Nicki Minaj’s Black History Month Event On TikTok Upset Black Creators

In an apology note that TikTok sent to the creators who had been invited, the company cited “extensive technical issues with production” as the reason why some guests struggled to access the conversation. The email also clarified that the invite went out to a broad community of creators.

“The meet-up was open to our collective community of creators — including #BlackTikTok #CasaTikTok, #LearnOnTikTok, and more,” said the email seen by BuzzFeed News. “On behalf of the TikTok creator team, we apologize for the confusion and negative experience, as this was intended to be an opportunity for fans to connect with Nicki in a unique setting to celebrate her new music.”

The company acknowledged the frustrations and promised to assess what changes needed to be made to avoid this from happening again.

TikTok has routinely been criticized by Black creators for failing to properly address issues, such as censorship and shadow bans, which people like Louis say they’re still victims of to this day.

Louis, a 22-year-old from Florida, has been openly critical of the platform and was at the forefront of a demonstration last year that saw Black creators refusing to create and participate in a dance challenge for Megan Thee Stallion’s “Thot Shit.”

The protest showed that the platform relies heavily on Black creators’ choreography going viral.

And now the treatment of Black creators during Black History Month event shows that the platform hasn’t changed, Louis said.

When asked what the company needed to do to better accommodate its Black creators, he said it needs to do “something as simple as making sure that this space caters to them in a way where they feel safe, comfortable, they are given the space to talk and voice their feelings or concerns or simply their joy or their excitement to be there. They dropped the ball.”