How 10 Celebrities Went Unexpectedly Viral on TikTok in 2022

Mainstream celebrities found themselves at the center of attention on TikTok this year.

TikTok has served as a launchpad for plenty of megastars, including Khaby Lame, Bella Poarch, and Charli D’Amelio who have become celebrities in their own right with tens of millions of followers.

However, existing names from the entertainment industry have also been known to cause a splash, whether they intended to or not.

From spit conspiracies, to dance trends and red-carpet events, these are 10 of the moments celebrities went viral on TikTok in 2022, and the backstories behind them.

Fans questioned whether Harry Styles really spat on Chris Pine.

Singer Harry Styles was caught up in a controversy dubbed “Spit-Gate” this year following a video that some viewers believed showed the singer spitting on his “Don’t Worry Darling” co-star Chris Pine.

A clip emerged from the premiere at the Venice Film Festival that showed Pine pausing and looking down as Styles sat beside him, which some believed was the result of spit landing on his lap.

“Yikes. It definitely seems that way,” one comment said with over 4,300 likes, on a clip of the video re-shared by TikTok account @PopBase which received over 5.6 million views on the app.

TikTok user @StevenSully1 also posted the video, receiving 1.3 million views as they asked others what they thought had happened.

It became such a big topic of conversation Styles addressed the incident during a performance at Madison Square Garden, where he joked he’d just “popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine.”

Camila Cabello became a meme for her performance of ‘I’ll be home for Christmas.’

Camila Cabello became the subject of a TikTok joke throughout 2022 due to her pronunciation of the word “Christmas” which many thought sounded more like “quiz mice,” during her holiday performance at the White House, posted to YouTube on January 14.

The hashtag #Quismos gained traction on the app with over 56 million views as TikTok users made fun of how the word sounded, including one user who goes by @rachel_arienne, whose video which showed her family impersonating Cabello during Thanksgiving, was watched over 14.4 million times.

Cabello became actively involved in the joke during a video posted to her TikTok account in November, poking fun at herself in a sketch viewed over 21 million times where the singer attempts to correct her own pronunciation of the word. 

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock during the 94th Oscar Academy Awards.

In March, Will Smith walked on stage and slapped Chris Rock who was hosting the 94th Academy Awards, after he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith which seemed to reference her hair loss.

Videos of the incident reverberated through TikTok with individual hashtags attracting attention on the app — #WillSmithSlap received over 429 million views, while #ChrisRockSlap has been viewed 96 million times.

One of the most liked videos of the incident was made by TikTik creator @mtjuniors who recreated the scene on stage; it was viewed over 9.6 million times and received over 2.4 million likes.

A clip of Ricky Gervais went viral on the app with 9.8 million views as he condemned Smith for hitting someone “over a joke.”

Emma Chamberlain was stunned by Jack Harlow on the red carpet.

While working at the Met Gala in New York in May, YouTuber Emma Chamberlain had a viral moment with singer Jack Harlow that spread throughout TikTok.

Chamberlain was speaking to guests on behalf of Vogue during the event and interviewed Harlow, who finished the conversation by saying “Love ya, bye,” to which Chamberlain responded, “love ya” before turning to the camera and seeming to realize what she had just said.

The exchange was shared multiple times on TikTok, with one of the most popular uploads receiving over 13.6 million views. “Y’all see flirting, I see 2 gen Z’s internally freaking out trying to act cool in a room full of celebs they’ve always admired,” one comment with over 161,000 likes said.

Harlow was later interviewed about the moment on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” in a clip shared to TikTok that was viewed 14.3 million times. “Everyone has a different take on what was going through her head, so I’ll leave it up to interpretation,” Harlow said.

Brooklyn Peltz Beckham told a TikToker what he did for work and the internet was in disbelief.

On August 15, David Beckham’s son Brooklyn appeared in a TikTok video posted by Daniel Mac, who is known for approaching expensive cars and asking what the owners do for a living. When he asked the football star’s son what his job was, the younger Beckham said, “I’m a chef.”

Comments beneath the video, which received over 7.4 million views, expressed surprise that Beckham was a chef, while some took to mocking him for giving the answer. One comment with over 8,800 likes suggested C.H.E.F stood for “Child (of) Handsome Ex-Footballer.”

In 2021, Brooklyn launched his social media cookery show “Cookin’ With Brooklyn” which featured guests such as influencers David Dobrik and Lil Huddy. Brooklyn has continued to post food preparation videos on his Instagram account which include tuna with cucumber salad, fresh pizza, and lemon chicken with orzo.

Robert Irwin’s polite response to a fan went viral.

The son of crocodile expert Steve Irwin, Robert, has carved his own career as an animal conservationist in recent years, and in June he caused a stir on TikTok after politely rejecting a fan who asked for his phone number.

In a video posted on June 14, TikToker Megan Grass can be heard asking Irwin, “if I could have your number?” Irwin responded by saying he was “very flattered” and suggested Grass contact him via Instagram instead.

After Grass replied she had already messaged him on the app, Irwin asked for her name and said he would look it up. The clip has since been viewed over 15.3 million times.

Grass told Today Australia at the time that she originally posted the TikTok so her friends and family could see it, adding, “I definitely was not expecting it to blow up the way it did, but it was a really cool experience altogether and Robert was so sweet about it.” 

She continued, “The people who are commenting on my TikTok are telling me that I was rejected in the sweetest way possible, which I agree.” 

Henry Winkler danced on the app for a new generation of fans.

The actor famous for playing Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzaerlli in the hit 1970s and 1980s show “Happy Days” ushered in 2022 with a viral video on his TikTok.

The upload featured the now 77-year-old Henry Winkler showing off his dance moves to the track “Somebody’s Watching Me” in front of a Christmas tree. Posted in the first week of January, the caption wished everyone a happy new year, and the video has been viewed over 12.5 million times since.

Winkler told Insider at the time that he was “completely surprised” by the response to his videos, and “never thought that my having so much fun with my grandchildren would generate this much interest.”

Not a frequent uploader, Winkler has only posted six TikToks in 2022, but several have been viewed over 2 million times each, showing a continued fondness for the Fonz.

Elaine Hendrix leaned in to her role as Meredith Blake from ‘The Parent Trap.’

This year TikTok went into nostalgia mode for the character Meredith Blake from the 1998 movie “The Parent Trap.”

Elaine Hendrix started posting to her very own TikTok account in August 2021, amassing 867,000 followers in the process. She reprised her role as Meredith recreating an infamous scene in the movie in a TikTok that’s been viewed more than 16 million times.

But it was in the summer of 2022 that Meredith-themed videos began to spring up all over the app. 

The hashtag #MeredithBlake has been viewed more than 121 million times as fans lip-synced to her scenes, shared outfits inspired by the character, and even created website branding based on the character’s aesthetic.

“I love interacting with my fans and I know they really love some of those characters that I’ve played,” Hendrix told Insider. “So it’s great to be able to make videos that I know they’ll have fun with and enjoy.”

Taylor Swift caused a stir with ticket sales.

In November, fans of Taylor Swift scrambled to secure a ticket to her upcoming tour, named Eras, while Ticketmaster struggled with the demand and ultimately canceled the general sale due to insufficient ticket inventory. 

TikTok user @OtherPeopleSecrets filmed their attempts to secure a place in the presale, repeatedly clicking on tickets to discover they were unavailable, in a video that was viewed 4.8 million times. In a follow-up they said they were able to eventually order two tickets for $750. 

TikToker @haleyblazek used the controversy to prank loved ones by pretending she had secured tickets, filming herself telling her boyfriend she’d spent $1,200 to see the singer, in a video that was viewed 1.2 million times.

In a video viewed 1.3 million times, @rebekahmarie8 used the trending topic to issue a “friendly reminder” that the nosebleed seats are still “a great view and you do not have to drop $100s on tickets if you can’t afford it.”

The hashtag #ErasTour has been viewed over 500 million times.

Lizzo became a TikTok sensation when she taught viewers how to do the viral dance to her track ‘About Damn Time.’

The hashtag #AboutDamnTime, named after Lizzo’s song released in April, has 2.1 billion views on TikTok and features popular videos of users dancing along to the track, including an upload posted by user @bellanjanie whose rendition was viewed almost 49 million times.

In May the singer took to TikTok herself to tell her fans they were doing the dance wrong. In a video that was viewed over 59 million times, Lizzo slowly showed how she thought the steps should be performed.

In November, Lizzo had another viral moment on the app when a fan named Aurielle Marie posted on their TikTok account and asked if they could wear the singer’s dress from the 2022 Emmys, to an event where they had been selected as one of Out Magazine’s Out 100.

Lizzo responded by sending her a dress she wore at the 2019 AMAs instead, and Marie posted an outfit reveal when the dress arrived, in a TikTok that was viewed 1.7 million times.

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider’s Digital Culture team here.