11 Shocking Confessions Creators Made Before TikTok's (14-Hr) Shutdown
Now this is awkward.
Welp, it happened — TikTok did, in fact, shut down. On Saturday, Jan. 18, the social media app went dark for U.S. users just hours before the official ban was set to begin on Sunday. In TikTok’s final hours, content creators decided to not only share their nostalgic drafts and emotional goodbyes, but a few confessions as well.
Using an audio clip from the TV show Family Guy of Peter Griffin sharing that he “did not care for The Godfather,” influencers revealed some of their best-kept secrets. Despite there being talks of an extension to the ban, many users believed TikTok would be leaving for good on Jan. 19 and their last chances to get everything off their chests would also be disappearing into the internet void.
Unfortunately for some of those users, TikTok didn’t stay away for too long. Just 14 hours later, the app returned to the U.S. along with everyone’s shocking confessions. Some content creators have since come forward saying they were just joking about what they said, while others were legit telling the truth and their followers are too stunned to speak.
From Meredith Duxbury’s foundation revelation to Charli D’Amelio’s “anxiety pen” debacle, here are all the influencer secrets that shook the FYP to its core.
Meredith Duxbury Wipes Off Her 10 Pumps Of Foundation
Beauty influencer Meredith Duxbury is known for going a little overboard with her foundation. It’s what made her stand out among the rest of the GRWM videos on the FYP. However, Duxbury shared that she actually wiped off her signature 10 pumps of foundation before applying it on her face — or did she?
On Monday, Jan. 20, the 26-year-old walked back her statement from her previous video and said it was all a joke in her first GRWM post-ban. “Wiping off the 10 pumps of foundation was a joke, hence the caption on that video,” she said. Duxbury understood that half her followers most likely wouldn’t believe her, but “it’s fine.”
Charli D’Amelio Doesn’t Use An Anxiety Pen
When Charli D’Amelio was a teenager in 2020, there was speculation that she was using a vape pen, which she and her friends, like Larray, denied and said was an “anxiety pen.” However, the now-20-year-old admitted it wasn’t an anxiety pen at all. “I still, to this day, don't know who came up with that, but I'm sorry,” she shared on her spam account.
After TikTok came back, D’Amelio followed up her last video that received over 54.6 millions views with another TikTok using the Family Guy sound, saying she was “joking.”
Carter Kench Planted His Squishmallow Finds
Carter Kench has a series where he goes to stores to find specific Squishmallows, like the Grinch from How The Grinch Stole Christmas. He is often successful in his shopping trips, but shared on TikTok that he actually buys them online and plants them in stores for his videos.
Some fans felt “betrayed” that his TikToks were all fabricated, but Kench said in his caption and later in a followup video that he only did that for a few of his finds. The 22-year-old also recently donated a bunch of his Squishmallows to victims of the wildfires in Los Angeles.
Lil Huddy Was Telling The Truth About That July 6 Incident
The final hours before the ban was a nostalgic time for OG TikTokers who remember the Hype House days. Many members were even sharing confessions about that time in 2020, including the July 6 incident. For anyone not chronically online at the time, July 6 was when D’Amelio’s ex Chase Hudson (aka Lil Huddy) was accused of cheating with Nessa Barrett.
In response, Hudson tweeted who actually was cheating within the Hype House. Now, Griffin Johnson, who was in the Sway House, shared that Hudson wasn’t lying about anything. The 22-year-old stitched Johnson’s video and further elaborated that he and Barrett were single at the time, and what looked like everyone rushing over to the Hype House to fight him was actually them coming in to ask him to delete his tweets. Even Avani Gregg admitted she wasn’t running into the house to yell at Hudson, but her urgency was because she had to use the bathroom.
The Duolingo Bird Is Someone Named Mark
Many masked TikTokers took the ban as an opportunity to unveil themselves. One surprising unmasking was the Duolingo mascot. Underneath the green owl is actually a guy named Mark.
JudyHoppsL0vr69 Has Never Seen Zootopia
TikToker @judyhoppsl0vr69 makes a lot of content about his so-called love for the character Judy Hopps from Zootopia. He hasn’t actually seen the Disney movie, though, according to his end-of-TikTok confession.
Hayley Bea Kalil Didn’t Know Where The Marie Antoinette Quote Came From
TikToker Hayley Bea Kalil (@haleyybaylee) came under fire in 2024 after posting a video of herself at the Met Gala with a “let them eat cake” sound. The infamous quote attributed to Marie Antoinette upset many people on TikTok who felt Kalil was “out of touch.”
Now, Kalil is saying she didn’t know where the sound came from, and it was suggested to her by the social media app due to its popularity at the time. The 32-year-old said she thought the quote, which came from Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film, was from a “chick flick,” and that “maybe we should rethink cancel culture ‘cause it’s usually not even accurate.”
TikToker @babydumplingg Didn’t Eat All Her Food
Foodie @babydumplingg got her following by sharing “what I eat in a day” vlogs. However, she revealed she didn’t actually finish everything. Fortunately, one of her followers admitted that most people knew in the TikToker’s “awkward” first video back, so it wasn’t that bad.
Mackenzie Ziegler’s Dance Mom Interviews Were Scripted
Dance Moms alum Mackenzie Ziegler shared that all of her interviews on the reality TV show were scripted. According to her, a producer told her what to say and she “did/do not in fact want to sit on the couch n eat chips.”
Kaeli Mae Didn’t Use Her Special Ice Cubes
Kaeli Mae, known for her fridge stocking videos, confessed that she never actually used any of the ice cubes she made on TikTok. In her caption, she said, “Had to get this off my chest if we really going out.” She has since awkwardly posted herself slowly making her way back into the ice-mold space.
Anna Sitar Wasn’t A Fan Of Coffee
When Anna Sitar first started using TikTok, she would go on “Starbies” runs to get different and unique orders. When she first started, though, she wasn’t a fan of coffee. “I only liked chai and got a little adventurous,” she said in her TikTok confession. “Now I THRIVE on my daily cup and trying new drinks everywhere.”
Even though this was one of the more harmless secrets to share, some TikTokers are dealing with the repercussions of their honest truths and how they can go back to creating content now that the app is back. It just goes to show that maybe it’s best to wait and see what happens before you spill all the beans.
