A Black TikTok creator alleged that a household appliance company did not want to pay her to use her viral content.
Creator Nakeyta Glover, known as @naturally_nakeyta on TikTok, posted her story on the platform in February. Glover said she purchased an indoor grill from Ninja Kitchen and started sharing food content on her page.
As her videos started to gain traction, garnering millions of views, her supporters began to mention the company in the comments to get their attention, saying, "I hope ya'll are paying her for this great advertisement."
This prompted her to keep making videos in hopes of gaining a partnership with the company. After some consistency, she said, Ninja started commenting on her posts. She accused them of asking her if they could repost her video for free.
"That's crazy because for these videos to have millions and millions of views, you as a brand wouldn't feel like I'm qualified to be paid for them?" Glover continued.
Because of this, she decided to ignore the comments. However, a representative from Ninja messaged her a few weeks later on TikTok. Glover said she didn't hear back from the company when she reached out via email.
"So then as a creator, you're sitting and you want to understand what is causing this brand to not want to move forward with working with you and paying you. Because it's clear that they like the content because they asked to repost it for free. What's unclear is why they do not want to pay you."
Meanwhile, SharkNinja, the company behind the Ninja Grill, raked over $4 billion in revenue in 2023.
"So you start to do your research, and you look at their Instagram and TikTok, and you realize that all of the content that they have reposted, all the creators they have worked with, hands are this side of my hand color,” Glover continues while pointing to the inside of her hand, “instead of this side of my hand color,” she says while pointing to the outside of her hand.
Blacks and other influencers of color have been vocal for years about not being paid as much as their counterparts for their work. Others have said that they have not been paid at all.
A 2021 popular study from MSL, a global public relations firm, shows that the pay gap between Black and white influencers was as wide as 35 percent.
"Sometimes it is hard for Black women to get the same amount as white people, so I think equality needs to be spread more throughout the industry," Black beauty influencer Simone Sharice told 11 Alive.
The news station spoke with Sharice, who has nearly 440,000 subscribers on YouTube, at the Black Girl Digital Awards last year. She emphasized that more equality is needed across the board.
"Equality, when it comes to payment, when it comes to campaigns, when it comes to sponsorship," Sharice added.
