Stories about celebrities being rude used to be told in whispers and blind items. When a tidbit did make its way into a tabloid, the “sources” behind the juiciest rumors were kept secret. But now, in 2020, we’ve reached the next level of celebrity gossip: TikTok.
In a video posted in July and viewed nearly 16 million times, 23-year-old Julia Carolann appears on a green screen in front of giant pictures of celebrities while she breaks down their behavior toward her as a host at an upscale New York City restaurant. The Hadid sisters? “Ten out of ten,” Carolann says. A picture of the influencer Cameron Dallas appears. She grimaces, then does something service workers rarely do on purpose: spill tea.
Social media has become a democratizing force. Now all the people in a celebrity’s life—every waiter, assistant, or dental hygienist—may have a thriving YouTube channel, Twitter presence, or TikTok following. If they draw up a celebrity report card based on even the briefest…
