Julia Fox apologized Friday for misinterpreting a TikToker’s coded reference to sexual assault.
The 32-year-old “Uncut Gems” star left a troubling comment on user Conor Whipple’s video, in which he claimed he was sexually assaulted.
Because of TikTok’s censorship of certain words and phrases, Whipple chose to speak in slang, so his clip would not get removed — substituting “mascara” for “sex.”
“Gave a girl mascara, and it must have been so good that she decided that her and her friend should both try it without my consent,” he wrote this week on the video, along with the tag #saawareness, which indicates sexual assault awareness content.
Fox appeared not to be down with the lingo, replying in a since-deleted comment, “Idk why but I don’t feel bad for u lol.”
“You don’t feel bad that I was sexually assaulted?” Whipple responded.
Fellow TikTokers immediately informed Fox of her oversight, and she removed her comment. She then returned to Whipple’s video with an apology.
“Hey babe I’m so sorry I really thought u were talking about mascara like as in make up. I’m sorry that happened to u,” she wrote.
In a follow-up video, Fox continued: “I just was not on that side of TikTok, and I really thought this man was crying about a mascara, OK? The end, I’m sorry,” adding that she was “really showing my age right now.”
Many users still lashed out at her for her original comment, claiming she is online enough to be able to decode TikTok terms.
“She’s on TikTok alot. She could of just read the caption, or use CONTEXT clues,” one user argued.
“Why would anyone automatically leave a hate comment about a video they didn’t understand? She knew what she was doing,” another claimed.
“So? Consent still applies to the things that belong to you, esp MAKEUP. Using someone’s without consent is disgusting,” another person declared.
“Common sense isn’t so common as they say,” one noted.
“It’s a trend, and the text literally says ‘without consent,’” another said of the “mascara” code word.
Others faulted TikTok’s ever-changing “algospeak” and its tricky moderation rules.
“Why would anyone automatically think mascara is a euphemism for sex?” one commenter defended Fox.
“Part of the problem with TikTok censorship is that users are making up so many code words to describe serious topics that nobody ever knows what the hell anyone is actually talking about,” another person tweeted.
“Or you guys could simply just say SA or censor it better so TikTok doesn’t take it down. Stop using words with meanings already it’s literally weird,” someone proclaimed.
“The fact that it’s a trend shows how weird this all is?? regardless of the text you people using words with literal meanings already is dangerous,” one person concluded.