Are grown-ups wrong to call out inappropriate teenage behaviour?
Perez Hilton talks about his lifelong ban from TikTok after criticising a bikini-clad 15-year-old’s gyrating dance moves
TikTok and Snapchat – two words guaranteed to strike horror into any parent, especially as the social media apps are geared towards young teens…
Media personality Perez Hilton was given a lifelong ban from the platform in December 2020, something he said is “hilarious” and “ageist”.
In March 2020, Hilton – or Mr Showbiz as he is known in the US – was heavily slammed after he criticised media personality Charli D’Amelio, who was then 15, for dancing seductively in a bikini on one of her posts.
He commented: “Anyone else think it’s inappropriate for a 15-year-old to dance to this?”
Cue a huge backlash and a few weeks later, someone created a petition on Change.org calling for Hilton’s removal from TikTok.
The petition said: “His whole career is based off of creating drama – which is something we seriously don’t need right now. Perez is a middle-aged man and earns a living by attacking young kids for just having fun. CANCEL HIM, or at least BAN HIM from Tiktok.”
TikTok listened and Hilton’s ban came into effect in December 2020.
uncancelled was given the first look at what he had to say as he spoke to podcast CELEBS and the Average Joe with Phil Reynolds.
Speaking from his home in Los Angeles, Hilton, 42, didn’t touch on the D’Amelio issue but said: “It’s hilarious to me I was banned.
“I get it, it’s their own app and seems like they want to keep it a criticism free place and my criticism upset a lot of the popular TikTokers, it upset them and the creators.
“It’s a very ageist app. The rules apply differently to ‘old’ people, like me, than they do to young people. I think TikTok should create TikTok Kids for kids and young teenagers and let TikTok be for adults. They’re ruling it and basing it on what kids want and what they want for kids.”
TV producer Reynolds developed a podcast called The Lockdown with Phil Reynolds during the first UK lockdown and in six months, it went international, streaming in over 30 countries, and welcomed guests such as actor Jamie Dornan, Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody, DJ Paul Van Dyk and boxer Carl Frampton.
He was then approached by production company Nineteen 11 (The Posh Frock Shop, Swingers) and together they created a brand new series and fortnightly podcast called CELEBS and the Average Joe.
The full interview with Perez Hilton – in which he also gives his opinions on the Biden inauguration, his feud with Lady Gaga and Kim and Kanye and Harry and Meghan – will be available for download from February 12th on iTunes and Spotify.
