Jimmy Fallon addresses Addison Rae controversy on The Tonight Show

Addison Rae appearance caused backlash over ongoing issue of appropriation of content by Black creators

Jimmy Fallon invited the creators of several viral TikTok dances to perform on The Tonight Show, following controversy over his guest Addison Rae.

The TikTok influencer was invited on the show last week to demonstrate a number of viral dances and teach them to Fallon.

However, a backlash ensued after it was pointed out that many of the dances she was performing were created by Black artists.

Fallon has now addressed the controversy in a new segment on The Tonight Show, which he opened by commenting: “We recognise the creators of those dances deserve to have their own spotlight.”

He then introduced audiences to dancers including Mya Johnson and Chris Cotter, who came up with a dance to Cardi B’s hit song “Up”.

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Rae had earlier told TMZ that it was “definitely not her intention” to present the dance moves as her own, and said the creators were given proper credit on YouTube.

“I think they were all credited in the original YouTube posting, but it’s kind of hard to credit during the show, but they all know that I love them so much,” she said.

“I mean I support all of them so much. Hopefully one day we can all meet up and dance together.”

Rae, who has close to 80M followers on the social media site, is preparing to make her acting debut in Netflix’s gender-flipped reboot of She’s All That, titled He’s All That.