The D’Amelio family has made their way from TikTok to a subscription-based streaming platform. In September of 2021, Hulu released a docuseries surrounding the new challenges and opportunities the D’Amelio’s face as they are pushed into the public eye. The series delves into the reality of the D’Amelio family and how Charli D’Amelio became the most popular and followed TikToker.
A little over two years ago, the then 15-year-old Charli D’Amelio joined TikTok. As she began to post videos of herself dancing in her bedroom, her follower count began to grow. Soon enough, she became the most followed person on the app and a household name. At the time of this posting, her follower count stands at 136 million and she has an estimated net worth of $20 million. Her older sister Dixie has made a name for herself in the music industry with nearly 1.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The D’Amelio parents, Marc and Heidi are influencers in their own right, with nearly 20 million followers combined.
TikTok Hyper-Growth Led to a Cross-Country Move and Brand Partnerships
After the D’Amelio family moved from Connecticut to Los Angeles, they began to expand their job opportunities by teaming up with various brands. The D’Amelio sisters created their own clothing line with Hollister, along with a new Morphe makeup line, Charli became a sponsor for Dunkin Donuts with her own drink called, “The Charli”, and she is now a sponsor for Takis. Brands have shown interest in working with the D’Amelio sisters due to their youth and vast outreach on all social media platforms despite the barrage of insults and negative feedback they receive from internet trolls.
Social Media Backlash
Since Charli’s rise to fame, there has been backlash from the public on whether or not the D’Amelio family “deserves” to be famous. In reality, the newfound fame was never asked for. In the eight-episode series, the D’Amelio family reveals their vulnerable moments of when the dark side of social media gets to them. The stark contrast of the confident and bubbly sisters on TikTok to how they are in real life, which is more timid and anxious, is shown on purpose to exhibit how negative and hurtful comments can have a harmful effect on influencers. The D’Amelio Show gives insight on how their family and other aspiring influencers can overcome hate on the internet.
In the first episode of The D’Amelio Show, viewers watch as Dixie breaks down after receiving hate comments calling her “musty” following leaving the gym. As she sobs to her parents she says, “Everyone picks apart every single thing I say and do and the way I look. I know it’s just people’s opinions, but it hurts so much.” Many fans showed support to Dixie as they expressed pity for the singer. Some viewers blamed the D’Amelio parents for showing their daughters in such a vulnerable situation. D’Amelio father, Marc, revealed why they included this specific scene, “I wasn’t going to put my daughter in that position, unless she 100% wanted to be. She said yes. That’s why we have cameras on us — because the main goal of ours is to tell a true story of us.” Both sisters reveal that they would much rather stay at home to avoid public scrutiny. “I’ve had a constant anxiety attack for the past four years,” Charli says. “It’s very exhausting to do this and always wonder what’s going to happen next. If I’m gonna wake up and everyone’s gonna not like me again.” Throughout the series, the sisters introduce their fellow TikTok star friends including, Avani Gregg, Madi Moore, Quen Blackwell, and more. All of these influencers relate to the sisters and show the audience and aspiring influencers how to overcome these hateful comments.
Sharing Lessons to Strengthen Other TikTok Users
The D’Amelio’s have revealed that since their move to LA, being able to connect with other influencers that are experiencing such similar drastic life changes have helped them overcome the hurtful comments. By relating to each other, it makes them feel less alone in these stressful times. The sisters have also disclosed that by staying grounded and recognizing that this is all just temporary, has made them appreciative of all the experiences they are able to partake in. In one episode, the influencers reveal that they try their best not to read any comments so it won’t impact their mood or prohibit them from wanting to continue to make content.
Living life in the public eye brings inevitable scrutiny. When looking at the close-knit D’Amelio family, aspiring influencers can take note of how they overcome the unwarranted hate. The sisters show that by surrounding themselves with supportive and understanding people can assist them in processing the hateful comments and push through.
Freelance contribution especially written for Find Your Influence by Alice Wholey.