Is Onlyjayus canceled? TikToker mocks petition with 100K signatures to ban them
Months after TikTok star OnlyJayus was forced to apologize in February for using racial slurs in text messages, people have started a petition to ban them from the social media platform altogether because they allegedly did not hold up their end of the bargain to collaborate with creators of color as they promised in their apology.
A petition titled 'Ban OnlyJayus from TikTok' is now gaining steam on change.org, having gathered a little over 100,000 signatures in the matter of just a couple of days. Its present goal is set at 150,000. "OnlyJayus (aka Isabella Avila) needs to be banned from TikTok. They have been caught and called out multiple times for mistreating disabled creators and creators of color. In February of 2021, Jayus was caught in a scandal due to some racist remarks by Jayus being revealed. Jayus apologized by stating they would 'lift black voices' and 'share their platform with creators of color', but has failed to hold up on any of their promises," the description on the petition reads.
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It further added: "Many creators have come together to get OnlyJayus off the app as they have been outed for ignoring emails and messages from content creators of color to do collaborations with them to help rectify the situation. Their problematic issues have also branched out to them making a joke about robbing disabled people and hosting rigged giveaways. Recently, it has since come out that Jayus contacted a ghostwriter to write their initial apology for them which has been taken down from their original page. Isabella has a following of 13.5 million followers on TikTok that see videos like this. Please sign the petition to help get OnlyJayus off this app and make it safer for all creators."
OnlyJayus took to Twitter to respond, mocking the petition. “So someone started a petition to get me off tik tok 💀 I’m soooooo scared,” they joked before adding: “But Fr tho this shit is funny. Good luck getting more than 13.5M signatures ig.”
So someone started a petition to get me off tik tok 💀 I’m soooooo scared
— onlyjayus (@notjayus) June 16, 2021
But Fr tho this shit is funny. Good luck getting more than 13.5M signatures ig
What happened in February?
The texts appearing in the screenshots that emerged at the time were reportedly from a year ago. The content creator is seen using the N-word in a conversation. It was unclear who the star was talking to, but the usage of the word was enough to spark major outrage.
Apologizing for her behavior, they said, "In my past, I said disgusting things to people and I am so ashamed of myself for using racist rhetoric and derogatory language to hate others because I knew what that word meant and I understood the power behind it, but I said it anyway because it was the meanest thing that I could think of and I am so sorry to everyone, but especially to those in the black community. Only you guys can forgive me for this. There is no excuse and there are no justification for what I said and you guys deserve better. I forgot how hateful and how angry of a person I used to be."
I know it was frustrating waiting for me to address this, but instead of just reacting to it like I usually do, I wanted to do better and reflect pic.twitter.com/4Ri6WU8ALO
— onlyjayus (@notjayus) February 13, 2021