Drew Afualo

Afualo joined TikTok in March 2020 at the encouragement of her boyfriend, who had seen her rants about college life she had posted to Snapchat.[15][5][16][3] She initially ran the account casually, posting a handful of personal dating stories for a smaller audience, before going viral in early 2021 with a video in which she listed "very specific red flags" in men. The video attracted a large volume of hate comments from male viewers, and Afualo's series of humorously insulting response videos to those comments gained her a newfound audience.[13][15][5][17] Her follower count subsequently expanded from 1.5 million to 4 million in the span of two months,[16] and would ultimately surpass 8 million as of March 2023.[2] Additionally, she has over 90,000 followers on Twitter and over 530,000 on Instagram.[6]

Afualo's TikTok videos typically consist of her responding to, mocking, and roasting men who express misogynistic, fatphobic, racist, transphobic, and otherwise bigoted views,[5][13][15][18] earning her nicknames such as "crusader for women",[9][10] "defender of women",[5] and "Queen of the Roasts".[18] Her videos often feature her signature high-pitched giggle-laugh,[6][17][15][4][5] which Bloomberg News describes as "a staccato, full-chested explosion of high-pitched emotion and outrage"[14] and HuffPost says "strikes fear into every internet misogynist".[5] Afualo herself characterizes it as a natural Polynesian laugh,[14] calling it "unmistakably Islander".[15] Since mid-2022, she has been a full-time content creator, earning a living from views, advertisements, and brand sponsorships.[4][14]

Afualo was one of several online influencers spotlighted in eTalk Daily's "Influenced" television special, including Alex Cooper, Jaboukie Young-White, Megan Stalter, and Donté Colley.[19] She was also included in TikTok's International Women's Day creator spotlight alongside Molly Burke and Dylan Mulvaney,[20] in the app's 2022 Discover List, and in Meta's "Creators of Tomorrow" list.[21]

Afualo hosts the podcast The Comment Section with Drew Afualo, originally created in 2021 for Brat TV's Past Your Bedtime YouTube channel.[15][13] The podcast consists of Afualo interviewing fellow online creators and media figures about feminist issues, misogyny, relationships, and empowerment.[13][10][14] Notable guests have included Brittany Broski, Kamie Crawford, Jackie Aina, Melissa Ong, Manny MUA, Pokimane, Trixie Mattel, Johnny Sibilly, and InStyle social media host Tefi Pessoa.[5][10][15][22][23][24][25] On March 8, 2023, Tubefilter reported that Spotify had signed a deal with Afualo for The Comment Section to become a Spotify exclusive starting April 5.[26] The show's first season on Spotify saw guests including Bretman Rock, Meghan Trainor, Shea Couleé, Monét X Change, and Tess Holliday.[27]

Additionally, Afualo and her sister Deison co-host the podcast Two Idiot Girls, where they discuss topics such as media representation of minorities, racism, internalized misogyny, and mental health in both serious and light-hearted ways.[6][8] Drew mentioned in a May 2022 interview that the podcast had been signed to a "major company".[15] In January 2023, a Two Idiot Girls live show was held at the House of Blues in San Diego.[28][29]

Both The Comment Section and Two Idiot Girls were nominated for the 15th annual Shorty Awards in the Comedy Podcast category.[30][31]

Outside of her own shows, Afualo has been a guest on podcasts including Kamie Crawford's Relationshit,[32] Emily Ratajkowski's High Low: Talk Back,[33] DeuxMoi's Deux U,[34] triple j's The Hook Up,[35] Spencewuah's I'm Literally Screaming,[36] Morgan Absher's Two Hot Takes,[37] and Christy Carlson Romano's Vulnerable.[38]

Afaulo made her first VidCon appearance in June 2022,[15] hosting the panel "Hot Gurlz Only" with fellow TikTokers Chrissy Chlapecka and Sarah Schauer.[39] In October 2022, she published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times entitled "How to confront bigots on social media — and win".[40] Later that month, Afualo attended the New York City premiere of the film Black Adam as a red carpet host, where she interviewed the film's star, Dwayne Johnson.[41][8][42] She also appeared in Meghan Trainor's "Made You Look" music video alongside Scott Hoying, Chris Olsen, and JoJo Siwa.[43] Known for her roasts on TikTok, Afualo was the subject of her own roast by the members of Smosh in a YouTube video entitled "Drew Afualo is Dead - The Funeral Roast".[44]

She and four other TikTokers were interviewed by Trevi Moran for SmashBox Cosmetics' Prime Time TV: 5 Seconds to Great Skin!, a TikTok series on skin care.[45]

In March 2023, Afualo and fellow TikTokers Reece Feldman and Khaby Lame were invited to cover the 95th Academy Awards pre-show red carpet alongside YouTuber Lilly Singh;[46][2][47] Afualo interviewed Jamie Lee Curtis and once again encountered Dwayne Johnson.[47][2]

Afualo told Teen Vogue in April 2023 that she was writing a book, in partnership with Questlove's publishing imprint.[27]

She has often expressed interest in hosting a talk show.[5][14]