‘I wanted to protect myself’: The man behind the viral cruise ship saga speaks out

Just when you thought things couldn’t get messier, the man who went viral after being confronted by a friend for allegedly scamming her out of $1100 has now spoken out to tell his side of the story.

Vanessa Philips claimed she was invited to go on a cruise with her acquaintance, Armonte Wilson, who she had met on a previous trip in 2025.

However, she said Armonte scammed her by telling her that the cruise would cost her $1100 when it was actually only $524, then pocketing the difference. Then, he allegedly removed her from the booking, intending to go on the cruise alone with her money instead.

What Armonte hadn’t expected was for Vanessa to make a separate booking under her own name and board the cruise anyway. There, she confronted him where he was sitting in a jacuzzi and accused him of scamming her. 

Vanessa recorded the entire interaction and the footage quickly went viral on Instagram and Twitter, with users enthralled by the drama of the situation.

Armonte later spoke out to claim Vanessa had not told the full story

via Facebook

On Sunday, Armonte first addressed the situation with a Facebook post, promising that he would follow up with an official statement to “correct any misinformation that needs to be corrected.”

A full statement was posted yesterday, and it’s just as full of drama as everybody was anticipating. Sitting in his bedroom, he took to Instagram live alongside a seemingly AI-generated poster which read: “I’ve stayed quiet long enough. Now it’s time for me to speak.”

Armonte began his statement by telling viewers that the full cost of the trip had indeed been $1100, contrary to what Vanessa had said in her Facebook post about him. He also went on to claim that Vanessa had actually sent him $998, which was not the full amount she owed him, and also not the amount she accused him of stealing from her. 

“If you lie about that, who knows what else you’re lying about?” he said.

Armonte also denied that he had set out to scam Vanessa. Instead, he said he only removed her from the booking after discovering that she had disputed the Venmo payments she had previously sent him to cover the cruise. This resulted in his Venmo account being suspended, and him not receiving the payments.

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Armonte Wilson denied all wrongdoing in his Instagram statement 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Armonte Domious Wilson (@monimongod)

Armonte said that, due to Vanessa’s actions, he believed she wanted to use him for a free cruise and hadn’t intended for him to discover the disputed payments until after the trip.

“I wanted to protect myself,” he continued, adding that this was why he asked for Vanessa to be removed from the booking once he reached the port to board the cruise.

He said: “I just didn’t feel comfortable cruising with somebody who deliberately disputed a charge right before the cruise and didn’t say anything about it.”

However, if he’d hoped that this statement would clear his name once and for all, Armonte will be disappointed. Many people on social media still seem to be on Vanessa’s side, with some sceptical about his claim he was actually the person being scammed.

In the wake of the livestream, users have been quick to flood Vanessa’s Facebook comments with messages of support, as well as to disparage Armonte for his alleged actions. 

“It’s sad how men prey on innocent women!”, one user wrote, “And we as women can definitely be too trusting.”

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Featured image via Facebook