Zoe LaVerne has been getting slammed online for an Instagram Live session where she again denied accusations of “grooming” a young TikToker. LaVerne has since apologized for kissing a 13-year-old fan, though refutes describing the relations as grooming.
In her livestream, she once again clarified her position on the incident with the fan after leaked videos spread online that showed the two kissing.
Someone in the livestream could be heard supporting the embattled TikToker, suggesting LaVerne is being targeted. “If this was Avani Gregg (or) Charli D’Amelio; ‘Oh we love her. It’s okay. Acceptance. Forgiveness…’ But because it’s Zoe LaVerne, you all are having an issue,” they said.
Furthermore, the two agreed that what had transpired between the 19-year-old and the 13-year-old couldn’t be considered grooming. She previously said they “caught feelings” for each other.
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“Grooming is where someone above the age of 18 sexually puts their hands on someone, intending to sexually assault them, or intending to have sex, or commit sexual acts with a minor. Which is not what was (intended),” the person on the livestream said. LaVerne agreed.
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Their account of the situation isn’t sitting right with people online, and TikTok star Avani even took issue with being brought into the situation.
“Hey child groom supporter, keep my name out of your mouth,” Avani said in response to the Instagram Live that mentioned her.
Even more people have been speaking out against LaVerne. She reiterated her position in calling what she did with the boy as “wrong,” but disputes being called a “groomer.”
Save the Kids, a company established in April 1919 to help at-risk children around the world, describes grooming as “the cultivation of emotional relationships with those in positions of vulnerability or inequitable power, with the intention of manipulating these relationships into sexualised dynamics in the future.”
LaVerne maintained her innocence after addressing someone who asked for clarification on the incident with the fan. She says that what was seen in the videos can’t be described as a “sexual act.”
