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#JusticeforBryceHall trends after TikToker charged for throwing parties, Internet recalls ‘homophobic’ remarks

Hall and Blake Gary, both TikTok stars, were charged on Friday by Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer for violating local health orders after Hall celebrated his 21st birthday by throwing a huge party on August 14

On Friday, August 28, the hashtag “Justice For Bryce Hall” began making the rounds on Twitter. Hall and Blake Gary, both TikTok stars, were charged on Friday by Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer for allegedly throwing large parties that violated local health orders. This was reportedly Los Angeles’ first criminal charges resulting from the city’s crackdown on party houses during the pandemic. 

The charges came after Mayor Eric Garcetti shut off water and power to their Hollywood Hills rental home last week, saying the TikTok stars were given citations on two separate occasions after LAPD officers broke up large parties at the property. The two face fines up to $2,000 and up to a year in jail. At a press conference announcing the charges, Feuer said he was unsure if any coronavirus cases have been linked to the parties so far, but warned large indoor gatherings could become potential super-spreader events.

“If you have a combined 19 million followers on TikTok in the middle of a public health crisis, you should be modeling great behavior, best practices, for all of us, rather than brazenly violating the law and posting videos about it,” Feuer said. Hall and Gray have 12.8 million and 5.9 million followers on TikTok, respectively.

On August 14, Hall celebrated his 21st birthday by throwing a huge party. As per reports, the party had strippers, and guests maintained little social distancing and did not largely wear masks. Following this, he spread widespread criticism on social media. 

With Hall being charged for such a reason, the “Justice For Bryce Hall” trend felt out of place for many people, especially considering that variants of that hashtag have off late been largely used for people of color who have faced police brutality. One Twitter user, sharing a list of names of Black people who have faced police violence over the years, wrote, “You guys must’ve typed the wrong hashtag #justiceforbrycehall”

Another pointed out, “Umm he through many parties in the middle of a pandemic, slut-shamed, said the n-word and f-slur, was homophobic, body-shamed, almost killed someone... like shall I go on? #justiceforbrycehall”

Another Twitter user wrote, "#justiceforbrycehall Some of y'all are actually taking this hashtag seriously? Do y'all not remember that Bryce Hall cheated on his girlfriend voluntarily, went to a party during a pandemic, and made racist + homophobic remarks, etc. Some of y'all are stanning the wrong people."

Earlier this year, Hall tweeted, and subsequently deleted, “What is ‘straight’ Tik Tok and why does everyone hate it? We are on the cusp of ending homophobia and now we’re introducing heterophobia? What the f*** is 2020.”

After he received backlash for it, he apologized, saying, “That tweet was insensitive and obviously I'm not cultured on it and I shouldn't have spoken... I’m a dumb s*** and i don’t think before I speak and I’m sure all of you know this by now. Again, I’m super sorry for offending anyone and I promise it won’t happen again.”

Hall's use of the n-word has been documented on several YouTube videos. Thousands of Twitter users hijacked the hashtag and continued to call out Hall. One wrote, “#JusticeForBryceHall Y’all are so embarrassing what is this hashtag. Imagine stanning them wack a** TikTok boys y’all are really ooooo the second-hand embarrassment.”

Another said, “#justiceforbrycehall ah yes, let's have this tag trending but not the tag #JusticeforBreonnaTalyor trending. okay, twelve-year-olds who don't know what Bryce Hall has done and following what the news says, shut up and go sign some petitions but not for Bryce Hall.”

Hall isn’t the only influencer receiving blowback for partying during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A TikTok collective called Hype House hosted a large birthday party for creator Larri Merritt last month. Beauty vlogger James Charles was reportedly in attendance. Merritt later apologized on Twitter. “It was a dumb thing to do. I will do better & will actually take this shit seriously,” he said. Merritt later deactivated his Twitter account.