Tracking all the influencers who have been canceled, uncanceled, and those currently in the process of being canceled is a full-time job. Next in line for all these categories is Twitch and TikTok‘s Hannahowo, known for her gaming and fashion videos, as well as her OnlyFans content.
To be honest, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what came first: the egg or the chicken. In Hannah’s case, it’s hard to tell if she first became famous on OnlyFans or Twitch. Either way, her face is now recognized by millions online, and one way or another, the 21-year-old creator has found success and fame on TikTok with over 5 million followers. However, with great power comes even greater criticism, and lately, she has been at the epicenter of controversy. Allow us to explain.
What did Hannahowo do?
The reason why Hannahowo, or Hannah Kabel, is currently being criticized is for her alleged Asian fishing. TikToker @rexchuoctomush, or Tala, further explained that as an Asian woman, she feels Hannah, who is a white woman, sexualizes East Asian school uniforms. Additionally, Tala accuses Hannah of using makeup trends to allegedly make herself look Asian and even pulling her eyes with her hands in pictures.
Regarding the gesture and the outfits, Hannah allegedly made an apology video addressing both issues. She supposedly claimed she was pulling her hair back, not her eyes, and also apologized for the sexualization of school uniforms. However, we could not find the apology video online and have to trust Tala’s word on this. Nonetheless, that apology wasn’t well received by many creators, including Tala. She believed Hannah’s apology to be insincere and further explained that she’s “done letting racism move past us.”
Hannah is known for her unique makeup style, using heavy straight eyeliner and blush to emphasize a more cute appearance. Often, these makeup styles and trends stem from Asian and East Asian creators who do makeup a certain way to enhance their features, but the problem comes when white content creators start appropriating from POC on TikTok and stealing their content. Many fans, however, deem Hannah’s makeup harmless. “It’s just her eyeliner she didn’t do anything bad, the uniform she apologised and it wasn’t a big deal it was not racist,” one user said.
In fact, many comments on Tala’s video were in defense of Hannah, though there were also quite a few users supporting Tala’s point of view. “Agreed! To sum her up, she’s not a good person,” someone said. Overall, Tala isn’t the only creator exposing or condemning Hannah’s actions, but given her enormous platforms, many fans believe it will be difficult to hold her accountable for her actions, and it seems like they’re right.