Influencer Addison Rae’s 55.5 million follower TikTok account was hacked on August 14, before being suspended altogether for a brief period for “violating community guidelines.”
Addison Rae is one of the most popular creators on the app, and according to a Forbes article on August 6 is also among the highest earners, supposedly raking in over $5 million dollars this year.
With an enormous follower base of over 50 million Addison has accumulated some fiercely loyal fans, and a platform for new business ventures. She even launched her own makeup line called ‘Item Beauty’ that became available to purchase on August 11.
However, that loyal fan base became concerned on August 14 when a look at Addison’s TikTok profile revealed some unusual activity.
Her username had been changed from her original ‘addisonre’ to ‘joeandzak1’ and a number of videos were posted that clearly did not belong to Addison.
While in the control of joeandzak1 for a short while, TikTok quickly banned the account for “violating community guidelines.” This scared fans, as both Addison’s 50 million follower count and 3 billion views seemed to disappear.
At this stage, it was unclear whether her account would be restored as it was difficult to discern how much damage the hacker had caused, aside from the cosmetic changes.
To fans relief, Addison’s account was restored in full just a few hours later, with all 2000 videos, her full subscriber and like count just as they were prior to the hack.
While she didn’t say a huge amount online during the incident, she made sure to let her fans know what was happening. In a tweet liked by over 100,000 people she said “my TikTok is hacked” and a few hours later, “why am I crying?”
my tiktok is hacked 🙁
— addison rae (@whoisaddison) August 15, 2020
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why am i crying
— addison rae (@whoisaddison) August 15, 2020
Addison’s fans took to Twitter to express their support for their favorite creator. “I’m sorry, thinking about you queen,” one person said. Another called her one of the “biggest icons in the world right now” and that “things will get better.”
I’m sorry, thinking about you queen ?
— Ethan (@NYSportsFanCush) August 15, 2020
Loss it is an upsetting feeling I know. But one day things will get better. You just have to push for it. There are so many roads to go down you don’t even know. You’re practically one of the most biggest icons in the world right now. Use that to your advantage and cherish it.
— ?☿ // angel // ?? • #blacklivesmatter • ?️☪️? (@demonmodulation) August 15, 2020
But naturally, there was an equal amount of hate. Some said “to whoever hacked and deleted Addison Rae’s account, pls do it again,” and joked about the idea that she would have to work at a fast-food restaurant if her account was truly gone.
to whoever hacked and deleted addison rae's account, pls do it again pic.twitter.com/Ol8k9a1Xnz
— alli 😀 (@yuhhbruh) August 15, 2020
Addison Rae coming home from her first day as a Mcdonald’s cashier now that her tiktok is gone pic.twitter.com/V7ShEHxFsm
— Miles?? (@GvoMiles) August 15, 2020
It seems that for the time being Addison has regained full access to her account and things are running normally again.