Content creator Helen Vanwinkle, better known as Baddie Winkle, has died at the age of 97 on September 4, 2025, according to an Instagram post that was shared to her account.
"Yesterday, an era ended and a star ascended," the message reads. "My great grandmother Helen Ruth Elam Vanwinkle danced her way to heaven. She was joy, rebellion, and tenderness wrapped in one. The crown is eternal, & her love on many realms will live forever. This isn’t a goodbye, this is a See ya later my superstar."
Paris Hilton, as well as scores of others, mourned the loss in the comment section of the Instagram post announcing Vanwinkle's death. "She was iconic 🥹 sending love," Hilton wrote.
Vanwinkle's popular Instagram account, which boasts 3 million followers, features a short bio that reads, "Stealing yo man Since 1928," the year she was born.
She was best known for her outlandish outfits that defied what “age appropriate” meant. Boasting over 3 million followers on Instagram, Vanwinkle shared photos of her linking up with celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Diplo, posing for makeup brands and more.
She first found virality in the mid-2010s posting photos on Twitter, earning recognition from Drake and Cyrus. She credits her great-granddaughter with helping create her Internet persona after losing her son and husband. “You don’t know what’s going to happen to you. I blamed God forever. I cried all the time because I couldn’t come to terms with it, so I made myself over into Baddie Winkle,” she said in an interview with Refinery29.
In a 2015 interview with Vice, Vanwinkle revealed she went to church and did all the normal old, country woman things. However, she admitted, “I’ve kind of been a rebel all my life.”