TikTok star Bryce Hall has found himself in the middle of some Twitter drama yet again after tweeting insensitive remarks about the LGBTQ+ community.
Earlier today, Bryce tweeted out his feelings about the criticism surrounding “straight TikTok” — a term used to describe when a user’s For You Page is filled with dances, POVs and popular creators like Charli D’Amelio, the Hype House crew, and the Sway boys, including Bryce Hall. Basically, you can identify as straight and not be on straight TikTok. You can also identify as LGBTQ+ and end up on straight TikTok.
In response to fans calling straight TikTok ‘boring,’ Bryce tweeted, “What is ‘straight’ TikTok and why does everyone hate it hahahaha I’m confused.”
He then made a very problematic claim with, “we are on the cusp of ending homophobia,” followed by an even more problematic statement, “and now we’re introducing heterophobia?”
“What the fuck is 2020.”
Bryce quickly deleted the tweet, but not before fans caught a glimpse.
One fan wrote to Bryce, saying she’s part of the “alt TikTok” community and his tweet made her sad. Another followed up calling his tweet “so fucking offensive.”
The alt TikTok community is characterised by high-quality, entertaining content in the music, comedy, fashion and beauty space. Alt TikTok typically does not include verified creators and there is a greater focus on producing original content. There is a large LGBTQ+ presence on alt TikTok.
Bryce replied to his fans, saying he is so sorry for offending them and realised how messed up the tweet sounded after he posted it.
Another fan tweeted that Bryce should be embarrassed, to which the 20-year-old responded that he is embarrassed and is “ready for the repercussions that come with my fuck up.” He also promised it would not happen again.
Bryce has since issued a formal apology on Twitter, writing, “That tweet was insensitive and obviously I’m not cultured on it and I shouldn’t have spoken…I’m a dumb shit and I don’t think before I speak and I’m sure all of you know this by now. Again, I’m super sorry for offending anyone and I promise it won’t happen again.”
Bryce’s tweets come off the back of the news that his content group, Sway House, is on hiatus. The TikTok collective announced the news earlier this week under the guise of a “rebrand”— similar to what the Hype House recently did. Sway has struggled with a problematic reputation since its inception. Unfortunately, this was only furthered when Bryce himself and fellow member Jaden Hossler were arrested in May on drug-related charges.
Shortly after, Jaden and co-founder Josh Richards announced their departure from the group.
Though we have no update on the new Sway, we do have one update for Bryce: Homophobia is unfortunately not on the cusp of extinction.
And ‘heterophobia’ is definitely not a thing.