Introduction
Charli D’Amelio (/dəˈmɪlioʊ/ də-MIL-ee-oh; born May 1, 2004) is an American social media personality and dancer. She was a competitive dancer for over a decade before she came to prominence in late 2019, when she began posting dance videos on the video-sharing platform TikTok and joined The Hype House that same year. D’Amelio quickly amassed a large following and subsequently became the most-followed creator on the platform from March 2020 to June 2022. With over 156 million followers, she is the second most-followed person on TikTok, as of 2025.
D’Amelio made her feature film debut with a voice role in the 2020 animated film StarDog and TurboCat. She starred in the Hulu reality series The D’Amelio Show (2021–2023) with her family and co-led the Snap
Original reality show Charli vs. Dixie (2021–2022), with her sister. In 2022, D’Amelio won the thirty-first season of the dance competition series Dancing with the Stars alongside Mark Ballas. She made her Broadway debut in the ensemble of & Juliet in October 2024.
Her other endeavors include two books, a podcast, a nail polish collection, a mattress, a makeup line, a clothing line, and a multi-product company. D’Amelio was the highest-earning TikTok female personality in 2019 and the highest-earning personality on the app in 2022, according to Forbes, and is often described as “TikTok’s biggest star.”
Early life
Charli Grace D’Amelio was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, on May 1, 2004, the daughter of photographer and former model Heidi D’Amelio and business owner and former Republican Connecticut Senate candidate Marc D’Amelio. She has an older sister, Dixie, who is also a social media personality. She began dancing at the age of three, and was a competitive dancer for over 10 years prior to starting her TikTok career in 2019.
She formerly attended the private King School in Stamford, Connecticut, but began attending school virtually following her social media popularity.
Career
2019–2021: Rise to prominence on TikTok
D’Amelio first began posting on TikTok in May 2019 with a lip syncing video alongside her friend. Her first video to gain traction, a side-by-side video (known on the platform as a “duet”) with user Move With Joy, was posted in July 2019. D’Amelio has expressed confusion regarding her rise to popularity, telling Variety, “I consider myself a normal teenager that a lot of people watch, for some reason. It doesn’t make sense in my head, but I’m working on understanding it.” Since then,
Her content has mainly consisted of videos dancing to trending songs on the platform. In October 2019, she gained further exposure for her videos performing a dance called the “Renegade” to the K Camp song “Lottery”. She was subsequently credited with popularizing the dance on social media, while also being incorrectly credited with creating the dance, and was referred to as the “CEO of Renegade” by TikTok users.
Following a New York Times profile of dancer Jalaiah Harmon revealing her as the original creator of the dance, D’Amelio received online backlash for not crediting Harmon, and began regularly crediting the creators of the dances she performed. She joined the collaborative TikTok content house The Hype House in November 2019 alongside her sister, Dixie.
In late 2019, former Sony Music executive Barbara Jones signed D’Amelio to her management company, Outshine Talent, and in January 2020, she signed with United Talent Agency along with the rest of her family. Bebe Rexha invited D’Amelio to perform alongside her during her opening performance for the Jonas Brothers in November 2019. That same month, she began posting on her YouTube vlog channel.
In February 2020, D’Amelio appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for Sabra hummus along with other celebrities. In March 2020, she and her sister partnered with UNICEF for an anti-bullying campaign and made an appearance in the Nickelodeon television special #KidsTogether: The Nickelodeon Town Hall, hosted by Kristen Bell.
That same month, she partnered with Procter & Gamble to create the #DistanceDance challenge campaign on TikTok with the goal of encouraging social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, which garnered praise from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. For her
Involvement in the campaign, she was nominated for a Streamy Award for Social Good Campaign. She also became the most-followed TikTok user, displacing American social media personality Loren Gray, and the first TikTok user to earn 50 million followers. D’Amelio appeared in the ABC television special The Disney Family Singalong during the performance of “We’re All In This Together” from High School Musical in April 2020.
In November 2020, D’Amelio was the first user to surpass 100 million followers on TikTok. She also earned a nomination for Social Star at the 46th People’s Choice Awards.
In December 2020, she was featured in an episode of the Facebook Messenger series Here for It With Avani Gregg, and also won the award for Breakout Creator at the 10th Streamy Awards. In March 2021, D’Amelio and Pura Vida Bracelets released a bracelet range, called the “Charli D’Amelio Pack”.
She starred in the music video for Lil Huddy’s song “America’s Sweetheart” in April. In May, D’Amelio and her sister co-created and became the face of Social Tourist, an apparel brand under Hollister, as part of a multi-year partnership with Abercrombie & Fitch, and partnered with Simmons Bedding Company to design and release the Charlie & Dixie x Simmons Mattress. The following month, she and Invisalign released a limited-edition case for the company’s dental aligners. In July 2021, she co-starred in the digital campaign for the US arm of Mexican snack brand Takis, with gamer Ninja.
2022–present: Reality series and other projects
D’Amelio starred alongside her family in the Hulu docuseries The D’Amelio Show, which premiered in September 2021. The series was popular among other shows at the time; however, it was cancelled in June 2024 after a three-season run.
The program won an MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Unscripted Series. Later that year, she starred with her sister in the Snap Original web reality competition show Charli vs. Dixie, which premiered on November 13, 2021.
The series follows the sisters competing against each other in various challenges and tasks, in order to win a cash prize of US$50,000 that goes to a charity of the winner’s choice. D’Amelio participated for UNICEF. Charli vs. Dixie was renewed for a second season, which premiered in November 2022.
In January 2022, D’Amelio made a guest appearance in the second episode of Netflix’s Hype House, a reality series based on the TikTok collective of the same name. The following month, she and her family became brand ambassadors and advisors for software company Lightricks, under an equity deal. In March, D’Amelio appeared in the ABC special Step Into…The Movies with Derek and Julianne Hough; she performed opposite dancer Derek Hough in a recreation of the Dirty Dancing (1987) sequence.
In April, it was announced that she would star as the lead in Village Roadshow Pictures and Ryan Kavanaugh’s upcoming supernatural thriller film Home School, eyed as the first installment of a potential eight-film franchise. Directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez, the film is executive produced by D’Amelio’s parents and her sister, Dixie. Production began in July.
In May, D’Amelio guest-voiced as herself in “Meat Is Murder”, an episode of the animated sitcom The Simpsons. Marcus Gibson of Bubbleblabber stated that D’Amelio’s role “felt forced for the sake of introducing newcomers to TikTok”. The following month, D’Amelio released a fragrance named Born Dreamer, exclusively via Ulta Beauty.
In February 2024, she co-starred with Ben Affleck in Dunkin’ Donuts’ commercial “Who is Ben?”, which premiered during the 2024 Grammy Awards ceremony ad break. In May, she became the new ambassador of Garnier. D’Amelio made her Broadway debut with the jukebox musical & Juliet.
She is currently playing Charmian, a “dance-heavy ensemble role”, for a run at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, from October 29, 2024, through September 7, 2025. In April 2025, D’Amelio fronted Kate Spade New York’s spring-summer 2025 campaign, titled “To The Ones Who Carry Us”, with rapper Ice Spice.
Public image
D’Amelio was frequently referred to in the media as “TikTok’s biggest star” in 2020. Taylor Lorenz of The New York Times called D’Amelio the “reigning queen” of TikTok. Trey Taylor of The Face called her and her sister Dixie the “CEOs of TikTok”. In an article for The Washington Post, Travis M. Andrews called her “[TikTok’s] undisputed ruler”. Cassidy George of The New Yorker called her the “face of TikTok”.
Much of her appeal has been attributed to her content being seen as relatable and authentic. Marc Faddoul, an artificial intelligence researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, credited her status as a “median user” and a “safe recommendation choice that can generate engagement across the board” as reasons for her fame.
Mel Magazine’s Joseph Longo called her “one of the first polarizing figures on the video app—the embodiment of the strange, precarious and unpredictable new world of Gen Z online fame”, noting that social media users criticized her as being “basic”, “cringeworthy”, and “overhyped”.
In regard to D’Amelio’s early popularity, Rachel Monroe of The Atlantic wrote, “As Charli’s follower count grew, her popularity acquired a reflexive quality; essentially, she became a meme for other TikTokers to react to. There was a flurry of ‘I don’t get why Charli is so popular’ posts, followed by backlash-to-the-backlash videos tagged #teamcharli and
#unproblematicqueen.” Writing for Vanity Fair, Carino Chocano called her the “face” of “Straight TikTok”, a colloquialism used to describe the mainstream part of TikTok, with “straight” referencing the fact that many of the users who make up “Straight TikTok” are heterosexual.
Online controversies
D’Amelio and her sister received backlash after the premiere episode of the D’Amelio family’s Dinner with the D’Amelios series, in which the family and American internet personality James Charles eat a paella dinner prepared by personal chef Aaron May, was posted to their family YouTube channel in November 2020. Users on social media accused both Charli and Dixie of exhibiting “rude” behavior towards May, with Charli making faces as she described the meal and subsequently asking for “dino
nuggets. She also expressed during the video that she wished she had received 100 million followers on the one-year anniversary of her earning one million, for which users, and even Charles himself, further criticized her. Following the backlash, D’Amelio lost over one million followers on TikTok in less than one day. Days after the video was posted, she addressed the situation in an Instagram Live video, where she apologized and told viewers, “You can hate on me for whatever I’ve done, but the fact that all of this is happening because of a misunderstanding…I just feel like that’s not okay,” in response to violent threats she was receiving.
May defended the sisters in an interview, stating, “Those girls are the greatest, I love them. It was all fun and games.” Charles similarly tweeted out in their defense, further comparing the controversy to the conflict which broke out between him and Tati Westbrook a year prior. Rebecca Jennings of Vox called the controversy “cruel and unnecessary”, while Alice Ophelia and Faye Maidment of Dazed attributed it to misogyny.[32][126][129]
Personal life
D’Amelio has stated that she suffers from an eating disorder. She has also been vocal about her experiences with body shaming. In an anti-bullying campaign for UNICEF, she said, “Some of the most hurtful comments that I read about myself online are about my body shape, my body type, which hits close to home because I struggled a lot with body image, body dysmorphia, [and] bad eating habits.” D’Amelio was in a relationship with social media influencer Cole Chase Hudson from December 2019 to April 2020. She was in a relationship with Landon Barker from July 2022 to February 2024.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | StarDog and TurboCat | Tinker | Voice role | [158] |
| 2025 | Hurry Up Tomorrow | Dancer | [159] |
Television (as herself)
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | #KidsTogether: The Nickelodeon Town Hall | Television special | [29] |
| The Disney Family Singalong | Television special | [33] | |
| Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020 | Television special | [35] | |
| Here for It with Avani Gregg | Episode: “Have You Ever Been a Bully?” | [53] | |
| 2021 | Earth Day! The Musical | Web special | [160] |
| Celebrity Family Feud | Contestant; episode: “JoJo Siwa vs. Charli and Dixie D’Amelio and Ross Mathews vs. Loni Love” | [161] | |
| 2021–present | The D’Amelio Show | Main role; streaming docuseries | [64] |
| Charli Vs. Dixie | Co-lead; web reality series | [71] | |
| 2022 | Hype House | Guest appearance; episode: “Love and Social Media” | [162] |
| Step Into…The Movies With Derek and Julianne Hough | Television special | [76] | |
| The Simpsons | Voice role; episode: “Meat Is Murder” (season 33) | [80] | |
| Dancing with the Stars | Winner; season 31 | [163] | |
| 2023 | Is It Cake? | Guest judge; episode: “So Fresh and So Cake” | [164] |
| 2024 | Selling Sunset | Appearance | [165] |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Artist(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | “Baby, I’m Jealous” | Bebe Rexha featuring Doja Cat | [48] |
| “Pa’ Ti + Lonely” | Jennifer Lopez and Maluma | [166] | |
| 2021 | “F***BOY” | Dixie D’Amelio | [167] |
| 2022 | “If You Ask Me To” | Herself | [168] |
Awards and nominations
| Organization | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| People’s Choice Awards | 2020 | The Social Star of 2020 | Herself | Nominated | [170] |
| 2021 | The Social Star of 2021 | Nominated | [171] | ||
| 2022 | The Competition Contestant of 2022 | Nominated | [172] | ||
| The Social Star of 2022 | Nominated | ||||
| Streamy Awards | 2020 | Breakout Creator | Won | [173][174] | |
| Creator of the Year | Nominated | ||||
| Social Good Campaign | #DistanceDance | Nominated | |||
| 2021 | Creator of the Year | Herself | Nominated | [175] | |
| 2022 | Nominated | [176] | |||
| Lifestyle | Won | ||||
| 2023 | Creator of the Year | Nominated | [177] | ||
| Lifestyle | Nominated | ||||
| Kids’ Choice Awards | 2021 | Favorite Female Social Star | Won | [178] | |
| 2022 | Favorite Female Creator | Won | [179] | ||
| 2023 | Won | [180] | |||
| 2024 | Nominated | [181] | |||
| 2025 | Nominated | [182] | |||
| MTV Movie & TV Awards | 2021 | Breakthrough Social Star | Nominated | [183] | |
| MTV Millennial Awards | 2021 | Global Creator | Nominated | [184] |
| Publication | Year | World record | Record holder | R. Status | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guinness World Records | 2021 | Most followers on TikTok | Charli D’Amelio | Record | [47][185] |
| First person to reach 50 million followers on TikTok | Record | ||||
| First person to reach 100 million followers on TikTok | Record |