TikTok star and musician Madison Beer has responded to claims she posed for a “photo op” during a Black Lives Matter protest in Los Angeles.

A viral video shared on Tuesday, June 2, accused the star of “performative activism.” The video appeared to show Madison Beer posing in front of a photographer on top of a car with a placard, yards away from a Black Lives Matter protest in LA.

The video quickly gained traction and soon there were countless posts criticizing Beer for apparently exploiting the demonstrations for a photo opportunity.

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of course madison beer had to use this opportunity for a photo op lmaooo this is what we call performative activism pic.twitter.com/MsK7ygWsBq

— maddie (@maduhlinlozano) June 2, 2020

During the day, Madison live-tweeted from the protest, warning others of “TEAR GAS AND RUBBER BULLETS ON HOLLYWOOD AND VINE” and responding to fans concerned about the events, telling them to ‘Get to safety’ and informing them of road closures.

But suspicious fans compared Madison Beer to other celebrities known to have attended protests such as Ariana Grande and Timothee Chalamet, saying that only Madison appeared to get “Paps.”

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u telling me hasley, yungblood (who are literally on the front lines every day), ariana grande, timothée chalamet, etc went to pr*tests without paps showing up but when madison beer shows up THats when paps appeared LMAOAOAOO

— faith (@faithchalamet) June 2, 2020

Another wrote: “Ariana Grande is 20x times more famous than Madison Beer and we got 0 paparazzi photos of her at the protest… connect the dots people.”

Ariana Grande is 20x times more famous than Madison Beer and we got 0 paparazzi photos of her at the protest, and Madison wants to make us believe the paparazzis were randomly there waiting for her to protest

— ? (@glossywife) June 2, 2020

Madison Beer responds to criticism

But Madison replied on Twitter saying “I have been protesting for days. this is not and never was a photo op it is me standing with a movement and getting out there to spread a message I believe in. that is all.”

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the photoshoot rumors are wildly untrue. i have been protesting for days. this is not and never was a photo op it is me standing with a movement and getting out there to spread a message i believe in. that is all. pic.twitter.com/HOhRfAb5aG

— madison beer (@madisonbeer) June 2, 2020

The photographer in the video who goes by @Jshvisions, shared the images he took to Instagram and defended Madison, also posting on Twitter.

He wrote: “There’s rumors spreading around that I was hired by Madison to take pictures of her at the BLM March yesterday. These rumors are 100 percent untrue. I was taking pictures at the event and ran into Madison while also marching at the event.”

Madison Beer is one of TikTok’s biggest stars, boasting over ten million followers on the platform and over 1.8 million subscribers on her YouTube channel. She also has a budding music career, but is equally well-known as an influencer, with a further 19 million followers.

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