David Archuleta, Zara Larsson and how satirical jokes about celebrities can go awry on TikTok
When a fan on TikTok recently asked singer David Archuleta about his coffee order, the “American Idol” alum seemed at a loss.
The fan referenced an Aug. 9 TikTok video in which comedian Noel B. Doherty alluded to Archuleta (without naming him) when discussing his “worst first date.”
Doherty described his date as a singer who won second place on a singing competition show when he was 16 after losing to another person of the same name. (Archuleta lost to David Cook on 2008’s Idol.) His date, he said, ordered “eight pumps of caramel in a cold brew with two packs of sugar” and brought his guitar to play a song for him.
For Doherty, it was “painfully obvious” that the story was fake.
“I’ve decided to write a comedically horrible first date story, citing David Archuleta very heavily throughout the whole thing to make it painfully clear that it’s fake or a ridiculous untruth.” , he told NBC News.
Instead, some people online believed it was a fact — although Doherty didn’t actually mention Archuleta and had never met him.
While Doherty’s swindle was relatively harmless, the video showed that some satirical videos that go viral online have the ability to quickly spread rumors.
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Also this week, pop singer Zara Larsson used her TikTok page to clarify a “satirical” video of TikToker Ryan Crouse claiming she called him a homophobic slur during a concert in 2018.
These jokes didn’t resonate with some viewers unfamiliar with Doherty or Crouse, leading to “context collapse” or the convergence of different audiences in the same online space.
Online, algorithms often provide users with content that is not intended for them or that is removed from its original context. At best, it can end in a humorous exchange, as in the case of Doherty and Archuleta. In other cases, there can be catastrophic misunderstandings.
“So the thing about satire is that most people don’t realize it’s satire, they’re just lying,” wrote one user in the comment on Doherty’s video.
In January, a similar issue emerged on TikTok after actress Julia Fox accidentally dismissed a YouTuber’s experience of sexual assault because she wasn’t aware of the euphemism he’d used. The creator and Fox were on “different sides of TikTok,” meaning they had different expectations of a video’s meaning based on what was previously provided to them by the algorithm.
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“The problem is that with TikTok there is even someone who really is [online] couldn’t get it because of her FYP [For You Page] looks different,” Nicole Holliday, an assistant professor of linguistics at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., told NBC News at the time.
Likewise, Doherty’s video, which has over 300,000 views, was shot by people outside the target audience – a common problem on TikTok – leading to confusion and misunderstandings.
“I thought the original video was very silly and very funny,” said Doherty. “I think most of the original audience got that in the comments. Some people took it seriously, some didn’t.”
Serious users turned to Archuleta with questions, prompting him to post a video earlier this week explaining that he had never dated Doherty and debunking every single claim made by Doherty.
“I just hope people don’t think I’m that first date guy,” he said in his reply, which has been viewed more than six million times. “So I hope you all know it was satire because I didn’t know this guy and I’ve never dated him.”
A representative for Archuleta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
My audience has always expected comedy from me. So if my content resonates with a different audience, it may be misunderstood.
-Noel B. Doherty, tick comedian
Doherty said he understands why some Archuleta fans are confused by his video because he and Archuleta are “in different worlds” online.
“My audience has always expected comedy from me,” he said. “So if my content resonates with a different audience, it may be misunderstood.”
However, Doherty said the singer was a “great athlete.” Archuleta later joined in the joke, pretending to confirm the “date” in Instagram comments.
As for Larsson, this week’s incident wasn’t the first time she’s been the subject of a fake joke online. A similar incident happened online last December, when a TikTok user posted a fake screenshot of the singer in a comment calling him a homophobic slur. At the time, she explained that the comment was fake, but said she received a lot of misguided hate mail because of it. She previously said that this experience “kind of ruined” TikTok for her.
This week, Crouse, who is known for his videos documenting his life in Japan, stitched together a video of Larsson reacting to another of his travel videos. In Crouse’s video, which has been viewed over 5 million times, he claimed he was a fan of Larsson’s until she brought him on stage, pushed him and called him a slur.
On Tuesday, Larsson Crouse responded, criticizing him for trying to make her “Millie Bobby Brown,” citing viral claims from 2018 claiming Brown was homophobic based on Twitter lies and manipulated photos.
While some avid social media users understand that the memes are untrue, those not exposed to the same jokes or humor may misinterpret these posts as genuine. This can lead to dogpiling or hate comments.
“This only happened to me a few months ago when someone was basically doing the exact same thing, but it was spreading a lot more and people were a lot more upset because, weirdly, they actually thought it was real,” Larsson said. “And it just makes me sad, like it just hurts me because that’s so far removed from my character and what I would do.”
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Crouse posted another TikTok saying he’d “created more buzz than he intended.”
“I was like, wait, I thought literally everyone knew that this was going to be satire. What I was hoping for was that she would sew it up, and then go ahead with the piece and be a little crap about me. And it would just be a fun internet exchange.”
Crouse said he understands that a piece “will come across differently if it’s not clearly satirical to some audiences.” He clarified that he never attended a Larsson concert and never met the singer.
Commentators on Crouse’s video had mixed reactions to his original claims – some got the joke, others took it at face value. Several highlighted the danger of jokes ending up on the For You pages of unsuspecting users without context.
“I think she understood you were joking but a lot of people didn’t get that so she had to clarify,” one person wrote.
“I think she also took it so seriously because she’s an artist and some people might get it wrong and hurt her reputation,” wrote another.
Neither Larsson nor Crouse responded to requests for comment. Crouse shared in a TikTok comment that he’s since spoken to Larsson and “it’s good.”
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