Internet Culture

‘This is on purpose. It’s for publicity’: TikTokers think singer’s claims about a lawsuit proves that she’s an industry plant

‘Don’t get sued girly, not worth it.’

Photo of Tricia Crimmins

Tricia Crimmins

woman showing a video of her singing and looking cheeky

After singer and TikToker Leah Kate released a song about her ex-boyfriend cheating on her with a woman named Emily, the woman allegedly asked Leah Kate to remove the song from Spotify and threatened to “press charges.” But commenters say that the singer fabricated the conflict for publicity.

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Leah Kate, who has more than 137,000 followers, shared a text allegedly from Emily in a now-viral TikTok video. “Look Im sorry I shouldn’t have done it but can you take it down from Spotify?” the text says. “If not I will be pressing charges for using my name. Time to get over it.”

In response, Leah Kate sent a video of herself lip-syncing the song, which is called “Dear Denny,” and texted that the song is “never coming off the internet.”

“Babe ty for fcking him bc I love this song I got out of it,” Leah Kate wrote in her text allegedly responding to Emily.

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Leah Kate’s video has over 1.5 million views on TikTok, and “Dear Denny” has been streamed over 140,000 times on Spotify. The song also been used as a sound over 140 times on TikTok.

In the song, Leah Kate sings “should have thought twice before you fucked Emily.”

Commenters noticed that Leah Kate shows Emily’s alleged phone number in the TikTok.

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“Don’t get sued girly, not worth it, hide the number,” @tea.book.bed commented.

“Now u Fr [for real] gon get sued and lose showing her number like that redo the Tik Tok fore it’s too late,” @kiidstix wrote.

“I litteraly paused it to read it and now I have the phone number,” @jazzy_0xss commented.

Others thought that Leah Kate’s TikTok wasn’t genuine, and many accused her of being “industry plant.” The term refers to someone who has the backing of a label but attempts to make it seem like they have an “organic following,” Bubble Gum Club explains.

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“Y’all acting like she fr just didn’t block the number ‘on accident’,” @oliviakjones commented. “She’s an industry plant. This is on purpose. It’s for publicity.”

“I’m pretty sure the number is just a mailing list so whenever she drops music you’ll get texted,” @dsavagesintern wrote. They also said that Leah Kate’s video was “good marketing.” The Daily Dot verified that the number that Leah Kate uses to notify fans about her new song via text is not the same number shown in her TikTok video.

“This is incredibly staged and idk why everyone is believing it,” @dumbwh0re commented.

The Daily Dot reached out to Leah Kate via Instagram direct message.

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