TikTok’s “hot best friend” is under fire for these comments – Times of India

Popular social media influencer Alix Earle is facing controversy after her alleged racist post made about 10 years ago surfaced online. The posts by the 23-year-old – who is popularly known as TikTok’s “hot best friend” – have been discovered on the social media platform Ask.fm and they contain offensive language towards a specific community.

What is the controversy around Alix Earle

The comments, allegedly made by a 13-year-old Earle, resurfaced on TikTok. Screenshots of the comments show an account with the name “Alixxxxx” – which is said to belong to her – using the N-word in 2014 on Ask.fm.
Ask.fm is a social media platform founded in 2010 that allows users to ask and answer questions “anonymously”.

Earle – who has amassed millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram – has yet to publicly address the allegations. The lack of response has further fueled criticism and speculation about the authenticity of the posts.
Notably, social media influencers are at risk if their old content like tweets, posts or media resurface and threatens to damage her reputation and influence.
She has nearly 4 million followers on Instagram and over 7 million followers on TikTok. As per Fortune, she is worth an estimated $6 million, and during college, she made $5 million in one year alone. Earle is famous for her “get ready with me” videos and party lifestyle.
According to Harvard Business Review (via Fortune), she has earned several partnerships for her beauty, “humour, vulnerability, aspiration, relatability, and product mentions.”

Her followers seek answers

Fans have started asking Earle to either apologise or prove the allegations are false.
“Alex as a poc who watches you religiously…your actions hurt. The fact that you won’t even address it but you happily address other topics that may not cast you in the best light????? It comes off as you just not caring enough about the poc who support you. If you did care you’d address it even if it was 10 years ago it was still wrong and NOT okay. And then to delete comments come onnnn Alix ??????,” a user said on one of her Instagram posts.
“In today’s interconnected world, audiences demand accountability, and a single misstep can snowball into widespread backlash. When trust is broken, followers often disengage, reducing the influencer’s ability to impact and inspire their audience,” Toni Ferrara, founder of Ferrara Media, a talent management and public relations firm, told Fortune.