TikTok star Tony Lopez accused of inappropriate messages sent to minors
Instagram: Tony LopezAccusations have been made against 20-year-old Hype House member Tony Lopez, alleging inappropriate conduct involving girls as young as 15 via his private Snapchat account.
The initial accusations aimed at Lopez emerged when a TikTok from user Griffin Brooks went viral, after a 15-year-old girl contacted him with screen recordings showing messages of a sexual nature supposedly sent by Lopez.
She said that he “never asked” for her age and always requested explicit photos. It then transpired that Lopez had been marking tweets containing the incriminating video under “hidden replies” without directly addressing the allegations.
One of the first videos to go viral on TikTok about 1 month ago outlining the allegations that Tony Lopez sexually harassed a 15-year-old girl. pic.twitter.com/2KMFxT7sv1
— Def Noodles (@defnoodles) August 9, 2020
for anyone watching, Tony Lopez hid my tweet exposing him for sexually harassing a minor bc he knows he’s guilty pic.twitter.com/RGa8FpVxRV
— ? (@ncim455) July 14, 2020
On August 8, another 15-year-old girl contacted another Twitter user, sharing screenshots of Lopez allegedly giving his private Snapchat name, and making similarly inappropriate comments.
The messages show Lopez saying “your face is kissable” and calls her his “baby.” Users were quick to raise the alarm in order to ensure “this predator is stripped of a platform.”
https://twitter.com/kopcillaa/status/1292206219407396869
This led to a 16-year-old girl sharing her own experiences with Lopez via TikTok.
In one video she writes “Tony Lopez blocked me on snap for not sending him nudes,” and follows with a screen recording of his messages and the details of his private Snapchat.
Despite the damning nature of the accusations, some fans still defended him, arguing “he is human” and “everyone makes mistakes.” But others suggest that the sheer number of victims means the “authorities need to be involved.”
Stop it he is human I hope he did not do it but if he did stop mistakes happen
— Wynter (@Wynter47488787) July 15, 2020
wow. okay at this point the authorities need to be involved, i understand the police may victim-blame, especially against an influencer with so much money and such a big platform, but there are too many girls at this point for this not to be dealt with by the authorities
— ? (@ncim455) August 13, 2020
While Lopez is yet to publicly address the allegations, on August 9 he tweeted “I’ve got a lot to talk about” which some commenters took as an acknowledgement of the accusations, and a potential sign that a full response is to come.
Lopez is followed by over 21 million fans on TikTok alone, with his videos regularly garnering over 5 million views each.