Is Addison Rae Canceled for Good This Time?
It’s going to take a lot more than another viral video to bounce back from this scandal...
by JOLIE ZENNA ★ JULY 21, 2021
International TikTok star Addison Rae is currently under fire after introducing herself to former President Donald Trump at the McGregor vs. Poirier fight on July 10. This backlash comes after numerous accusations of Addison being a performative activist and unclear voting records in the past.
Addison Rae currently has 82 million followers on TikTok and was recently named one of the wealthiest TikTok stars by Cosmopolitan. This isn’t Addison’s first time being at the center of the drama, which raises the question of whether Addison deserves the huge platform that she has.
So let’s dive into Addison’s problematic past. TikTok history lesson: Addison Rae first rose to fame in 2019, but her success skyrocketed during quarantine. During this time, the Black Lives Matter movement moved into the limelight, and many influencers made videos demonstrating support for the BIPOC community.
Addison Rae was among the many TikTokers who showed support through social media, but when it came to donations and providing educational resources, it seemed that she was just posting about Black Lives Matter to please the public. Some users even went to the lengths of looking at her voter registration record and claimed that Addison had voted Republican in 2014, 2016, and 2018 in Tarzana, California. At this point, fans became skeptical and considered canceling Addison altogether. She ended up responding to the accusations, stating that they were false and that she was not registered to vote yet and would be voting for the first time in the 2020 election. She never noted who she would be voting for, raising continuing suspicions that she would be voting for Trump in the 2020 election.
Addison has also been called hypocritical because, despite her posts in support of Back Lives Matter, many have called her out for blackfishing in photos and failing to credit the Black creators that made the dances that have brought her so much fame. In another scandal, Addison was called out for performing several dances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon including “Corvette Corvette,” “Savage,” and “Laffy Taffy--'' all created by Black TikTokers. She passed these dances off as though they were her own and paid no mention to the original creators of the dances. Although she did wind up apologizing, her apology felt forced and hardly enough considering the weight of her actions.
This brings us to her most recent scandal with Trump. Many had already questioned Addison’s voter status, and many see this as a confirmation that she voted for Trump. In the video of Addison introducing herself to Trump, she can be heard saying “It’s nice to meet you, I had to say hi.” This short (yet telling!) clip shows a clear admiration for Trump...she wouldn’t have gotten up during the UFC fight to greet him if she didn’t admire him. Come on. She must have also gone through a lot of trouble to meet him as Trump was surrounded by bodyguards who were not letting anyone near him.
For Addison to gain so much success during a year of such societal turmoil and distress and to be so tone-deaf about it all really makes you question whether or not she deserves all of her success. Given all of this information about her somewhat scandalous career in the social media spotlight, users are left to question whether we should keep admiring her dance moves and ‘fits or unfollow her altogether.