Does anyone else feel like the last few weeks have been some of the bleakest so far? Nearly a year into the pandemic, the combination of terrible winter weather, vaccine frustration, and just general life stuff have created a perfect storm of bad vibes, and it seems like a lot of us have been feeling it. But you know who hasn’t let the less-than-ideal mood get in their way? The celebrities on TikTok. To them, February 2021 seems like any other month, and that means they’re still cranking out the content that just makes you go “…why?” From Gen-Z to Boomers, some of our favorite famous TikTokers have been doing their worst lately, and here’s your latest batch of cringe.
Heidi Montag
@heidimontagCan you pull down your mask if you see papperazzi? ##fyp ##foryoupage ##beverlyhills♬ original sound – heidimontag
Heidi, Heidi, Heidi… I’ve grown accustomed to Heidi’s weird TikToks around the house—the terrible lip-syncing and random product placement of Spencer’s crystals throughout the videos, but this is a new level of cringe for her. She and Spencer are walking down the street, and she asks if she can take her masks off for the paparazzi. Obviously, the answer is no, but seeing her get so excited to have her picture taken just makes me kind of sad. Idk, maybe I’m still in my feels about Framing Britney Spears, but I have a hard time not getting angry at the thought of invasive celeb photographers. Heidi’s also been ramping up her content about #filming, so it seems like the new season of The Hills should be coming soon.
Bryce Hall
@brycehallroots @joshrichards @imgriffinjohnson♬ original sound – Bryce Hall
If you’ve read my articles in the past, you’ll know that Bryce Hall is my least favorite of the Gen-Z hot guy cohort on TikTok. Aside from practicing terrible COVID behavior, he also just seems like a f*ckboy, and this video of him and two of his Sway House buddies shotgunning energy drinks isn’t doing anything to dispel that notion. At least they’re wearing shirts in this video, because I was actually starting to wonder if they owned any clothes other than t0o-tight sweatpants.
Dr. Phil
@drphilThis new grand baby better hurry up!
Dr. Phil has always been one of my least favorite people on TikTok, and this video of him looking longingly out the window as he waits for his grandchild to arrive is so staged it hurts. Why does this old man have a BIB on his shirt? And how much did he have to force his wife to play along for the video? Also, he clearly hasn’t been able to get his botox during the pandemic, because homeboy is looking way older than I remember. Anyway, his son Jordan McGraw had his baby with Morgan Stewart, a girl named Row Renggli, so hopefully his weird videos will be replaced with cute baby content soon.
James Charles
@jamescharlessurprise… 🤰🏻💕 what should I name her♬ Still Into You by Paramore – Ariam
Last week, James Charles pulled two different social media stunts in the time it takes me to get out of bed n the morning. On the same day he tried to trick us into thinking he was bald, he also posted… a fake pregnancy announcement? We all say that bizarre recreation of Beyoncé’s nude pregnancy photos on Instagram, but you may have missed this TikTok where he shows off his “transformation.” I still don’t understand why this was ever a thing, but I hope James got the attention he was craving.
Charli D’Amelio
@charlidameliolink to sign up for @step in my bio💗 ##steppartner♬ original sound – charli d’amelio
I’m all for TikTok creators like Charli hustling and making money from their platforms, but taking financial advice from someone who was born in 2004 just doesn’t sit right with me. She’s advertising for Step, a banking and debit card service aimed at teens, which is supposed to help them build credit and learn about money management. Sounds like a smart idea, but I feel like they should be aiming their marketing at parents of teens, not kids who are scrolling on TikTok. We’ve seen people like Billy McFarland and the Kardashians market some questionable cards before, so I’m not trusting any famous person when it comes to financial advice.
Images: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com; TikTok
This year has been more than unpredictable, but if there’s one thing we can count on, it’s influencers and internet celebrities getting involved in drama. From Danielle Bernstein’s questionable design practices, to Arielle Charnas’ COVID exposure timeline, there’s been a lot of bullsh*t happening online in 2020, and it’s been one of the few consistent sources of joy. This year, we’ve also seen TikTok stars gain millions of followers and a wild amount of attention, and along with that success comes good old messiness. There’s petty nonsense going down in different corners of TikTok every single day, but here are some of the wildest stories from 2020.
Jake Paul vs. The FBI
Jake Paul and his brother Logan have a long history of messy behavior, from Logan offending the entire nation of Japan, to Jake’s stunt wedding to Tana Mongeau. But in 2020, Jake Paul’s chaotic behavior transitioned into criminal activity that was serious enough to catch the FBI’s attention. In August, a SWAT team raided Paul’s Calabasas mansion, where they reportedly seized “a cache of firearms.” The FBI later confirmed the raid was in connection to a June incident, in which Paul broke into a mall in Arizona to film a video at the height of Black Lives Matter protests.
I create the first content house
Then there’s 500 content houses
I start boxing
Now every influencer is a boxer
What’s next?
Y’all gon get raided by the FBI on purpose?
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) November 15, 2020
Jake Paul wasn’t home during the FBI raid, and it’s unclear what eventually happened in the investigation, but clearly he’s not behind bars or anything. Recently, he’s been focused on his boxing career, which I regret to admit is a real thing. Over Thanksgiving weekend, he won his second professional fight against former NBA player Nate Robinson. After his big win, he naturally hosted a packed mask-free party at his house, which Calabasas Mayor Alicia Weintraub called “a slap in the face to the Calabasas community.” I guess Bryce Hall isn’t the only dumb-ass influencer causing headaches for LA government officials. Speaking of which…
Bryce Hall vs. The City Of LA
If we’ve learned anything about TikTok stars this year, it’s that they love ignoring public safety regulations and partying in the midst of a deadly pandemic. Internet celebs like James Charles, Tana Mongeau, and Nikita Dragun have all attended their fair share of questionable gatherings this year, but no one is a more prolific pandemic partier than Bryce Hall. Over the summer, there were many reports of large parties all over Los Angeles, even as coronavirus cases skyrocketed in California. Clearly, something needed to be done, and in response, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti warned that utilities could be shut off at residences where large gatherings continued to be held.
Today I authorized the City to disconnect utility service at a house in the Hollywood Hills to stop the large parties held there in flagrant violation of our public health orders. Parties like these can quickly and easily spread the virus and put our communities at risk.
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) August 19, 2020
I don’t know if Bryce Hall missed that message, or if he just didn’t care (probably the latter, let’s be real), but he continued to have big parties at his rented Hollywood Hills home. Two weeks later, Mayor Garcetti made good on his threat, and released a statement announcing that “The City has now disconnected utilities at this home to stop these parties that endanger our community.” He claimed that the home had “turned into a nightclub in the Hills,” which is still my worst nightmare, pandemic or not. We never found out exactly how long Bryce had to go without utilities, but I’m hoping it was at least a few days.
Ariana Grande vs. Bryce Hall
The award for most delusional TikTok personality of the year also goes to Bryce Hall, who somehow thinks Ariana Grande gives a sh*t about him. Back in October, Ariana did an hour-long interview on The Zach Sang Show to promote her new album, and at one point the conversation turned to the pandemic behavior of TikTok stars. She name-checked Saddle Ranch, a western-themed restaurant in LA that’s become a hotspot (for TikTokers, but also probably for COVID). She asked, “Did we all need to go to f*cking Saddle Ranch that badly that we couldn’t wait for the deathly pandemic to pass? Did we all need to put on our cowgirl boots and ride a mechanical bull that bad? We all needed that Instagram post that badly?” I love this energy.
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Obviously, being the clown that he is, Bryce Hall—who spent Halloween at Saddle Ranch with his girlfriend Addison Rae—decided Ariana was talking about him, and spoke out about her comments. He said on the Hollywood Raw podcast that it was “obviously like, a marketing move,” explaining that “because she knew that TikTokers have a high audience, she knew that a lot of people would agree, because there’s a lot of people that hate TikTokers already.” Despite seeming annoyed at Ariana indirectly calling him out, Bryce admitted that “like, she’s not wrong.” Fair point that people hate TikTokers, but LOL that Bryce thinks someone as famous as Ariana Grande needs to start drama with him to get some press for her new album. And also, stay the f*ck home!
Charli & Dixie D’Amelio vs. Paella
The most recent controversy on our list came just a couple weeks ago, from TikTok’s first family, The D’Amelios. 16-year-old Charli D’Amelio has had a meteoric rise this year, becoming the most-followed person on TikTok, and recently becoming the first account to pass the 100 million follower threshold on the app. At some point in this whirlwind year, the D’Amelios decided that they should start a family YouTube channel, which like, yikes. If I told my mom we were starting a YouTube channel together, she’d kick me out of the house. Anyway, one of their great ideas for a video series was “Dinner With The D’Amelios,” where they would be joined each episode by a different celeb guest at a family dinner.
The first episode featured our problematic fave James Charles, and there were actually some interesting moments where they talked about getting famous so young, and how James has become a mentor to Charli. But things went south when chef Aaron May presented them with a homemade paella for dinner. Charli and her sister Dixie were shocked to discover that the dish contained snails, and Charli asked the award-winning chef if she could have dino nuggets instead. Dixie took a small bite of snail, gagged, and ran outside to vomit. The D’Amelios received a great deal of backlash for their tone-deaf reactions to the traditional dish, and Charli also got dragged for her comments in the video about being annoyed at how long it was taking her to reach 100 million TikTok followers.
tomorrow i will be back posting normal content with a smile on my face! at the end of the day i know i am a good person with a good heart and i will never change that about myself. i love you all!! 💕
— charli d’amelio (@charlidamelio) November 20, 2020
On the day the video came out, Charli lost over a million followers, while James Charles and other major influencers came to her defense. Since then she’s rebounded, and she finally hit her coveted 100 million—hopefully she got to celebrate with some dino nuggets.
Like it or not, it looks like all of these TikTok stars are here to stay, and as long as they’re looking for clout, there’s going to be drama involved. Can’t wait to see whose house gets raided by the FBI in 2021!
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Images: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images; jakepaul, mayorofla, charlidamelio / Twitter; brycehall / Instagram
Five months into a life-altering pandemic, it’s safe to say that most of us have made a questionable decision or two when it comes to social distancing. No one is perfect, and every single choice we make in 2020 comes with some level of risk attached. But while you might be second-guessing your decision to hug a friend, or run without a mask on, chances are you’re doing a better job than TikTok star Bryce Hall, who’s in hot water after hosting numerous crowded parties at his home in LA. And by “hot water,” I really mean the opposite, because his house no longer has running water. Seriously.
Huge parties at homes in Los Angeles have repeatedly made headlines this summer, and Gen-Z influencers have been some of the prime culprits. There was the over-the-top birthday party last month at the Hype House, and semi-professional clown Jake Paul hosted numerous parties at his house before it was recently raided by the FBI. Bryce Hall, a 21-year-old with 13 million TikTok followers, also turned his house into a frequent illegal party spot, and the LA city government was starting to get desperate to shut down these events. Two weeks ago, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti warned that he would consider shutting off electricity and water at homes where parties were taking place if they didn’t start following the rules.
Well, dumb rich people are gonna do dumb rich people sh*t, and the parties didn’t stop after Garcetti’s warning. While things have gone quiet over at Jake Paul’s house since the federal government got involved, Bryce Hall continued to host large gatherings at his rented home in the Hollywood Hills, including one just three days after Garcetti’s initial warning. Despite the police breaking up that party and reportedly threatening criminal proceedings, Hall hosted another party last Friday. Yesterday, Mayor Garcetti finally pulled the plug—literally. In a statement, Garcetti said, “Despite several warnings, this house has turned into a nightclub in the hills, hosting large gatherings in flagrant violation of our public health orders. The City has now disconnected utilities at this home to stop these parties that endanger our community.” GO OFF.
Today I authorized the City to disconnect utility service at a house in the Hollywood Hills to stop the large parties held there in flagrant violation of our public health orders. Parties like these can quickly and easily spread the virus and put our communities at risk.
— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) August 19, 2020
First of all, I can’t imagine anything that sounds worse than turning my home into a “nightclub in the hills.” I’m sure Bryce has plenty of people to clean his house for him, but even without COVID concerns, I could only handle hosting like, one medium-sized party a year. Who has the energy?? But obviously, the actual issue here is that we are still in the middle of a massive pandemic, so no one should be hosting large gatherings of any kind. Clearly, Bryce Hall and these other TikTok idiots don’t actually care about public health, or following any kind of rules, but maybe cutting off their AC in the middle of August will finally get them to cut the bullsh*t.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the LAPD issued citations at more than a dozen homes last weekend for “noisy gatherings,” and were considering cutting off utilities at three different addresses. It’s unclear what happened with the other two, and we also don’t know how long the City plans on keeping Bryce Hall’s utilities off. Hall hasn’t directly addressed the situation on social media, but this cryptic tweet from Wednesday evening seems like it’s probably related.
suddenly the turns have tabled
— Bryce Hall (@BryceHall) August 19, 2020
Seems like he’s taking it seriously. Honestly, Mayor Garcetti shouldn’t turn his utilities back on until he posts an official apology, along with proof of a substantial donation to an organization dedicated to fighting this pandemic. The apology probably wouldn’t actually mean anything, but at least he’d be forced to open his wallet.
This idea might sound crazy, but hear me out. For the rest of 2020, can everyone please just f*cking stop having parties?? Influencers, I’m looking at you. Rich old people in the Hamptons, I’m looking at you. College kids being forced to return to campus despite safety plans that are questionable at best? I’m looking at you! No one group is to blame for the current COVID situation, but we can all do our part and not go to parties (that probably aren’t even that fun anyway). Is that too much to ask?
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Images: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images; MayorOfLA, BryceHall / Twitter
