The New York Post took some heat on social media after a headline that had people accusing the publication of racism
On Wednesday night, 22-year-old Senegalese TikToker Khaby Lame, who is Black, passed Charli D’Amelio as the most followed TikTok account in the world with more than 142.8 million followers on the social media platform.
Lame’s videos are often comedic, and as a follower myself, pretty funny.
This is huge news considering white creators have dominated the top spot in the past and Black creators on the platform have raised issues about not getting credit for their content.
A year ago, Black creators on TikTok went on strike and essentially refused to make a dance for Megan Thee Stallion’s 2021 single “Thot Shit” and saw white creators struggling to create a dance that would trend on the platform.
Many news outlets covered the huge social media news, but one headline, in particular, caught the attention of everyone on social media.
The headline for the story from the NY Post read, “Laid-off factory worker unseats Charli D’Amelio as top TikTok star with 142.8M fans.”
Well, that headline caused criticism all over social media, especially on Black Twitter with users accusing the publication of being racist for not using Lame’s name on the headline.
One user wrote on Twitter, “Racism is when a black person achieved being the most followed on the most popular app at the moment, yet they’re seen as a ‘factory worker’. His name is Khaby Lame.”
Another user Tweeted, “Praying for the downfall of all publications that rely on Black outrage for engagement & clicks.”
This caught the attention of the publication who eventually tweeted, “UPDATE: We apologize for not using @khabylame’s name in our original headline” and changed the headline to “Khabane Lame unseats Charli D’Amelio as top TikTok star with 142.8M fans.”