For Addison Rae, TikTok dances have managed to propel her into Gen-Z superstardom, with music, movie and mega influencer deals coming in only a matter of a few years. But after her stint on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she faced a backlash for recreating TikTok dances of predominantly Black creatives without officially crediting them. Combine that with a supposed recent break-up – it’s a wonder how Addison Rae is handling life right now.
As it turns out, she just might be shifting gears. Following the alleged break-up to fellow Internet personality Bryce Hall, who she supposedly was in a relationship with since late 2019, and following that controversial Tonight Show appearance, it looks like Addison Rae wants to focus on herself more. She told The Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM Hits:
Right now is my time to focus on me and I've kind of really just taken control of that and realize that, you know, you can only get presented opportunities for so long and then they kind of go away. And when you're in a relationship, especially like a romantic one, I'm very guilty of, you know, putting a lot into that and loving that.
Being the second most followed TikTok account and kind of like its brand ambassador with 78 million fans certainly means that Addison Rae is presented with countless opportunities. She is one of the faces of American Eagle, she has an exclusive Spotify podcast, and will even star in the remake film He’s All That. But when it comes to backlash and criticism, it is often hard to tell if those things end or ultimately sustain someone's career.
When she was “teaching” Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show how to do various popular TikTok dances, Addison Rae probably didn’t anticipate that she would be ridiculed for not crediting or not living up to the original dancers' performances. Those original creators spoke out that, noting they would have liked to be given the same chance as Addison Rae to showcase their work, though one said that Addison Rae shouldn't have received that much backlash for the oversight. Fallon himself also attempted to remedy the situation in a recent episode by inviting the original creators onto The Tonight Show in another segment.
Judging from her recent statements, though, it sounds like Addison Rae wants to maximize her popularity while she still has it. Moreover, she wants to do so while she’s still single. She said,
I think my entire life I've kind of always looked up to love. I'm a hopeless romantic, if you will. But I do know that maybe now's my time to be hopelessly in love with myself and that's kind of what I've been trying to do, which has been an interesting thing. Because like, I mean, I do love a good relationship. I think they're always inspiring and fun. And of course, you know, my past relationship has even inspired some of my music.
Many have speculated that Addison Rae is referring to her ex-boyfriend Bryce Hall in her debut single and music video for “Obsessed.” The major theme of the song seems to be the self-love (or self-obsession, as it were) that she spoke about, with one of the lines even saying, “When you say that you’re obsessed with me, me too.”
Self-love slash obsession is highly encouraged. Although when it comes to TikTok influencers, it really is part of the job description anyway. For the regular TikTok users or even celebs on the platform, though, it really is just a joke factory featuring fake proposals and vagina eggs galore.
