TikTok is full of internet celebrities who became famous for one basic reason: they’re likable. Whether they are engaged in pranks, reacting to crazy videos, or just dishing about their love lives, these are the ecelebs we turn to when we want to have a good time.
As it turns out, not all of these influencers have always had a good time when the cameras aren’t rolling. In fact, some of the biggest TikTok stars of all are hiding a criminal record. Just which of these popular influencers is secretly a criminal? Keep reading to find out!
Taylor Frankie Paul (domestic assault)
Taylor Frankie Paul is beloved by “MomTok,” that corner of the social media platform that celebrates all things motherhood. That’s darkly ironic, though, because this popular mommy vlogger was actually named in a domestic assault case involving her own child!
In 2023, she got into an argument with her boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. Things got heated enough for her to physically attack him and even throw furniture at him. This would have been bad enough, but after Mortensen pointed out that her child was behind him (and effectively in the line of fire), she kept up her assault.
After reviewing video proof of Mortensen’s allegations, police charged Taylor Frankie Paul with aggravated assault and child abuse. She was soon released and most of the charges were dropped, but she pleaded guilty to aggravated assault against her boyfriend. Interestingly, he seemingly forgave her and even forgave Paul in later videos!
Icy Wyatt (arrested for assault)
Like many lifestyle vloggers, Icy Wyatt has worked hard over the years to build a lifestyle brand for himself. Unfortunately, his real life is sometimes far messier than what he shows on TikTok. If you need proof, look no further than a 2022 incident in which he pulled a gun on a stranger!
Wyatt was driving recklessly in Sunrise, Florida and was subsequently confronted by another driver. Things escalated when the TikToker followed their car into a Chick-fil-A parking lot and pulled a gun, ultimately using it to strike one of the men in the other vehicle. When police arrived, he resisted arrest and tried to fight a cop, and all of this resulted in him being arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.
He tried to defend himself on his channel but eventually had his release bond revoked. This led to a trial and an ugly mark on his record that haunts the influencer to this day.
Mahek Bukhari (jailed for murder)
If you stick around TikTok long enough, you’ll encounter some wild drama. But perhaps nothing was crazier than what happened with Mahek Bukhari. Back in 2022, her mother (Ansreen Bukhari) was getting blackmailed by a young man she was having an affair with. She told her daughter she was worried about the affair partner’s phone details getting leaked, causing Mahek to make her mom a chilling promise. As reported by the BBC, she told the older woman, “I’ll soon get him jumped by guys and he won’t know what day it is.”
She made good on the threat, but things quickly went sideways: rather than simply scaring or fighting the affair partner, the men they hired got into a car chase with him. This led to the affair partner getting into a fatal crash that took his life and the life of a passenger.
In 2023, both Mahek and Ansreen Bukhari were sentenced to three decades in jail, though Mahek’s sentence was later reduced to “only” 26 years. Adding insult to injury, the court partially blamed Mahek’s TikTok fame, telling the influencer, “Your tawdry fame through your career as an influencer has made you entirely self-obsessed.”
Cameron Herrin (killed two people)
Normally, you’d expect news that an influencer killed someone to negatively impact their popularity. That wasn’t the case with Cameron Herrin, though. Back in 2018, the young man recklessly drove his new Mustang at 102 miles per hour down Tampa, Florida’s Bayshore Boulevard. Tragically, he struck Jessica Raubenolt while she was pushing her baby stroller across the street. Both she and her child were instantly killed.
Accordingly, Herrin was sentenced to 24 years in prison. He tried to reduce his sentence back in 2022, but his appeal was denied. As for the surviving family of the woman he killed, the Tampa Bay Times reports that Raubenolt’s uncle had some wise (if sad) words of wisdom. “We hope something good will come of this foolish accident. That’s what Jessie would want,” he said in a statement to the press.
In a truly bizarre turn of events, the influencer actually became even more popular after he was behind bars. He gained millions of new followers, with many questioning why someone so cute had to spend time behind bars. This was enough to weird out his mother, who had the same question we do: why does the internet have an “unhealthy obsession” with her son?