“Dad, they won’t let me in,” she screamed.
The social media gods can be cruel.
Just ask Natalie Reynolds, an influencer with millions of followers, who was so upset that she got banned from TikTok that she recently went to one of the social media company’s offices and was filmed crying and screaming while on the phone with her dad.
“Dad, they won’t let me in,” she screamed. “I need my TikTok account unbanned.”
Reynolds, who had 2.5 million followers on TikTok, was banned for apparently sparking the ire of rival influencer Brook Monke and other TikTok users, who have accused Reynolds of copying Monke’s content, which consists of dances, skits, challenges, and pranks.
In one video posted to YouTube, a tearful Reynolds, with mascara running down her face, said she plans to pursue legal actions against an unnamed creator, likely referring to Monke.
Even with the TikTok HQ stunt, Reynolds was clearly milking this situation by blanketing the internet with new content on her other social media accounts, including an alt TikTok page. In one skit, she jokingly manned a Wendy’s cash register, presumably riffing on the idea that she no longer had TikTok income.
“She fell off so hard, bro,” the person who filmed her said on the video.
Reynolds had it coming. Besides accusations of pumping out unoriginal content that was cribbed from other TikTok users, Reynolds is notorious for engaging in cruel stunts such as daring a woman to jump in a lake and then running away when the woman almost drowned.
They’re ridiculous videos, but they garner a ton of views from people who are either perplexed or angry by the weird spectacles that she stages for online virality.
They may seem silly, but she’s following a well-worn path to riches and fame that was set by more established social media stars such as Logan Paul, who’s notorious for tasteless capers like filming a visit to a Japanese forest known for suicides.
The attention, whether love or hate, grabs countless eyeballs. And as long as it remains a lucrative career, people like Reynolds will continue making fools of themselves for our own enjoyment, horror, or both.
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