Addison Rae appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last Friday (March 26), and joined Fallon on stage to show off some the dances she performs TikTok. But it wasn’t Rae who originated the choreography it was mostly Black creators who weren’t receiving the same credit or attention.
via: Complex
The performance came on a recent episode of the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, with her participating in a segment in which she “teaches” Fallon eight different dances popular on TikTok. While she went through the series of dances, Fallon was by her side holding signs with each dance’s respective name. Despite the national TV platform she was given, she and Fallon did not credit any of the dances, of which many were created by Black creatives.
“This is colonizer culture in real time cause she did not have the talent or creativity to come up with these dances but she’s getting the credit and exposure,” wrote one Twitter user. “This is cringey,” added Tanya Chen of BuzzFeed News. “But what’s worse is that Addison has been catapulted to being the face of viral dances created by mostly Black tiktokers.”
This is colonizer culture in real time cause she did not have the talent or creativity to come up with these dances but she’s getting the credit and exposure. https://t.co/kGJvE1ogtl
— niks ??? (@nikkichell_x) March 28, 2021
This is cringey. But what’s worse is that Addison has been catapulted to being the face of viral dances created by mostly black tiktokers https://t.co/t4cDsoTQ8l
— Tanya Chen ??? (@tanyachen) March 28, 2021
When the portion was shared on YouTube, the description credited the creators of the dances as follows: “Do It Again: @noahschnapp, Savage Love: @jazlynebaybee, Corvette Corvette: @yvnggprince, Laffy Taffy: @flyboyfu, Savage: @kekejanjah, Blinding Lights: @macdaddyz, Up: @theemyanicole, and Fergalicious: @thegilberttwins.”
Check out further reactions to the ill-advised portion of the show above.
This is why I bang on EVERYBODY about the economics and race of social media
“Tik tok dances”
the names of the artists not there
The actual choreographers not there
She’s on national television but where are the Black kids who actually made these https://t.co/jSdMMBbQu0
— ???Sydette Dread Gorgon ?? ? (@Blackamazon) March 28, 2021
Setting aside the questions of ownership, just look at this video. It’s so miserable. Broken, exhausted culture. https://t.co/qOtJIQcV6O
— willy ? (@willystaley) March 28, 2021
I've seen all of these dances done better by their originators. Part of the problem with discussing "tik tok dancing" imo is that a lot of young Black kids add a rhythm to it that you either just have or you don't. See: Sean Bankhead's UP choreo which interpolates some trends https://t.co/N38BnxmHrY
— Comorienne ?? (@_ShamGod) March 28, 2021
yall trynna force people to like addison rae like she didnt support someone that said BLM is a cult, fuck ha!
— socially inept blackie (@kaybirth) March 28, 2021
This is what white privilege looks like—Black creators innovate dances and do them amazingly but Addison Rae gets invited on Fallon to perform them in a ho-hum way. She’s not racist, Fallon’s not racist, but somehow the Black dancers are erased. Even though they dance better. https://t.co/svgBu5JDxz
— Young Daddy (@Toure) March 29, 2021
Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show need to do better with their bookings and segment production.
