGBTQ

TikTok’s so-called ‘Banter Queen’ jailed for abusing trans reality TV star Chelsey Harwood

Elsa Frost was jailed after a campaign of abuse directed towards trans reality TV star Chelsey Harwood. (Merseyside Police/Liverpool Echo)

Elsa Frost, the so-called “Banter Queen” of TikTok, has been jailed over an escalating feud with a trans reality TV star.

Frost, of Whitefield Close in Woodchurch, Wirral, threw paint at the door of Chelsey Harwood‘s home and sent her a series of abusive messages, the Liverpool Echo reported.

She also posted a series of offensive videos on her TikTok account about the Desperate Scousewives star between 1 January and 23 February 2021, Sefton Magistrates’ Court heard.

The court also heard that the pair had been involved in an ongoing feud. According to the Liverpool Echo, Frost used “transphobic language” towards Harwood in several videos, which have since been removed.

The outlet also reported Frost’s original TikTok account has been deleted from the video-sharing platform, but her recent account has attracted more than 20,000 followers.

By sending the abusive messages and damaging the door, Frost was also in breach of a suspended sentence order that was handed down to her in 2019 for battery, the court heard.

She had denied the offences last year and was set to face a trial.

However, Frost pleaded guilty to four counts of sending abusive communications and was sentenced to 18 weeks in jail. Her sentence was uplifted due to her targeting Harwood’s gender identity.

She also pleaded guilty to criminal damage but faced no separate penalty.

Frost is now barred from contacting the trans reality TV star or referring to her on social media for 12 months. She also has to pay £650 in compensation and a victim surcharge.

Harwood described Frost as “vile” and a “transphobic bully”, according to the BBC. She said she was “over the moon” at the verdict.

Harwood rose to fame after making an appearance on reality series This Is Liverpool in 2014, and she appeared on Hollyoaks’ first Pride festival the following year.

The trans actor told the Liverpool Echo in 2015 that she felt like “part of the show’s history” after being invited to film the “first-ever Hollyoaks Pride”.