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Keith Lee is TikTok's 2025 Creator of the Year
The content creator, who boasts over 17 million followers on TikTok, took to the stage at the U.S. TikTok Awards to accept the honor
Lee was met with chants of his name from the crowd as he took the stage to accept the award
The TikTok Awards have announced the winner for the 2025 Creator of the Year award.On Dec. 18,Keith Leetook to the stage at the Palladium Theatre in Los Angeles to accept the honor, which was presented by none other thanParis Hilton.
"I never in a million years thought I was going to be standing on this stage," Lee said, tearing up as he accepted his award.Lee boasts over 17 million followers on TikTok and is known for his viral food critic videos, which he frequently uses to help highlight and boost small businesses."This means more to me than I can explain," he said, sharing a story of how he grew up as a shy young kid."TikTok provided me a platform to be able to talk about that," he said, going on to thank his wife, Ronni, who was also in attendance, for helping him get his start on the platform.In honor of Lee's win, presenterLaLa Anthonyannounced that "in the spirit of our new Creator of the Year, Keith Lee, TikTok will be contributing 50,000 to Feeding America."
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"Keith Lee has used his influence to help fellow citizens facing food insecurity, and TikTok is honored to contribute to the cause," Anthony shared.Other creators nominated in the category included prominent social media starsAlix Earle,Adam W,Brooke MonkandKristy Sarah, all of whom boast millions of followers on the platform.The event, themed "New Era, New Icons," marked the inaugural US version of the TikTok Awards, after the social media app previously put on awards shows last year in 21 countries, including the United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico and Germany.
The US live show also included a performance by singer-songwriter Ciara.A variety ofother awardsspotlighted creators in their particular areas of expertise, like the "Okay Slay" category, which honored beauty and fashion influencers, and the MVP award, which honored sports creators.
Presenters for the night included notable figures and celebs with prominent TikTok followings, like creatorJools Lebron, who went viral after using the phrase "Very demure, very mindful" (and made a reference to it in the show);Tan France, known for his role as the fashion expert on the Netflix series,Queer Eye; and Olympic gold medalistJordan Chiles.The U.S. iteration of the TikTok awards also recognized achievements in the education space and in entertainment, with nominations going toward teachers and film and TV creators like Reece Feldman (@guywithamoviecamera). Online philanthropic efforts were applauded with the "TikTok For Good" award.
The show also spotlighted music, with the "Breakthrough Artist of the Year" award highlighting musicians with substantial online followers through the app.Alex Warrentook home the award in that category.
Read the original article onPeople