The fourth annual TikTok Awards for Australia and New Zealand were held in Sydney this week and, as you might have already seen, multiple allegations have been made by Black creators of racist microaggressions against them by staff working at the event. At the time of writing, no major news outlet has reported on these allegations (except for our friends at indie podcast Infinite Scroll, who gave a recap of the claims on Friday) — so we’ll report what we know here.

What happened?

Niiyèll, a creator who was invited to the awards, shared a video of an interaction with a photographer who was contracted to capture content at the event. Niiyèll says she was directed to join the line for the red carpet and media wall by another event staff member, but on arriving was approached by the photographer who tells Niiyèll and her friend (also a creator of colour): “This is for the media, this has nothing to do with you. They don’t need your photo — like, what are they going to do with your photo? It’s not going to go anywhere.”

The man in question then tries to pass the blame on the press photographers who are taking photos of guests on the red carpet, saying: “I work for TikTok — these photographers all work the Daily Telegraph and they are literally just going to rip people’s heads off. They’ll just go, ‘Get out of our way!’ They are nasty press photographers.”

This incident appears to be witnessed by an employee of TikTok Australia. 

The confusion appears to come from the awards having two separate photo opportunities: a red carpet with photographers and journalists reserved for award nominees and presenters only, and a separate media wall downstairs where any guests could take a picture. However, Niiyèll said she saw white creators who were not nominees or presenters being allowed to walk the red carpet.

Florence Baitio, another Black creator, was nominated for an award. However, when she attempted to walk the red carpet the first photographer (a different man to the prior incident) refused to take her picture and told her to get off the red carpet. Baito’s friend told a TikTok staff member, who in turn spoke to the photographer. Baitio says the photographer then came back to her and “screamed in my face … no sorrys, no nothing, started taking photos of the people he wanted to take photos of.”

TikTok Australia’s statement

Zee Feed asked whether TikTok or its PR agency Adhesive was aware of the incidents and if they were conducting any investigations into microaggressions by staff towards Black attendees. A spokesperson provided the following statement:

"TikTok's top priority is to maintain a safe, positive and inclusive environment for everyone and we are deeply upset to learn that some of our valued guests had a negative experience during Wednesday night's event.

Two hours before guests were set to arrive, we were advised of an incoming extreme weather event with forecast winds of over 70kms an hour. The venue's risk management team deemed these conditions unsafe for the media wall and some of the activations to be outside. We were given two choices - move inside, or cancel the media wall altogether. In the interest of guest and staff safety, and creators still being able to walk the red carpet, we made the decision to move inside. This, however, halved the overall capacity of the space, which had an impact on some of the attendees' red carpet experience.

The photographers working at the event are there to take photos of creators, hosts and other talent who walk the carpet. TikTok and Adhesive are devastated that anyone felt excluded or uncomfortable, and we sincerely apologise for that. We are actively looking into what occurred, and reaching out to those that have been impacted."

Niiyèll confirmed that Kelly Stevens, the Director of Communications at TikTok Australia emailed her to discuss the incident over the phone, which Niiyèll declined.

Systemic racism in old and new entertainment spaces

Separately to these allegations of racist treatment of Black creators, a large number of attendees of the TikTok awards have said the event was poorly organised. A key point of contention appears to be the two-tiered approach to attendees.

When TikTok initially became popular in 2020 and 2021, it was seen to be ‘democratising’ fame — a much wider, more diverse range of people were building very big followings on the platform than had previously been seen on Instagram or in traditional entertainment spaces.

Most traditional entertainment awards ceremonies (think the Oscars, Grammys, Logies or ARIA awards) invite celebrity and non-celebrity attendees from across the industry. The celebrity attendees (typically nominated for the awards) are public facing talent, so get the celebrity award show treatment: red carpet photography, media interviews, etc. The nominees get the best tables at the show, but other celebrity guests still get to walk the red carpet and get interviewed. Non-celebrity guests still work in the industry — for a music awards show, that might include staff from the record labels, distribution companies, the music platforms, sponsor companies, producers and writers, etc. 

At traditional entertainment award shows, it’s very clear who is a celebrity attendee and who is a non-celebrity attendee. That is not to say these ceremonies don’t have their own issues, but by and large both groups know what kind of experience to expect.

But at the TikTok awards, almost all guests are creators — whether they are nominees, presenters or just attendees. All of these people are public facing talent, so at a traditional entertainment award show they could all reasonably expect to be able to have the ‘celebrity’ experience. Almost everyone in attendance has fans and a following.

Deciding that only nominees and presenters get to walk the red carpet is an acceptable distinction. But that has to be clearly managed at the event by staff who know exactly who is in that category.

If you fail to do that — which it seems TikTok did — contracted photographers and media staff are left to guess who gets the special treatment and who does not. The microaggression is assuming a Black woman would not be nominated and should not walk the red carpet before you’ve even asked her. 

This lack of organisation, which TikTok’s statement claims was the result of the weather contingency plan, subjected creators to racist judgements.

The TikTok awards is an attempt to legitimise the influence of this broader range of creators, however it still relies on the interest of traditional media to do so. The awards were broadcast on Stan (owned by Channel 9), and most of the interview spots on the red carpet were allocated to mainstream media outlets. Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo, hosts of Channel 9’s Today show, presented an award. Almost every mainstream outlet in this country has documented issues with racism, preferring white voices and white faces in almost every context.

It is part of the cyclical and systemic racism in Australian media and entertainment. Florence Baitio has 1.1 million followers on her TikTok account, which is comparable to the likes of Sophia Begg who has 1.4 million followers. But Begg gets more attention from mainstream media, more, bigger brand deals, and better opportunities, because the people deciding who gets these things — the agency, marketing and brand staff, the pop culture writers and editors, the podcast hosts, the casting agents — they are still more likely to pick white creators and talent.

Until we see change throughout all of those facets of the entertainment industry, we’ll see the same issues of racism and marginalisation in the ‘new’ creator landscape as the ‘old’ celebrity space.

– Crystal
Founder & Chief of Everything at Zee Feed
Follow me on Instagram or TikTok

Smart stuff on the Internet 💭

All the stuff I found on the web that made me think, smile, or have an ‘aha!’ moment. Spend your Sunday reading them – you'll be better off for it:

Legal literacy gap is blocking justice for sexual assault victims in Australia, report warns on Women’s Agenda
"Most people still think the prosecutor is [the victim’s] lawyer. But you’re not a party to the case, you’re a witness. That means no legal protection, no say in how your story is told, and no one in the room whose job it is to look after you. We are now teaching consent, but not what comes next.”

Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era on The Local
“When I googled her, I saw that Victoria had written stories for a set of publications that collectively painted the picture of an ambitious young freelancer on the rise—short pieces in prestigious outlets like The Cut and The Guardian, lifestyle features in titles like Architectural Digest and Dwell … Her headshot was of a youthful Black woman. She was, according to her author bio, ‘a writer with a keen focus on sharing the untold stories of underrepresented communities in the media.’ At the next editorial story meeting, we decided to take a shot on Victoria and assign the story. Then I began looking more closely at her work.”

If you found this email thought-provoking, will you share it with a friend? Sharing helps us grow 🌱 and makes you look really smart.