Details You Didn't Know About TikTok Star Nessa Barrett
Nessa Barrett is one of the many teenagers who rose to fame on TikTok, the social media platform. While she is mostly known for her lip-syncing, vlogging, and dancing videos, Barrett has also gotten caught up in the occasional romances of other viral TikTok stars. As of this writing, the young social media star has 12.6 million followers on TikTok, 4 million followers on Instagram, and 531 thousand subscribers on YouTube.
With internet fame comes a few scandals, however. Barrett received backlash for an offensive video in which she danced to the Quran (per Distractify), and was also involved with the relationship drama between fellow TikTokers Charli D'Amelio and Chase Hudson. Drama aside, Barrett has been able to use the platform to make a name for herself and she has become extremely successful. Similar to other TikTok stars, like Addison Rae, Avani Gregg, Jordyn Jones, and Charli and Dixie D'Amelio, Barrett's rise to fame felt like it practically happened overnight, so there is still a lot the public does not know about her. Keep reading to learn more about TikTok star Nessa Barrett.
Nessa Barrett has been on TikTok for over a year
While TikTok's popularity exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nessa Barrett had already begun to slowly establish her presence long before then. Barrett first joined TikTok in March 2019 after her little sister inspired her to get on the app (per Seventeen), and she has been taking the TikTok scene by storm ever since. Her first video went viral with over 250,000 views and her popularity skyrocketed as she began posting more frequently, per Elite Daily.
While many famous TikTokers have a niche, Barrett has focused on lip-synching to popular rap songs and her favorite tunes, making videos of that nature her specialty. Such instantaneous fame was not as glamorous for Barrett as one would expect, however. In an interview for the Zach Sang Show, Barrett opened up about how her newfound fame affected her personal life and friendships in the beginning.
"Everyone at school thought it was cool," Barret said. "But as soon as I got over that 100k followers mark, everyone at school started hating me. I'm talking like being bullied completely, lost all of my friends." But this did not discourage her from continuing to grow her following, although this was partly because she had "nothing else left."
Nessa Barrett dated famous TikTok star Josh Richards
Nessa Barrett started dating fellow TikToke star Josh Richards in October 2019, although they kept their romance a secret for months before finally making it official in January 2020. Fans of both of the social media savvy stars shipped this couple, nicknaming them "Jessa," and the two seemed like a match made in TikTok heaven. Sadly, their relationship did not last and the couple called it quits in June 2020 (per Entertainment Tonight). In a YouTube video titled "We Broke Up," they stated that the breakup was amicable and that they are "still friends."
"We realized that we needed to mature and we needed to grow as people," Richards said. "We were in a very serious relationship but we weren't ready for as serious as it was. She's an amazing girl and I will always care about her always." The exes went on to say that they were also both busy with new projects and wanted to focus on their careers. "We were just drifting apart so we could focus on ourselves," Barrett added. While fans thought the two might have reconciled based on photos and videos they posted of each other, Richards cleared the air in an Entertainment Tonight interview, confirming they are just friends right now. "Jessa" fans can at least ship this cordial friendship, though.
Nessa Barrett was involved in the relationship drama between Charli D'Amelio and Lil Huddy
Although Nessa Barrett's split with TikToker Josh Richards was amicable, there was plenty of relationship drama in the TikTok universe in which Barrett found herself immersed. Another TikTok power couple — Charli D'Amelio and Chase Hudson (also known as Lil Huddy) — broke up following rumors that Hudson was trying to hook up with Barrett, who was still dating Richards at the time (per Seventeen). After both couples' respective breakups, Hudson added more fuel to the fire by allegedly kissing Barrett, which caused an uproar on social media. Tweets were exchanged between various famous TikTokers, shade was thrown, and drama ensued. Instead of taking to social media, Barrett issued a statement (via US Weekly) to clear the air and discuss the internet hate she received as a result of being dragged into the drama.
"Yes, Chase kissed me & nothing else happened after that. I can speak for the both of us that it didn't mean anything," Barrett said. "The narrative that is being spun around me is one of hate and slut-shaming, and the constant DMs and emails of people telling me I'm stupid and should kill myself are getting to be too much for to me bear." She ended the statement by thanking her friends and team for their support. While Barrett definitely handled herself well and has had to develop a thick skin throughout her journey, people often forget she is just a kid.
Nessa Barrett received flack for an offensive video
Relationship drama and cheating scandals were not the only controversies in which Nessa Barrett was involved. In April 2020, Barrett posted a now-deleted video of her and a friend dancing to the audio of a man reciting the Quran. Many people found this to be extremely offensive to the Muslim community (per Insider). Barrett removed the video and issued an apology during an Instagram live stream. However, some did not find the apology to be sincere or "good enough."
"My stepsiblings, like, my stepmom is from Egypt and all that stuff, so I know that it could have been taken offensively," Barrett said during the apology video. "I just want to apologize for anyone who took it that way and was offended, I think — I'm sorry to anyone that practices that religion." The #nessacancelled hashtag began trending and people continued to excessively comment on her videos, prompting a second apology video. In this apology, she admitted she was not aware that the audio she used was of the Quran.
"I am truly and deeply sorry to those that I have hurt and offended," she said. "I saw a video of cute older man and decided to use the audio and if I had known that it was something so sacred I would have never used it." She added that she learned from the experience and did not think her mistake merited the hate she received, which was "hard to handle."
Nessa Barrett is pursuing a music career
In addition to making viral TikTok videos, Nessa Barrett aspires to be a singer and is currently working on making that dream a reality. In a Q&A YouTube video, Barrett was asked what her "dream job" would be, and she answered, "I always wanted to sing ever since I was little, so we'll see where that goes." Then, in the video where she and ex-boyfriend Josh Richards discussing their breakup, Richards confirmed that the New Jersey native would be moving to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. "She's going to kill it as a musician," he said.
Since moving, Nessa has been busy putting her dream into motion and, on June 17, 2020 she teased two back-to-back videos of her working in a studio with producers via TikTok (per Elite Daily).
In July 2020, she launched her music career with her debut single "Pain" and followed up with the breakup anthem "if u love me" in October. This young star clearly has a bright future ahead of her. From producing music, to selling merch, to persevering through controversy and breakups, Nessa Barrett continuously proves there is nothing she can't do.