If you are a proactive TikTok user, you might have heard of the buzzing TikTok drama that has been unfolding in the last 2-3 days. As a result, an Austin-based beekeeper has closed down her business and deleted her social media accounts.
The drama began when a user named @LaHoneyBeeWorks tagged Erika Thompon in their post after her bee removal videos suddenly went viral. LaHoneyBeeWorks, along with other beekeepers, raised concerns about Erika not wearing any protective gear. In the video, she was surrounded by a swarm of bees, scooping them with her hands and talking to them.
Instead of people supporting her, LaHoneyBeeWorks received a huge amount of backlash. Because of this, she did announce that she would be deleting her TikTok account and closing down her business. The post is deleted as of now. She also said that her words were completely taken out of context and that she was praising Thompson and not calling her out.
In one of her posts, she said,
No hate to Texasbeeworks. This was all taken out of context and exploited by disreputable news sources and content creators.
Some critics also accused Erika Thompson and called her videos fake, which she later addressed in an Instagram post. Erika added,
Recently, a series of untrue and hurtful attacks was made about me and my work. Then, journalists chose to support and reward this online harassment by perpetuating a false narrative without taking time to check the facts. It’s a sad day when people see a woman doing something that’s so outside of the norm, they assume there’s no way she can actually be doing those things, and if she is, she must be getting help from a man.
We hope @LaHoneyBeeWorks restores her account and comes back to TikTok soon!
