Sen. Grassley strongly urges FTC to probe wedding site The Knot for allegedly defrauding advertisers | Latest Tech News
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is urging the Federal Trade Commission to examine The Knot Worldwide after his workplace acquired dozens of new complaints accusing the wedding planning site of defrauding small business homeowners, The Post has realized.
In a letter to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson on Tuesday afternoon, Grassley cited The Post’s exclusive reporting on allegations of wrongdoing by The Knot – which has been accused of swindling mom-and-pop distributors like DJs and dressmakers for years by allegedly offering pretend or spam buyer leads and failing to ship on the agreed-upon phrases of costly advert offers.
Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary committee, said his workplace has acquired almost 200 complaints from distributors around the nation since March 28, when he first requested the FTC to look into claims that The Knot had engaged in misleading business practices following a New Yorker expose on the company.
“If the FTC is not investigating, I strongly urge it to do so considering the breadth of alleged wrongdoing and its widespread impact,” Grassley wrote.
Sen. Grassley said his workplace has acquired almost 200 new complaints since March. AP
FTC spokesman Joe Simonson confirmed the company had acquired Grassley’s letter.
“We appreciate Sen. Grassley’s letter and look forward to talking to his staff more about these disturbing allegations,” Simonson said in a assertion.
A spokesperson for The Knot Worldwide said the company “does not engage in fraudulent or deceptive business practices.”
“We are laser-focused on innovating to help wedding professionals grow their businesses with quality leads and support millions of couples annually on their planning journey,” the spokesperson added. “We remain deeply focused on continually enhancing our products, support, and safety standards so every experience reflects the values that built our brand. Our commitment to the more than 900,000 small businesses and wedding professionals we serve around the world is stronger than ever.”
Grassley’s letter cited a whistleblower criticism from a small business proprietor who “contacted a supervisor on The Knot’s customer support team to discuss why her business continued to be advertised in the wrong section of the website and hadn’t received substantive leads.” The supervisor allegedly blamed the issue on a lack of buyer reviews.
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 07: Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) (L) arrives to a Senate Judiciary Committee listening to with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on October 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. Getty Images
“The small business owner alleges that the supervisor then turned off the call recorder and told her that she should create fake accounts and leave her own business fake reviews to boost the credibility of her profile which would in turn help her receive a higher number of legitimate leads,” Grassley wrote in the letter.
“The small business owner told my office that she was shocked The Knot’s solution to their failures was to recommend that she commit fraud by scamming potential customers into selecting her business,” the letter continued.
Grassley said that case and other whistleblower complaints “show they aren’t merely isolated incidents but are instead a nationwide problem that requires investigation.”
Small business homeowners have accused The Knot of shady and misleading promoting practices. Maksym – stock.adobe.com
After repeated complaints to The Knot’s customer support crew, including calls for that the company “provide her with the discounts they promised,” the company allegedly pulled her business off its web site totally last month but “still charged her credit card for the advertisement services.”
“The small business owner summarized her experience with The Knot as: “They are preying on small businesses who need help growing their audience and promising things that will never happen. They don’t seem to have an issue taking my money but not providing the advertising services they promised in the contract I signed,’” the letter said.
Small business homeowners and wedding industry insiders say they’ve little recourse because The Knot Worldwide – which consists of manufacturers The Knot, WeddingWire, WeddingPro and Hitched, among other websites – controls a major chunk of the planning market.
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 15: Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson testifies before the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government in the Rayburn House Office Building on May 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Getty Images
The company has strenuously denied wrongdoing in the past, with former CEO Tim Chi declaring “unequivocally” in an August 2023 memo that the firm doesn’t “tolerate any fraudulent or unethical practices on our platform and in our company.”
The Post’s unique report on the allegations of misleading practices at The Knot cited interviews with jilted wedding distributors as nicely as a trio of former workers – Jennifer Croom Davidson, Cindy Elley and Rachel LaFera – who alleged that former executives at the company had aggressively silenced their efforts to raise alarms during their time there.
The Knot Worldwide’s manufacturers embody Hitched and WeddingWire. PRN
“We appreciate Senator Grassley’s continued advocacy for America’s wedding industry,” Davidson said in a assertion on behalf of the whistleblowers.
“For too long, the company’s legacy brand image has masked systemic failures and emboldened misconduct. It’s time federal authorities lift the veil and bring this organization to account,” she added.
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