Internet personality Paige Niemann has hit a Grande-sized bump in the road: her TikTok and Instagram accounts have been suspended. The OnlyFans content creator rose to fame due to her uncanny resemblance to Ariana Grande, and that resemblance seems to be what shut down the social media accounts she used to direct eyes to her OnlyFans channel. Apparently, being someone else isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Niemann initially gained popularity online in 2019 when she began posting TikTok videos showcasing her resemblance to Ariana Grande. Her videos went viral, with reactions ranging everywhere from “OMG, that’s amazing” to “Hey, not cool.” Even hate clicks count toward engagement, and Niemann was able to capitalize on that instant popularity. She maybe should have slowed her roll a little because, as of 24 hours ago, her TikTok account has been suspended due to impersonation. TikTok doesn’t love it when you pretend to be someone else—when that someone else happens to be a real person, that is.
A central part of the issue for many critics? Niemann started an OnlyFans account, once again capitalizing on her resemblance to Ariana Grande. She marketed herself as an Ariana Grande lookalike—which she very much is—on a platform widely known for explicit content. That’s a little too close to the line of morally icky for even the most ardent supporters of OnlyFans. Sure, it’s easy to think that if Grande can make bank off perfume and ponies, someone who resembles her should be able to benefit from playing the part. But we’re not talking about showing up to kids’ birthday parties dressed as Glinda the Good Witch here.
The public outcry against Niemann’s decision to combine her resemblance to the superstar with her OnlyFans page sparked enough of a hullabaloo that both TikTok and Instagram shut down her accounts. Her actions proved to be just problematic enough for the social media giants to decide she’d crossed a line as a content creator. But one has to wonder: are the bans actually a result of genuine concern for identity issues, or are the platforms merely caving to public pressure?
What’s next for the content creator? When your niche is impersonating Ariana Grande, and that’s precisely what gets you booted from your marketing vehicles, the options are slim. Perhaps she could don Glinda the Good’s pink dress and revisit the idea of playing a good witch at birthday parties. Or maybe she could aim to play Ariana Grande in the eventual biopic about the singer. What is for sure is that the OnlyFans model is going to have to reassess what kind of popular she wants to be.
