Kylie Kelce Calls Out Online Critics as She Addresses Podcast Backlash: 'You Actually Typed This Into Twitter?'
On the latest episode of 'Not Gonna Lie,' Kylie Kelce talked with Drew Afualo about internet trolls and how they navigate criticism
Kylie Kelce is impressed with how Drew Afualo has handled online critics with grace.
On the latest episode of the Not Gonna Lie podcast on Jan. 2, the 32-year-old soon-to-be mom of four praised the TikTok star, 29, for the "eloquent and articulate way" she has clapped back at online critics through the years.
"There is something so iconic about how we get to basically laugh together. Like, whenever you laugh in your clapbacks, I'm like, 'This is absolute gold,'" Kelce said. "I still remember the first couple times I saw you on TikTok and [seeing] how you absolutely tore people limb from limb. Like, just absolutely annihilated them."
Kelce then added that she was also "so impressed" by the way Afualo "stands up" for herself and "for others" in her videos as well.
"[As] someone who is about to have their fourth daughter, it is such a breath of fresh air to see the generation of women that are coming through right now who are willing to say f— you."
During the episode, Kelce also opened up about some of the backlash she has faced since starting the podcast in November, sharing that "the most common questions recently associated with Not Gonna Lie has been, 'Who the f— is Kylie Kelce?'"
"I can't get over the fact that you actually typed this into Twitter when you could have typed it into Google?" she said, referencing her online critics. "Also you typed my name, so now you know what you're going to get is more Kylie Kelce content."
She added that another common comment she gets from critics is how she's an "amateur" podcaster, to which she quipped, "I've been f— saying about my own."
Afualo added to that sentiment and noted that "every podcaster in the history of time is an amateur when they start because there's no podcasting school and there's no license" for how to start a podcast. "Clearly, because we have the worst men in the world buying microphones and saying things into them that everybody has heard for time for centuries," she continued.
Afualo — who is best known for her sharp comebacks against misogynist creators online — also opened up to Kelce about feeling "overwhelmed" when her first red flag video went viral on TikTok.
"I grew up on the Internet for the most part [and] remember the era of YouTubers and Vine and all of that," Afualo explained. "So I had no concept of how to deal with that because I was so aggressively normal before this happened to me."
The TikToker added that she "had no way of knowing what it was gonna turn into" after she went viral and that she "was just having a good time" with it.
"I was having a silly goofy time," she continued. "And it looks like everyone else was having a goofy time with me, so it worked out."
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Since she went viral in 2020, Afualo has amassed over 8 million followers online and launched her own podcast The Comment Section, and the bestseller LOUD: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve.
Related: Drew Afualo Tearfully Announces She's Taking a Break from TikTok: 'Unbearable to Exist on This App'
On Dec. 9, 2024, she announced her break from TikTok amid her continued struggle with her mental health and becoming “violently ill” over it.
“I don't want it to be any more dramatic than that. I'm not disappearing forever. I'm not deleting my account," she explained in her TikTok. "I just need a break."
She noted that while “my build on TikTok has been very difficult and at times, very violent, for my very particular niche,” she is not leaving "because of hate I receive from bigots or misogynists or the many, many people that don't like me on the app because of what it is I do, which is obviously trying to fight for other marginalized groups.”
She opened up about going to therapy over the past year and realized that validation for herself needed to come from within and not just from her accomplishments. She also promised her followers that she would be back and that she doesn't plan to completely step away from TikTok.
"I think time away from this app will give me the opportunity to remind myself that I am a good person and I know I'm a good person so I can fully show up for all of you."
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