Mikayla Nogueira, a beauty influencer with 13.5 million TikTok followers and a thick Massachusetts accent, is at the center of an online controversy over remarks she made regarding the difficulty of her job.
This week, an out-of-context video clip of Nogueira has gone viral on the app. It was uploaded on September 20 by @ilovewater2001 and features Nogueira saying, “I literally just finished working, it’s 5:19 — try being an influence for a day, try it” before cutting to a slideshow of Nogueira displaying designer bags, shoes, and sunglasses. It has been viewed 6 million times so far.
The full Nogueira clip was filmed in response to a comment suggesting the influencer try working a nine-to-five job. (It appears to have been removed from Nogueira’s profile, but @ilovewater2001 uploaded a recording of it. The original video has been viewed 1,100,000 times, which is significantly less than the version that includes the designer bags montage).
“I rise at 6 a.m. each and every day. I spend approximately five to six hours filming video content consisting of three to four videos, followed by a few hours editing this video content “In the original video, the 24-year-old said as she poured salad dressing over a salad, “I’m so hungry.” “Then I must work on my other social media profiles, regardless of their nature. It’s terrible marketing. Then I have meetings from 12 to 5 pm.”
“It’s currently 5:19, and I’ve just completed my work. Try to be influential for a day. Try it. Because those who claim it is simple are completely insane. Try it out for one day.”
The critics have emphasized the soundbite of “I’ve just completed my work; the time is 5:19. Try to be influential for a day. Try it, “The portion stating that Nogueira’s focus on leaving work at 5:19 p.m. is absurdly out of touch.
TikToker @llaurynsimone responded to Nogueira on September 24 by singing Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” song and stating that “most people leaving work at 5 p.m. can barely pay the rent, but being an influencer is so hard y’all.”
“The job is demanding, but babe, you have to be quiet,” Anayka, a co-influencer, said. She captioned a TikTok on September 25. Influencers who complain about their jobs are comparable to white individuals who complain about being called a “cracker.” She said. “You will never win, I am so sorry.”
She agrees that “being an influencer is a job like any other,” but in her experience, despite being “draining” and “tedious,” the job is not “difficult,” and she adds, “the problems I have now as an influencer are problems I wished I had two or three years ago when I was working a regular job.” She went on to say that, as a black influencer, her greatest obstacle was trying to earn the same as her white counterparts.
“You must simply understand what you can and cannot say. Yes, everyone struggles… However, that brief clip was somewhat bizarre.”
This month, influencer and Only Fans star Tara Lynn was similarly criticized for a tone-deaf TikTok in which she lamented that “nobody wants to work anymore” and urged people to “get your f***ing asses up and work.”
Mikayla Nogueira did not respond to Insider’s request for comment immediately.