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Social media has made it easier than ever for the average person to get a taste of fame, and the internet is filled to the brim with “online celebrities” who’ve leveraged various platforms to amass a sizeable following.
We now live in a world where around 25% of young people list “Influencer” as a dream job, and there’s certainly no shortage of approaches you can harness in your quest to realize that goal.
That includes the tried-and-true method that is “Riding the coattails of a wildly more successful family member,” which is the strategy Jackson Mahomes (the younger brother of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes) has relied on to rack up over a million followers on TikTok.
While some people are able to attract a similarly large legion of fans on the back of creative and original content, it’s very hard to argue Jackson has done anything to set himself apart from a wildly crowded pack of people who (like himself) primarily use TikTok to post dance videos in filmed in front of various envy-inducing backdrops.
Unfortunately, anyone who’s relied on Mahomes for the entertainment his followers presumably derive from his videos has encountered a bit of a setback in recent weeks, as Jackson has taken an uncharacteristically long hiatus from the platform he’s long relied on for the attention he seemingly craves.
Why is that the case? Well, here’s a closer look at how he’s routinely landed in hot water thanks to social media and the one incident that may have been the tipping point.
Why has Jackson Mahomes stopped posting on TikTok?
Jackson Mahomes has certainly been no stranger to controversy over the past couple of years.
In 2021, he was roundly criticized for pouring water on Ravens fans while watching his brother play on the road in Baltimore, and a little over a month later, he was forced to issue an apology after deciding there was no better place to film a TikTok dance at a Commanders game than directly on top of an on-field memorial for Sean Taylor.
He also probably regretted his decision to accuse a cocktail bar in Kansas City of mistreating him later that year based on the fiery response the business issued while putting him on blast for misrepresenting the situation.
Jackson has also repeatedly used TikTok to attempt to fashion himself as a bit of a ladies’ man, and in 2022, he was filmed trying (and failing) to kiss a seemingly random woman during an encounter at a mall.
Things took a very interesting turn at the beginning of March, as a report surfaced that alleged Mahomes had physically assaulted a 19-year-old waiter at a restaurant outside of Kansas City and “forcibly kissed” its 40-year-old owner without her consent (an attorney representing Mahomes issued a statement denying the accusations that sparked a police investigation).
That supposed incident transpired on February 25th—just one day after he posted what remains his most recent TikTok video (and the same day he threw up his most recent update on Instagram—although he has occasionally commented on other people’s posts since then).
There’s obviously no way to know why Mahomes has seemingly abandoned his social media accounts, but it’s pretty hard to ignore the timing of the start of his hiatus.
You could argue it’s seemingly a coincidence, but it sure seems like the guy who seemed to embrace the “All Press Is Good Press” mentality for years may be having second thoughts about that particular philosophy.