The group chat is blowing up. No, not the one with your college besties spilling tea on your freshman year hallmate — although I’m sure that one is going strong. No, I’m talking about ~the~ Group Chat, the TikTok series that everyone — including Hailey Bieber and Stassi Schroeder — is obsessed with.
In case The Group Chat somehow didn’t end up on your FYP, here’s the rundown: It’s a series of TikToks about a fictional group of friends. They’re all set to meet for dinner, until Hailey changes their reservation to include her boyfriend Justin and drama unfolds. Oh, and every character is played by one person: Sydney Robinson.
Sydney also created, wrote, directed, and produced the whole five-part series. She’s a one-woman operation, but she’s pulled millions of views and now has over a million TikTok followers thanks to The Group Chat. The drama is just that good.
Sydney even has some celebrity fans, like Stassi Schroeder and Bethenny Frankel and she was featured on The TODAY Show. Hailey Bieber jumped in the comments to talk say how hooked she was, which was especially notable because some people thought the names of the characters Hailey and Justin were a direct nod to Mrs. Bieber and her hubby. Don’t worry, though, Sydney confirmed that’s not the case. Read on to learn the true inspo behind the characters, and everything else to know about The Group Chat series on TikTok.
What Is The Group Chat on TikTok?
What Is The Group Chat About?
@thatgirlsydjo The Group Chat: a series #groupchat #friends #drama #tea ♬ original sound – Sydney Jo
It all begins with the most loaded phrase in the English language: “Read the group chat.” The drama begins when one of the girls in the chat, Hailey, says her boyfriend Justin had “such a rough day” and she doesn’t “want to leave him alone. She wants him to join the girls’ dinner, but the rest of the chat is not having it.
According to Sydney, Hailey is named after a One Tree Hill character and Justin is named for an inside joke with her friends. Actually, her friends gave her a lot of inspiration for the series.
“It’s so funny the ways in which being a woman is such a universal experience,” she told TODAY. “And I think having a really close group of girlfriends with very different personalities that are bound to clash, but it doesn’t always mean the end of a friendship.”
Sydney also inspired by an episode of Jersey Shore. Yes, really. She saw an episode where The Situation blows up a group chat, and everyone in the house wakes up to the drama. “I was like, ‘That. That feeling,'” she said to TODAY.
Who Is Sydney Robinson?
@thatgirlsydjoI love you guys so much- Part 5 of The Group Chat is coming ♥️♬ teenage dirtbag – 𝓝 🚦
Sydney created an entire TikTok series with millions of fans, and yet this isn’t actually her full time job. The 27-year-old has a day job with an estate jewelry company. She first thought of the idea for The Group Chat in 2024, but only had time to make and post it in March of this year.
How Is Charlie Puth Involved In The Group Chat?
@thatgirlsydjo The Group Chat: Part II #groupchat #friends #drama #tea ♬ original sound – Sydney Jo
After Sydney posted Part 2 of The Group Chat, she gained a major fan in Charlie Puth. He commented on that video, “I’m so invested in this…” and then Sydney messaged him. She straight-up just asked him he’d be a part of the series and, in an example of how you should just go for it and ask for what you want, Charlie said yes.
So when Justin was finally revealed in Part 4, Charlie provided his voice. “I have no idea why this massive man in the music industry with 22 million followers would want to be a part of my ‘Group Chat’ skit,” she said to TODAY.
Will There Be More Of The Group Chat?
If you’re desperate for more, the good news is Sydney has plans to make more of The Group Chat. “Hopefully I can keep writing this forever, and hopefully there’s just a bunch of fun surprises in store,” she told TODAY.
Sydney has other storylines planned for The Group Chat, like a birthday and a bachelorette party. Okay, I feel like a bachelorette could provide enough drama for a full movie. I know I’d tune in.
