TikTok star Larray addresses high school blackmail allegations
Instagram: larrayTikTok star Larri ‘Larray’ Merrit has responded to a series of allegations that suggested he had blackmailed students at his high school with personal photographs, claiming that he had “absolutely nothing to do” with the situation.
Larray is a popular TikTok influencer with almost 19 million followers on the platform alone, and millions of followers on other sites like YouTube and Instagram. He’s primarily known for his comic content, and is friends with other huge influencers like the D’Amelio sisters and James Charles.
On November 11, a TikTok account by the name of ‘larrayisanabuser’ posted a video that accused Larray of “sexually manipulating and blackmailing” them “along with three other men in high school.”
They alleged that in Sophomore years they were added on messaging service Kik by a girl they “thought they knew from Instagram.” As they exchanged flirtatious messages, the girl supposedly asked for revealing pictures, and the student sent them as requested.
Instagram: LarrayAccording to this account, once they’d sent the pictures the girl’s “tone changed.” “This is when she starts to threaten me that if I ‘don’t make out with Larry’ then she’ll send my nudes to the principal and get me expelled.”
The account reports that when they confronted the girl about it on Instagram, she claimed she didn’t have a Kik account. The images were reportedly never leaked and they were not contacted by the user again. They also claim that several other boys who attended the same high school have come to them with stories that follow a similar pattern.
After the allegations gained traction, Larray released a statement to defend himself, despite being “advised not to speak on the situation.” The TikToker says “I just want to clarify I had absolutely nothing to do with it. I wasn’t well liked in high school, and also had a social media presence at the time, so anyone could have used my name.”
He stresses that “I take sh*t like this very seriously, especially since I’m a victim of sexual assault.” He says he’s “not comfortable letting the situation go unacknowledged” and adds that although he “feels bad for what happened” he “can’t take responsibility for something [he] didn’t do.”
It’s unclear as to whether the matter has been investigated formally by the authorities.