TikTok stars Charli and Dixie D’Amelio have faced days of backlash following the first online episode of Dinner with the D’Amelios. The family has become increasingly popular on social media since 2018, with Charli becoming the most popular creator on TikTok in March of this year. 

  The D’Amelios posted their first episode of the show on November 16. The online series intended to show the family with a different surprise guest each episode. The first episode featured James Charles, a social media influencer and makeup artist. In the clip, the family sat down for a meal with their private chef and close friend, Aaron May. May, who has been inducted into the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame, served a traditional Spanish dish that did include snails. The girls were grossed-out by the snails, but their parents urged them to try it. After trying the snail, Dixie gagged and ran outside to throw up; Charli then asked if she could have some dino nuggets, all in front of the chef. 

  Their disrespectful behavior toward Chef May was not the only moment that  left viewers concerned. Later in the video, Charli complained about her follower count saying that she wished she could get to 100 million. James Charles asked why 95 million was not enough for her. She responded by sarcastically saying that she wanted an even number. Millbrook student Alayna Carlson commented, “I feel like Charli and Dixie are good people and never meant to cause any drama, but how they reacted to their chef was completely wrong.”

  Charli and Dixie took to social media after major online backlash following the video saying that they were grateful for all of their opportunities and that the video was taken out of context. They later posted pictures with their chef, Aaron May, showing that there were no harsh feelings. Both of the girls showed that they were extremely upset that their fans would see them as disrespectful because of a thirty-second clip. The producers just wanted to get a reaction from the girls to gain publicity for the show,  and the situation was clearly a misunderstanding. 

  The video caused both of the sisters to lose over one million followers each but gave them a lot of social media attention. On November 21, less than a week after the video was posted, Charli reached the record-setting milestone of being the first person to have 100 million followers on TikTok. She reacted to this news in an Instagram Live by thanking her fans and wishing that COVID was not a thing so she could have a meet and greet. Although it seemed to hurt their image, it ultimately gained them more publicity.