TikToker Larray sparks backlash for joking he "pretended" to be gay

September 2022 · 3 minute read

TikTok star Larray has found himself in controversy once again, after he Tweeted during his livestream that he’s only “pretending to be gay for clout”. 

22-year old Lawrence Merrit, who is better known by his screen name Larray, is part of TikTok content creation collective the Hype House.

He recently hosted a livestream for fans, which included a game or two of popular online game Among Us. However, the good spirits soon soured when Larray Tweeted that “this whole time ive been pretending to be gay for clout [sic]”.

Larray caused confusion with his latest Twitter joke – but not everyone saw the funny side.

Of course, this led to many fans reacting with anger and shock.

As well as many Twitter users predicting that Larray would now be “canceled”, one user demanded that he “leave the hype house” following this Tweet. Another quipped that Larray should “get the note app ready”, referring to TikTokers’ favored mode of online apologies.

The Tweet also caused a lot of speculation, with one user suggesting that the revelation, if true, was “not a big deal.” They argued that “David bowie lied about being gay/bi at the beginning of his career” and suggesting that Larray, like Bowie, used his sexuality “as a facade and it caught people’s attention.”

Note: David Bowie did come out later in life, but didn’t lie about his sexuality beforehand.

Not a big deal, well.i guess in this day in age it is. David bowie lied about being gay/bi at the begining of his career….he used it as a facade and it caught peoples attention.

— wEdGiE QuEeN (@greenchild_83) October 18, 2020

So is he Black Lives Matter photo for clout as well? These things make you wonder? 🤔

— LarnalynnPro (@LarnalynnPro) October 18, 2020

Meanwhile, another Twitter user theorized that this wasn’t the only thing Larray did for “clout”: So is [t]he Black Lives Matter photo for clout as well? These things make you wonder?”

A lot of fans, on the other hand, stepped in to defend Larray, with many of them explaining that the Tweet was part of a joke he was making with fans on his livestream, with one fan saying: “ya’ll, it’s a joke on his ig live… [sic]”.

Another fan criticized the reaction, asking: “so we can’t joke now?”

Y’all it’s a joke from his ig live…

— Isabella (@Jerahook) October 18, 2020

So we can’t joke now?

— 👑 Isaiah | Broken Izzy 😈 (@SubToBrokenIzzy) October 18, 2020

Meanwhile, when Nikita Dragun responded to Larray that “we been known” in a now-deleted Tweet, she immediately received backlash, with one user saying “Yikes” and another declaring her “canceled [sic]”.

TODAY IN INSTANT REGRET: Larray tweets saying he’s been “pretending to be gay for clout.” Immediately gets backlash and ratio’d.

Nikita Dragun replies “we been known.” Immediately gets backlash and deletes reply. pic.twitter.com/naugilIIP0

— Def Noodles (@defnoodles) October 18, 2020

Both Larray and Dragun have been in a constant swirl of backlash on social media throughout the 2020.

While Larray was recently accused of ‘slapping’ bestie Charli D’Amelio, fans have recently turned against Nikita Dragun for allegedly telling her security guard to “shoo” in a viral video.

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