“Charli D’Amelio has another reason to dance. The 16-year-old dancer, dubbed the reigning queen of TikTok, thanked fans Sunday for pushing her past 100 million followers on the short-form video app. D’Amelio became the first to reach the milestone, and she did it in about a year and a half, Billboard noted. “I cannot believe that there’s 100 million supporters following me right now,” she said. “I still feel like it’s a dream, kind of waiting to wake up.” @charlidamelio A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED ME REACH 100 MILLION SUPPORTERS!!! AND ANOTHER HUGE THANK YOU TO @tiktok I LOVE EVERY ONE OF YOU!!! 💕💕 ♬ original sound – charli d’amelio The Connecticut teen’s following dwarfs even that of her closest competitors, Addison Rae (69.8 million as of Monday afternoon) and Zach King (52.9). But D’Amelio’s celebration, which she also marked by announcing a $100,000 donation from TikTok to the dance education charity American Dance Movement, almost didn’t happen. A recent video of D’Amelio and her sister Dixie appearing to disrespect their chef and D’Amelio seeming dismissive about her fan base prompted backlash, according to the “Entertainment Tonight” video up top. D’Amelio’s following plummeted by 1 million. She made a tearful plea for critics to stop harassing her over a “misunderstanding.” D’Amelio built most of her popularity on dance routines and memes, even appearing on “The Tonight Show” last March before the pandemic forced the talk shows out of studios.
