Current:Home > MarketsUntangling the Controversy Involving TikTokers Lunden Stallings and Olivia Bennett -FinanceAcademy
Untangling the Controversy Involving TikTokers Lunden Stallings and Olivia Bennett
View
Date:2025-04-19 10:13:48
This was probably not the way Lunden Stallings and Olivia Bennett imagined starting off their marriage.
The influencer duo—who have almost 700,000 followers on their joint TikTok account—went from newlywed bliss to issuing an apology video during their honeymoon all in a span of days after Lunden's past racist tweets resurfaced.
The saga all started on Sept. 30, when the 26-year-olds tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at Naylor Hall in Roswell, Ga., with many fans referring to the black-tie nuptials as the "royal wedding of lesbian TikTok."
"We like romanticizing the moment that we're in," Lunden gushed to People in a profile gushed on Oct. 1, adding that she and Olivia felt their wedding was "so much bigger than us" as figures in the LGBTQ+ community. "And I think that by showing two feminine women in a relationship in the south, I think that it breaks a barrier."
However, just as Lunden and Olivia began filling their social media accounts with photos and videos from their picture-perfect wedding, screenshots of what apeared to be old tweets containing racial slurs made from Lunden's X (formerly known as Twitter) account surfaced on Reddit. The racially insensitive posts, the screenshots of which have since been deleted, seemed to date back as early as the 2010s.
Amid backlash, the TikTokers made a 10-minute apology video on their TikTok Stories, with Lunden saying that she was "completely and utterly disgusted and ashamed" by her past behavior.
"I don't want people to think that I am just sweeping this under the rug or that it's something I'm not going to address or don't want to address because I do want to address it," she continued. "That's not who I am."
Calling Lunden's controversial tweets an "unfortunate and ignorant mistake," Olivia told her new wife, "It's so disappointing to see that those things were written, and written by somebody that I love, but I also know to my heart and core that's not who you are. I would've never married her if that's who she was today."
Lunden added, "I just want everyone to know, even the ones that don't know, that I am sorry."
But their mea culpa didn't quell the online criticism, with some taking issue with the fact that Lunden and Olivia's video was made on Stories, where posts expire 24 hours after its creation. Others called out the couple for getting married at a wedding venue with ties to a plantation owner. (Naylor Hall's website said the property was built during the 1840s by Barrington King—the son of Roswell King, a cotton mill owner who controlled several plantations that were operated by slave labor, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia.)
As of Oct. 6, Lunden and Olivia have not publicly addressed backlash over their apology video.
E! News has reached out to their rep for comment but hasn't heard back.
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (1)
Related
- Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
- Fur-rific Amazon Prime Day 2023 Pet Deals: Beds, Feeders, Litter Boxes, Toys & More
- How photographing action figures healed my inner child
- Poll: Climate Change Is a Key Issue in the Midterm Elections Among Likely Voters of Color
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Wisconsin Advocates Push to Ensure $700 Million in Water Infrastructure Improvements Go to Those Who Need It Most
- Court pauses order limiting Biden administration contact with social media companies
- U.S. is barred from combating disinformation on social media. Here's what it means
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- Shein steals artists' designs, a federal racketeering lawsuit says
Ranking
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- Our fireworks show
- A beginner's guide to getting into gaming
- What’s Good for Birds Is Good for People and the Planet. But More Than Half of Bird Species in the U.S. Are in Decline
- US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- Deep in the Democrats’ Climate Bill, Analysts See More Wins for Clean Energy Than Gifts for Fossil Fuel Business
- Scientists say new epoch marked by human impact — the Anthropocene — began in 1950s
- What’s Good for Birds Is Good for People and the Planet. But More Than Half of Bird Species in the U.S. Are in Decline
Recommendation
Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
How Climate Change Influences Temperatures in 1,000 Cities Around the World
RFK Jr. is building a presidential campaign around conspiracy theories
Deep in the Democrats’ Climate Bill, Analysts See More Wins for Clean Energy Than Gifts for Fossil Fuel Business
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
The U.S. added 209,000 jobs in June, showing that hiring is slowing but still solid
What’s Good for Birds Is Good for People and the Planet. But More Than Half of Bird Species in the U.S. Are in Decline
The best games of 2023 so far, picked by the NPR staff