‘Up’ TikTok dance creator Mya Johnson has thoughts about Addison Rae’s tonight show performance
The co-creator of the viral ‘Up’TikTok dance, set to the song of the same name by Cardi B, is speaking out about Addison Rae’s performance of her work on The Tonight Show.
Mya Johnson, 15, created the ‘Up’ dance with her friend Chris Cotter and it blew up almost immediately, eventually landing a spot in the Tonight Show feature. In the skit, Addison ‘teaches’ Jimmy eight of the most popular TikTok dances, none of which she created.
For Mya, it was a big surprise to see her challenge performed on such a big TV show. “I was very surprised because it’s like, ‘Wow, I made a dance that’s made it all the way to TV,’” she told Popsugar. While she was excited to see her dance included, she also wished she’d been asked to perform it. “Of course, I was happy and everything. My mom always tells me, ‘When it’s my time, it’s my time.’ I felt like that should’ve been my time and Chris’s time, because we created the dance.”
The Tonight Show controversy is another example of Black creators being passed over in favour of TikTokers like Addison and Charli D’Amelio and not always properly credited for their work. “This isn’t the first time this has happened and I don’t want it to continue,” Mya shared. “I feel like it is very important for us to get our credit because we are very good creators that are very overlooked in what we do.”
Mya told TMZ that she wished she had been asked to perform her dance for such a large audience, but she doesn’t blame Addison. “Just to clear the air, it’s not putting us against each other,” she said. “I would still be open to [collaborating] ... we’re still teenagers.”
The Tonight Show did credit each creator on YouTube, and Addison shared a statement about the controversy, saying she supports all the creators. “They deserve all the credit because they came up with these amazing trends.”