Why is TikTok star Charli D’Amelio losing so many followers?

TikTok queen bee Charli D’Amelio was about a million clicks away from her goal of 100 million subscribers on the platform against Gen Z.

But, to quote Emily Dickinson, “Fame is fickle food.”

The teenage dance phenomenon hemorrhaged – nearly a million of them – on the popular social media app this week because of a recent video of her family sharing dinner with the YouTube beauty star. James Charles, who left fans of the D’Amelio sisters with a bad taste in their mouths.

Charli, 16, and her sister, Dixie, 19, are accused of disrespecting their private chef, who prepared and served them a multi-course meal for the first episode of “Dinner with the D’Amelios. , A web series featuring his titular family and a rotating guest.

The first was Charles, the controversial makeup artist and a close friend of the D’Amelio sisters, who joined them for an evening of Mediterranean salad and paella, courtesy of chef Aaron May.

As May begins to preview the menu for the evening, a number of viewers immediately noticed that Charli was making faces instead of paying attention to her presentation.

Hit one.

“She was making faces as the chef spoke,” wrote a YouTube commentator. “Idk if she was trying to be eccentric or relatable, but it didn’t sound like fun, it just seemed rude.

But it really was Dixie who ended up stealing the show – and not in a good way. Shortly after the main course arrives, the camera zooms in on D’Amelio’s older sister who is gagging and picking something off her plate.

“What is that?!” she barks at May, who explains that the snail is “classic in paella” and “makes it a harbinger of luck and fortune”.

Rather than put the snail aside and eat around it, Dixie tries again, muttering, “Mmm, yummy,” before dramatically spitting it on the back of her chair and running outside to vomit – all in front. May. Cut to Charli, who asks for “dinosaur nuggets” – also in front of the month of May.

“I honestly feel bad for chef bc Dixie was disgusted with the food when he obviously spent a lot of time and effort,” wrote one YouTuber.

“The least she could do was say ‘it’s not really my thing but thank you very much’ or something, but she decided to be a drama queen and throw up and just let you know. please.

On Wednesday, Dixie addressed the backlash, saying the snail snafu was a farce staged by her team, who are aware she is vomiting “at the smell, thought or taste of anything.” and wanted to “get a reaction from her”.

“I’m so grateful for every person who follows me, every person close to my heart, every person I work with, every person who works with me because I’m so grateful for all the opportunities I have had. She said on TikTok.

“I wouldn’t want to be seen as disrespectful in any way, especially from a 15 second clip out of context. … I love [Chef May], and I would never disrespect him. Maybe don’t judge someone’s personality on a 15 second video. “

As of Thursday afternoon, Dixie had 43.8 million subscribers on TikTok, down just a fraction from its prescandal total.

Charli also responded to the reviews, which had a huge impact on his huge TikTok following. At the time of going to press, its total of about 99.4 million had fallen to 98.5 million since the premiere of “Dinner with the D’Amelios” on Wednesday.

In an Instagram video, Charli explained that their team encouraged Dixie off-camera to eat the snail and that May was “in the joke.” The comment on the “dinosaur nuggets” was intended to shed light on the fact that she, like her sister, is a “picky eater”.

She added that she was getting “really, really messy messages” from people “telling me to hurt myself” and “blatantly missing the fact that I’m still a human being.”

“Is it all due to a misunderstanding?” Charli said in tears on Thursday. “I just feel like it’s not right, and if it’s the community I’m in and the community I’ve settled in, I don’t know if I want to do that anymore.

“And I know it’s going to be a huge joke for anyone who sees it, but at the end of the day, be nice.” Don’t tell people to kill themselves. I have the impression that it is not that difficult, ”she continued. “And you can say anything. You can tell I’m disrespectful. You can tell I don’t have basic human decency, but at the end of the day I’m still a person no matter how many followers I have.

The social media sensation still has the most followers on the platform – a well-known statistic that was also brought up during their dinner gone awry.

“It hasn’t even been a year since I hit a million. I wish I had more time, ”Charli laments later in the episode. “Because imagine if I hit 100 million a year after hitting a million.”

“Wasn’t 95 enough for you?” quips Charles, who has become the hero of all kerfuffle for checking out the behavior of D’Amelio’s daughters and modeling polite ways – though he himself has been at the center of many internet scandals.

“This charli situation does not suit me,” the makeup artist tweeted Thursday in defense of his friend. “100 million subscribers in a year and you expect her to know how to be a perfect role model? death threats because she’s a picky eater and made a joke on a milestone? People 30 and over dragging someone half their age? feels familiar. “