Why is Tony Lopez canceled? The TikTok star has a problematic past

If you have the TikTok app downloaded on your phone, then odds are that you know the name Tony Lopez. The 21-year-old Las Vegas native boasts 22.6M followers on TikTok, and he’s a member of one of the most well-known content creator collectives to date, the Hype House.

However, like many of his fellow TikTok stars, Lopez’s rise to fame hasn’t come without its fair share of controversy. In fact, the #TonyLopez hashtag on TikTok (which has 1.8B views) is mostly populated with videos mocking and scorning the star’s bad behavior. Keep reading to learn more about some of Tony Lopez’s biggest controversies.

Tony Lopez has been accused of messaging and soliciting pictures from underage girls.

In August, several women came forward and accused Tony Lopez of flirting and soliciting nude photos from them while they were underage.

The accusations first came to light when TikTok user Griffin Brooks shared screen recordings from one of Lopez’s alleged victims, a 15-year-old girl. The girl claimed that Lopez “always asked for nudes” and asked “for me to suck him,” referring to fellatio. She shared a screen recording of a message allegedly sent by Lopez via Snapchat, asking for her to “come suck all the c** outta me.” The girl told Brooks that Lopez never once asked her for her age.

Not long after, another 15-year-old girl shared her own alleged interactions with Lopez, which were similar to the other underage girl’s. This girl seemed to start talking to Lopez on Instagram, where he would tell her that her face is “kissable” and call her “baby.” He then supposedly shared his private Snapchat handle, and on that platform, he allegedly both sent and requested explicit photos.

The allegations didn’t stop there, though. Once the initial claims were out there, several more women made videos about their own experiences with Lopez, noting that they too were approached by the TikTok star online.

One girl named Izzy made a TikTok video sharing her messages with Lopez, making sure to point out that when their exchanges occurred, she was only 15 years old.

On Instagram, Lopez allegedly sent Izzy messages like “Come here you’re so fine” and “Yum.” These exchanges happened in March 2019, back when Izzy was only 15 years old. Izzy even showed a photo of her I.D. to prove that she was only 15 at the time.

“We ain’t trying to romanticize a pedophile,” Izzy says at the end of the video.

Following the countless accusations, beauty brand Bliss Spa made the decision to stop working with Lopez. On TikTok, the company noted in response to customers’ comments that it “[takes] these accusations seriously” and is “committed to working w/ partners who uphold our brand values.”

On Aug. 22, Lopez finally addressed the claims being made against him in a Notes apology. In the apology, the TikToker never denied any of the allegations, but instead said that he was “not proud” of what he did in the past.

“I am still new to [the] entertainment / L.A. scene, and I am quickly learning that you can’t believe everything you are told,” he wrote. “Once I found out the truth, I immediately stopped.”

“I know these actions are not taken lightly and were extremely irresponsible of me,” he added. “As a young man, I will hold myself responsible for this mistake, rather than run from it. I will learn from it, to help better educate myself for now and the future.”

Translation: Lopez basically blamed his bad behavior on being semi-famous and claimed that he didn’t know how young all of the girls were. On Instagram Live, Lopez further stated that he was going to “hold himself accountable” — but this hardly seems like the way to do it.

The TikTok star has also tweeted some sexist, racist and homophobic things in the past.

Over the summer, Tony Lopez tweeted a controversial question about “straight TikTok” that resulted in quite a bit of backlash.

“So for ‘straight TikTok’ is it that you guys are annoyed by the dances?” Lopez asked in the now-deleted tweet. “Or because they have a high following and support system? Is it an envy thing? I don’t understand why people would hate individuals for having fun and dancing.”

Some users split TikTok into two categories: “straight TikTok” and “alt TikTok” (or “elite TikTok”). On straight TikTok, you’ll find influencers like Lopez and his friends, plus big dance trends and other mainstream cultural mainstays; alt TikTok, meanwhile, is a safe haven for queer users and houses content that falls well outside of the mainstream.

People were upset with Lopez’s tweet because it seemed to imply that anyone who is on “alt TikTok” is automatically envious of those on “straight TikTok.” It also made the false assumption that “alt TikTok” doesn’t have a support system.

In light of this controversial tweet, one Twitter user with the handle evrytingiwanted started a thread exposing some of Lopez’s past controversial tweets. In these tweets, the TikToker uses the n-word, says demeaning things about women and makes an openly homophobic statement.

Though some of the screenshots were from as far back as 2014, others were from as recently as May 2020.

In one recent tweet, for instance, Lopez allegedly made a controversial statement about the Black Lives Matter movement protestors.

“If you’re going to protest don’t start stealing,” an alleged screenshot of Lopez’s tweet from May 30, 2020, reads. “DON’T GIVE THEM A REASON TO CONTINUE TO BE RACIST!”

In 2019, Lopez also allegedly fetishized certain races online, tweeting that he had a preference for Black and Asian women.

“Black girls are my weakness,” he said. “Oh and Asian girls,” he later added.

On July 10, Lopez issued an apology for his “old childish tweets” from “5-6 years ago,” adding that he is supposedly also offended reading the things that used to come out of his mouth. He never addressed the tweets made as recently as 2019 and 2020.

For more TikTok tea, here is all you need to know about Dixie D’Amelio’s relationship history.

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The post Why is Tony Lopez getting called out? Here’s every problematic thing the TikTok star has allegedly done appeared first on In The Know.