Halley Mcgookin is taking over the FYP as users speculate over the recent drama surrounding her public breakup.
Halley— professionally known as Halley Kate— is a 23-year-old creator based in NYC. She’s best known for her GRWM videos and vlogging content, amassing over 1 million followers since starting on TikTok.
In early November, Halley split from her boyfriend, Reed Williams, after approximately one year of dating. Halley has since posted several videos about the split, sharing that Reed broke up with her and it was unexpected.
In opening up about her heartbreak, fans have rallied around Halley, expressing their gratitude for her vulnerability and honesty throughout this time.
Despite this, Halley soon found herself in hot water. In one of her TikToks about the breakup, the creator shared that a follower offered to pay her rent after seeing that she is now single.
“TikTok tells me you’re single. And I’m pretty sure sliding into the financial DM’s is much better than the Instagram DM’s,” the text read alongside a deposit of nearly $7,000.
While many TikTok users appreciated her authenticity at first, this sentiment seemingly shifted when she shared her steep rent price.
In response, Halley ran a giveaway for two $500 Visa gift cards.
The creator is now embroiled in another breakup-related controversy involving fellow NYC influencer, Sophia LaCorte.
Sophia is a 22-year-old NYC-based TikTok creator and an actress. She has amassed over 700K followers by posting fun, party-girl content, lifestyle videos, and lipsyncs.
The scandal erupted when Halley posted several somewhat cryptic TikToks— one of which was where she was lip-syncing to Karma by Taylor Swift.
It was then revealed that Sophia was allegedly spotted on a date with Halley’s ex, Reed, last Friday. While Halley and Sophia are allegedly not close friends, they do run in the same circles.
According to a Reddit post on r/NYCinfluencersnark, “the two were at ludlow hotel cuddled up on a couch enjoying cocktails last night. I don’t have a picture but it was them. Yes, Sophia and Jalley were at the same influencer dinner on Thursday and that is why I was shocked to see these two together on what appeared to be a date.”
Though there was minimal proof from the original Reddit poster, Halley and her podcast co-host, Jaz, have allegedly unfollowed Sophia. Sophia and Reed appear to be following each other on Instagram.
Halley also offered some confirmation on the situation in her TikTok comments, writing, “No this is the tea: she was standing with me as i texted my ex and went through my following & DM him asking him on a date. Gross on both of them😃.”
She also described Sophia as “the worst person I’ve ever met in my life!! Imagine standing next to me while I’m texting my ex asking how he is doing and DMing him that same night😃”.
Since posting the first TikTok, Halley has urged her followers to stop sending hate to anyone involved.
This situation has brought back the “girl’s girl” discourse on TikTok, as some users are criticising Sophia for her behaviour. Many have noted that there are many other men in NYC that she could have gone on a date with, questioning why she would choose Reed.
Halley addressed the situation in more depth in an emergency episode this weekend on her joint podcast, Delusional Diaries.
In the episode, Halley explained that she doesn’t necessarily have a problem with them dating. Her main issue was that Sophia was allegedly with Halley when she reached out to Reed and that they went on a date to a very public place.
“She definitely knew that it was very possible for them to get recognized so… that’s what just upset me… I feel there was some intent to have it get back to me,” Halley said.
Halley also explained that she never intended for this situation to become so public— she decided to address it on her platforms after drama accounts started posting about it and TikTok users were commenting on her posts.
Sophia has not addressed the situation at the time of writing.