As someone who couldn’t tell Addison Rae apart from a D’Amelio sister not too long ago, her seemingly sudden ascent in the pop music scene as a real contenda is nothing short of miraculous. With certified bop “Aquamarine,” Addison has made her way into the hallowed halls of internet-famous characters who have become real celebrities. But as more of Addison’s vibey tracks have been infiltrating my feed, putting me into a soft pop trance, so have plenty of very vocal haters to let me know she isn’t the next Britney. So, like any good investigator, I had to find out: What is all the Addison Rae backlash about?

Addison Rae Backlash Explained

Why do people hate Addison Rae?

Addison Rae

Even though she has the approval of the ever-fickle Pitchfork and fellow pop besties Charli XCX, Addison Rae’s pop empire has an impressive number of early detractors. Most never-fans cite one glaring issue: In 2021, Addison Rae voluntarily and gleefully introduced herself and shook hands with Donald Tr*mp, upsetting many of her human rights-loving fans as they expressed online. The Trump-supporter allegations only grew when fans connected the dots that Addison was friends with vocal Trump supporter Bryce Hall and when internet detectives dug up evidence of Addison reposting “All Lives Matter” content.

Addison posted a lengthy apology on Twitter, addressing the 2020 reposting of the anti-Black Lives Matter video, and claimed she does not support Trump, as reported to the LA Times in 2021, but was merely being “friendly” about the “very uncommon occasion” of meeting a (then) former president. Uhhh… “uncommon” is the nicest possible word you could use about interacting with that man, but okay, girl.

What did Addison Rae do?

Addison Rae

In addition to dapping up (okay, fine, that’s an exaggeration), the Clown in Chief, Trump, and Addison had some other minor controversies, like wearing a sacrilegious bikini. Yes, you read that right: Addison sparked internet heat when she posted a pic in a white bikini that read “father” and “son” on each boob, with “Holy Spirit” (not pictured) on the crotch. Honestly, the bikini is so damn ridiculous it’s hard not to laugh, but naturally, many traditionally religious fans did not. She also got herself into a bit of a TikTok pickle after using The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon platform to show off dance choreo she didn’t create. It’s possible Addison’s new era hasn’t quite been able to shake off the social media stink of starting out as a TikToker, i.e., being overly exposed and thus overly criticized by trade.

Conspiracy Theories About Addison Rae’s Fame

Addison Rae Live in New York with Spotify

The internet seems to be a little bit obsessed with the idea that Addison Rae could be a super-powered industry plant. Arguments about whether her newfound popularity is of her own merit or manufactured by some masterful puppeteers who can somehow skew listening metrics and fake fan presence have been wreaking havoc in Reddit Subs, and Twitter replies for weeks now. As a tentative fan of Miss Girl, I’ve been getting whiplash weeding through the noise to find alleged evidence.

When fans in NYC mobbed Addison, multiple haters claimed (without evidence) on Twitter that the crowd was full of paid actors offered a few bucks to scream her name. More broadly, music listeners suggest that Addison and her PR team are bankrolling fan engagement online, including positive music reviews. I guess it’s easy for anyone who is sick of hearing “Diet Pepsi” to chalk the song’s ubiquity up to a larger money-making scheme rather than Addison’s growing authority as a musician.

Planted or home-grown, Addison’s new self-titled album sounds like a dream if sexy synth is your taste. So, as Mama Ru would say, let the music play, and if she’s meant to become a queen of pop, she’ll have to earn her keep for a legacy, anyway.