If you’ve been on social media recently, you’ve been bound to come across that viral moment between Doja Cat and influencer Pablo Tamayo that went viral on June 14. But, if you’re not caught up on all of the tea, here’s the breakdown.
The TikTok video, posted on June 6, of Doja Cat and Tamayo outside of a Los Angeles event appeared to be a wholesome moment. Tamayo, who is a popular TikTok creator with over 480,000 followers, was visibly thrilled to meet (whom he claimed was) his favorite celebrity, and Doja Cat seemed friendly. The video of the two was captioned “When Doja Cat likes your shirt, you give her your shirt,” and has amassed over 4 million views at the time of publication.
“I’m about to give my shirt to Doja Cat because she’s the icon it-girl,” Tamayo said before taking off his shirt in front of the star. After giving his shirt to Doja, Tamayo hugged her and even kissed her on the cheek. The two jumped up and down and exchanged several more hugs before the video ended.
Initially, fans loved the crossover between the two. One fan wrote, “Wait but like they give best friends energy together,” and another commented, “She wanted to shove u in her purse and take u home so badddd.”
However, about a week later on June 14, Doja Cat spoke out on X (formerly Twitter) about feeling “manhandled” during the encounter — sparking a wave of controversy, split opinions, and uncomfortable truths about parasocial relationships. In her now deleted X post, she stated, “I’ll smile at you, but it doesn’t mean I f*ck with you. Don’t touch or manhandle me when you don’t even know me…He didn’t even know my f*ckin name to be touching me and kissing me on my face like that.”
Shortly after, Tamayo responded with a video expressing shock at Doja’s comments and claimed that he thought the interaction was positive and consensual. “I understand she has to set her boundaries, and I value that,” he said. “But I never wanted to make her uncomfortable.”
Their response sparked a wave of online backlash against Doja. Many users questioned her tone and accused her of overreacting, and many said that she was “just being rude to a fan” who wanted to meet her.
However, this incident isn’t just about one uncomfortable moment; it reflects a much broader issue of how we view celebrities, especially in the age of social media.
Parasocial relationships are one-sided connections where a person feels emotionally attached to someone like a celebrity or influencer who doesn’t know them personally. However, liking someone’s music or following them on a social media platform doesn’t mean that you’re entitled to their time, touch, or energy. And just because it looked like someone enjoyed an interaction, doesn’t mean that they actually did. Love or hate Doja, you can’t discount someone’s discomfort.
This moment should be a wake-up call and a learning lesson, not just for fans but for everyone who consumes content and comments on strangers’ lives. Respect isn’t just for the people that we know personally; it’s for everyone, even the people we know through a screen.