When scrolling through your TikTok feed, you probably aren’t stopping to watch content generated by a 70-something-year-old white woman. But if that woman is wearing glasses, a smart bob and a cozy sweater, it’s probably writer and influencer Anne Abel, and you might want to take a minute or two to hear what she has to say. The best way to describe her content is cozy, eccentric and totally random. You can easily find yourself losing several hours watching her show you what’s inside her Longchamp bag (which, in case you were wondering, includes everything from an orthopedic boot to a turkey sandwich and dog treats). But it gets darker.
You’ll get all caught up in her morning routine, which starts at 6 am and includes making coffee and oatmeal, reading the newspaper, exercising and making an omelette for her dog.
You’ll gag at the view from fabulous Manhattan apartment.
And you’ll either smile or side-eye her dog’s lavish wedding. That’s right, she had people dress up for a dog wedding in her apartment.
“Anne and her husband appear to live in a bubble of wealth. She seems to be a bit out of touch with what is normal out here in the rest of the world,” wrote someone on TikTok.
But while most people can agree that all of that is just content from a well-meaning white woman who has way too much money and time on her hands, the video that has made her one of the most polarizing figures on social media is a story time in which she seems to call one of her daughters-in-law ungrateful for refusing to accept a gift of a $750 sweater.
“It was so obnoxious, if she didn’t want it, if she wasn’t comfortable wearing it, she could have given it to someone else, she could have given it to a clothing drive,” Abel said in her now-deleted post.
Abel may have lost a few fans with this post, as people who have watched the video are outraged that she would air her family’s dirty laundry in public.
“Wait, no one else finds it off putting that you’d tell this story and call her out in public like this? At least she had the decency to say how she feels to your face and in private,” wrote someone on Instagram.
TikToker @meredithmlynch blames Abel’s rant on unresolved childhood trauma, and suggests that accepting the expensive gift could come at a price to her daughter-in-law.
“I think that Anne uses gifts and money as a form of control, because she clearly has a lot of it,” she said in her post.
If you’ve come this far and are scratching your head wondering why this woman has close to 200,000 followers on TikTok, you’re really going to be confused when you learn that Black people are riding hard for Anne Abel – most who feel like she’s just an everyday, straight-shooter who just happens to have a lot more money than the rest of us.
Te-Erika told her TikTok followers that she’s “obsessed” with Abel, adding that even when she’s showing off her fabulous New York City lifestyle, she comes off as accessible.
“From the minute I found her, I can’t stop thinking about her. But I’m still trying to figure out why I’m so obsessed,” she said. “It’s just something about her that feels relatable. She’s not trying to impress us, she’s just showing us that this is her life.
“I feel like when im watching her I’m watching something on PBS,” wrote another Black Anne fan on TikTok.
Gen X TikToker @angelbabee agrees and says she’s here for Abel and all of her “rich Boomer drama,” adding that she feels she can learn a lot from the Manhattan grandma.
“I just enjoy her content. I find it refreshing. I feel like I learn from it,” she said in a post. “I love how eloquently she speaks.”
“It’s so boring, yet so fascinating. It’s like watching the exotic fish at a dentist office,” cosigned someone in her comments.
Another Black Anne fan summed their obsession with her up in one word, calling her “QUEEN 💕💕💕” on TikTok.
Love her or hate her, people are definitely watching Anne Abel, and we’re pretty sure they’re going to want to see if she spill any more family tea in her memoir set to hit bookstore shelves in the fall.
Straight From 
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.