This is not okay.
Charli D’Amelio and sister Dixie D’Amelio are facing backlash— including death threats on themselves and their family— for a YouTube video posted to their family channel on Monday.
The first in a series called ‘Dinner With the D’Amelios,’ the video shows personal chef Aaron May cooking the D’Amelio family dinner. James Charles is the family’s mystery dinner guest for the vlog.
Since its upload earlier this week, the D’Amelio sisters have come under fire for what fans are calling “bratty” and “ungrateful” behaviour.
Two particular scenes struck a chord with their audience.
First, fans have taken issue with the sisters’ reaction to a dish May served them. In the scene, the professional chef plates a “classic paella” which includes snails. Both sisters appear disgusted while Charli asks if she can have “dino nuggets” instead. Dixie then tries the dish, gags, and vomits in front of May, calling his food “not good.”
The primary backlash, however, has come from a comment Charli made about being the most-followed creator on TikTok.
“Ugh, I just wish I had like more time ’cause imagine if I hit 100 mil one year after hitting a mil,” the 16-year-old says as the family discusses how far they’ve come in one year since joining TikTok. James Charles sarcastically quips back, “95 [million] not enough for you?”
Charli, who sat at 99.5 million TikTok followers Wednesday, has lost over 1 million followers in 24 hours as the backlash has picked up. She currently has 98.6 million followers and is on the rapid decline.
Both Charli and Dixie’s comment sections across TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram have been flooded with hate since the video went live. The teenagers have also received a barrage of death threats and messages to end their own lives over this situation.
Dixie was the first to address the backlash via TikTok. “Hey guys! If you are here to comment hate like this,” the 19-year-old says alongside hateful screenshots of messages she’s been getting. “Maybe hold on one second and know the full story.”
She goes on to explain that her family is close friends with chef Aaron May and everyone involved in the video know Dixie has a very weak stomach and often throws up at the thought, taste and smell of various foods.
She inserts a clip that was edited out of the video which shows the production team as well as May himself trying to convince Dixie to eat the snails knowing she would have an adverse reaction for the camera.
“I love chef and I would never disrespect him in any way and maybe don’t judge someone’s personality over a 15 second video,” she finishes. Dixie also mentioned how grateful she is for all her followers.
Charli has also addressed the backlash, taking to Instagram live today in tears over the whole situation. “Honestly, seeing how people reacted to this like, I don’t even know if I wanna do this anymore,” she says crying. “Like this is messed up stuff that people are saying.”
She calls her comment a “misunderstanding.” She explains that hitting a “huge milestone” (100 million followers) exactly one year after hitting another huge milestone (1 million followers) would feel serendipitous and she did not mean she was ungrateful for her current 99 million followers.
Shortly after Charli’s live, James Charles tweeted about the backlash, making a comparison between what’s happening to Charli to what happened to himself after the ‘BYE SISTER’ saga of 2019.
“this charli situation is NOT sitting right with me… 100M followers in one year & y’all expect her to know how to be a perfect role model?” he wrote. “death threats because she’s a picky eater & made a joke about a milestone? 30+ year olds dragging someone half their age? feels familiar.”
While the backlash will likely blow over in coming days, the trauma left on these teenage girls will not. Death threats and similar messages are never okay regardless of the offence.
Reminder: There are human beings on the other end of that message and what you write could stick with them for a lifetime.
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, visit Lifeline here or dial 1-800-273-8255.