Gaining notoriety for her viral lip-syncing videos, TikToker Annie Bonelli (@wtmab) garnered praise from viewers for proudly flaunting a thin, diagonal scar across her cheek.
However, others voiced their suspicions about whether or not her scar is real or just a ploy to set herself apart from the oversaturated community of lip-syncing accounts on the app, citing dramatic changes in the size, color, and placement of the scar. Viewers dubbed Bonelli “scar girl,” and #scargirl has garnered over 361.5 million views as of Jan. 24.
TikToker and Twitch Streamer Aaurie (@aauriettv) is just one of several influencers to do a deep dive into Bonelli’s scar progression.
In a TikTok, she says she scrolled through Bonelli’s TikTok to March 2021, showing a screenshot of a thin, red cut across her cheek.
Fast-forward to May 2022, a screenshot shows the scar tilting further vertically and extending toward her jawline. In the final image from September 2022, the scar appears thicker and dark brown and is almost completely vertical, with a much harsher curve.
However, Aaurie says she applauds Bonelli for “taking advantage of something that she got popular for” but still maintains that she’s “trolling” for views.
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Another TikToker, Sophie (@sophiethetrophy_) shows her own healing progress pictures from a facial injury she sustained from an operation in October 2019, pointing out that scars typically “turn white over time.”
“Ur faces tend to heal a lot faster than other areas,” she wrote in the caption. “Not trying to be a bully but its just hard to believe when ive seen what the healing process on your face looks like.”
In response to the speculation, Bonelli posted a video of her attempting to wipe off her scar with a makeup wipe to prove that the dark brown hue isn’t special effects makeup. In the caption, she opened up about sustaining the original injury during a domestic violence incident in 2020.
“It never fully went away, and neither did my insecurities because when I looked in the mirror I saw the reason behind why it was there. Unfortunately, I had a poor reaction to the first topical I tried in an attempt to fade it. I was sloppy applying it as well and this led to a longer injury,” Bonelli explains, detailing the reason behind the change in color.
She continues that she started another “super invasive” treatment in August and didn’t realize that self-tanner would react with the treatment.
“It should get better with time, but unfortunately all of my scars do still heal brown. While I don’t think it’s right that people mindlessly comment hate for whatever reason it is, I do make a decision to put myself out on the internet,” the caption reads. “I’ll never stop using my platform for DV awareness and body positivity.”
After she shared more details about her scar treatment process, several viewers came to her defense, pointing to popular treatments that may explain Bonelli’s ever-changing scar.
In a video posted by TikToker Lucy (@sapphicsertraline), they say that scar treatments like TCA or garlic ointment can cause burns to the skin, showing screenshots of treatment burns that have turned brown—strikingly similar to Bonelli’s scar.
We contacted Bonelli via email, but she did not respond to additional questions about her scar or viewer speculations.
