Was it just us, or did Coachella seem decidedly BORING this year? The outfits, the Frank Ocean messiness, the admission that most influencers go to just to take pictures in the desert and go straight home… it was all so, unappealing. Seriously, we’ve never been less envious to live so far from what was once the most exciting music festival of the year.
Perhaps that’s why reading about the cancellation of a TikTok influencer who she chose to leave Coachella early sounds so ridiculous, or perhaps we’re just British – but it truly is the most chronically online take ever.
Allow us to explain, beauty influencer Kensington Tillo was invited to Coachella by Kourtney Kardashian’s lifestyle brand, Poosh. It was her first time attending the festival, which takes place in the hot Indio desert over three days (two weekends in a row). In her daily ‘Get Ready With Me’ videos, she revealed on day two of the festival that she was feeling violently hungover but trying to power through to make it to the rest of the festival. By day three? She was done – in fact, she revealed in her final GRWM video (Yes, she still got ready to take pictures despite not intending to go to the festival, which is apparently normal in the influencer world) that she hadn’t ended up making it out on day two either.
So, with a six-hour drive ahead of her and no energy left to party, she decided to call it quits. ‘I’m really just learning to listen to my body and not push myself,’ she told followers. ‘When my body is telling me to sleep and go home, I need to listen because when I don’t that is what spends me into a complete spiral.’
Sad for her, sure, but fair enough, right? Who among us hasn’t went too hard on the first day of a festival, or holiday, and been bed-ridden for a couple of days wishing they’d just drank that extra bottle of water?
Alas, over in the US where perhaps they aren’t so familiar with drinking yourself into oblivion at any given occasion, she just committed a serious crime against humanity. ‘This reeks of privilege,’ one person commented. ‘I hope you gave your ticket to someone well deserving!!!’ another added. The rest were variations of the same sentiment, many calling her out for not being grateful enough for the experience of Coachella, others condemning her for drinking too much or for not being able to go to a festival sober (seriously?).
The video got so much backlash, it even inspired stich videos of other TikToker’s calling her wasteful and over-privileged – although perhaps one could argue that even caring enough about something so ludicrous is its own privilege, no?
Naturally, everyone who cancelled her was expecting some kind of apology. Did they get it? Absolutely not. Kensington returned to TikTok today to address the drama, doubling down on her decision.
‘My video of me leaving Coachella got on the wrong side of TikTok, I know it comes with the territory of having followers but wow,’ she said. ‘I can totally see why I upset so many people I guess, but honestly, I can’t genuinely apologise if I did something that was good for myself, okay? I’m honestly just kind of disappointed by everyone’s reaction that was being so vile and mean to me over something that was literally just for my own mental health and sanity.’
Now, the tide seems to have turned – her comment section is filled with users supporting the fact she won’t apologise and acknowledging that the reaction was over the top. Alas, some sense to send us into the weekend. We do have Coachella weekend two content to contend with now though, so we don’t doubt some other ludicrous influencer drama will have surfaced by Monday – just another reason not to be jealous of attendees this year, right?