Charli D’Amelio slammed by View host for making millions off of Black TikTok creators’ dances

Theo Salaun

In the wake of rising critiques against TikTok influencers, ’s Sunny Hostin is taking aim at Charli D’Amelio. The co-host accused Charli of making millions off of dances she stole from Black creators without giving credit.

At just 17 years old, Charli D’Amelio has already made millions of dollars from her TikTok stardom. In many ways, the teenage influencer is the poster child for TikTok success. As such, it should be no surprise that she has become the latest target of criticism.

First, Addison Rae received backlash for unsatisfactorily crediting Black creators whose dances she used in a segment. Then, Charly Jordan was slammed for not giving dance credit — during a Black TikTok dance strike caused by that specific issue.

Now, Hostin is using as a platform to call out Charli, who she calls the “prime example” of misappropriation and creative theft in the TikTok world. 

https://twitter.com/defnoodles/status/1409576432120963102

As Hostin explains, “I don’t think it should ever be considered cute or sweet to misappropriate other people’s creative content … We see white teenage women or white women sort of misappropriate that content and make millions of dollars off of it.” 

The brunt of this critique is becoming more widely agreed upon, as it serves as the basis for the dance strike and accompanying criticisms against Rae and Jordan — who each profited off of Black dances without direct credit. 

But, while Hostin calls D’Amelio the “prime example” and notes her earnings in 2020, some of her criticisms may have been factually misguided. For instance, she accuses D’Amelio of the situation instead of Rae. Additionally, Charli does seem to have a strong track record for giving dance credits.

charli damelio tiktok dance credit
Most Charli videos have “dc” (dance credit) in the caption, linking out to the dance’s creator.

Unlike Jordan, who failed to give tracy.oj credit for her dance (and then called the backlash “crazy”), most of Charli’s videos seem to have credits. 

Still, whether or not D’Amelio is the best example of this problem is beside the point. As Hostin explains, many of TikTok’s biggest trends — like “Renegade,” “Savage,” and “Out West” — started with Black creators, but those creators have rarely been credited. 

At the moment, Charli has yet to respond to Hostin’s criticisms, but we’ll keep fans in the loop if she does.

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