Inside the rise of Noah Beck, the 19-year-old TikTok star whose explicit photoshoot had him trending

Noah Beck and Dixie D'Amelio
Noah Beck and Dixie D'Amelio Dixie D'Amelio/YouTube
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  • In just a year, Noah Beck went from a college athlete to a social media hearthrob.

  • His first TikTok video was posted on January 9 and less than a year later he has over 24 million followers.

  • Beck is dating one of the most famous influencers on the app, Dixie D'Amelio, and is gearing up for the launch of his new show.

  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

TikTok star Noah Beck is probably most famous for his relationship with TikTok royalty Dixie D'Amelio, but now, his new, explicit photoshoot with photographer Damon Baker is going viral on social media all on its own. The photos were shared and reposted thousands of times by users on different platforms. As of Tuesday afternoon, Beck's name has been mentioned in 43,000 recent tweets.

Beck is among a group of young adults who have been able to gain millions of followers in the past year on TikTok, the viral video app. He first gained notoriety for posting short-form videos of himself dancing, collaborating with other famous influencers, and lip-syncing to popular songs.

In just a year, Beck went from a college athlete to social media heartthrob

In a video uploaded by Chase Hudson to YouTube in December 2020 with other influencers such as beauty guru James Charles, Beck mentioned that before becoming famous on social media, he was on track to play soccer in college. The native Arizonian attended the University of Portland on a full-ride scholarship after attending the pro feeder school Real Salt Lake Academy in Herriman, Utah.

"At the beginning of 2019, I wanted to go pro. I'd like to think I was on the right track," the 19-year-old said in the YouTube video, "I had trials set up in Europe that I was going to go to, and then COVID happened. All those got canceled and now I'm TikTok famous."

Beck had his first brush with controversy when his younger sister started a rumor on TikTok that Noah had gotten a full-ride scholarship to Yale University. She claimed he got a soccer scholarship and scored a 28 on his ACT test.

He responded to the claims in a comment on TikTok saying, "A Yale coach began to recruit me when I was a junior.. he constantly texted me and said that they would accept me into the school with an ACT score of 26."

Users began to push back on this claim and say that Ivy Leagues don't give out athletic scholarships, only need-based ones.

In another comment, Beck said, "Yale was one of the schools I 'talked' to.. I know they don't give out athletic scholarships. The other schools I mentioned I received full-rides from."

He later appeared on a September 2020 video of his now-girlfriend, Dixie D'Amelio's YouTube series called, "The Dixie D'Amelio Show," he addressed the drama when Dixie asked, "Why did you lie about getting a full-ride to Yale?"

He responded, "I never lied about it. I never said I got full-ride from Yale. I said Yale was interested in me for soccer. They gave me an academic scholarship but they don't hand out athletics."

Read More: TikTok's most notable squad, The Hype House, is facing a major split as numerous members float a competing group

Beck built a following and was eventually signed to TalentX Entertainment

Beck's fame came exclusively from TikTok, as he didn't have much of a social media presence before he began gaining attention for his good looks on the short-form video app. Beck posted his first video on TikTok on January 9, lip-syncing to DaBaby's explicit verse on Megan Thee Stallion's "Cash Sh--." The video has since been seen by over two million people, liked by 354,000 people, and commented on over 35,000 times. Since then, Beck's built an audience of over 24 million followers on TikTok, seven million followers on Instagram. and over 800,000 followers on Twitter.

Within months, Beck began racking up millions of followers and connecting with many of the other viral TikTok stars, such as his current friends, Larray, Bella Poarch, Bryce Hall, and Blake Gray. It's still unclear whether or not Beck dropped out of school after he built a following or before. The viral star committed to posting multiple videos a day on TikTok, helping him build follower count. He was later signed to TalentX Entertainment. The talent agency got together some of their biggest and most-followed social media stars to create the Sway, a content-creator collective where influencers with large followings live together and create content.

In the same episode of the aforementioned "The Dixie D'Amelio Show" video, Beck noted that he doesn't live in the Sway house with all the boys, he lives with his two close friends who are also in Sway, Bryce Hall and Blake Gray.

The Sway House was introduced around the same time as the Hype House, another large creator house with an enormous following. The Hype House made the announcement of their conception on January 7, 2020 and just shy of three weeks later, the Sway House made their announcement on January 27, 2020. Beck wasn't one of the founding members of the Sway House, but later joined the creator house in June 2020 and officially moved to Los Angeles, California.

Social media began pitting the two houses against each other and the boys went on the Zach Sang show to put the rumors to rest. "There's no beef with Hype House," Hall said on the show, "Everyone is making it this thing like, Hype House versus Sway House. There's like 16 people in that house. There's no room for us."

Rumors of Beck's and Dixie D'Amelio's relationship began swirling back in July 2020

@noahbeck

nick kinda hit that.. @nickaustinn @dixiedamelio

♬ Be Happy - Dixie D'Amelio

In July 2020, rumors started to circulate about Beck and Dixie D'Amelio dating, when they started posting videos on TikTok collaborating together. D'Amelio is the sister of the most-followed person on TikTok, Charli D'Amelio, and has become a TikTok powerhouse in her own right. Then, Beck appeared in the music video for the remix to D'Amelio's "Be Happy" featuring Lil Mosey and Blackbear. In the music video, the couple shared a passionate kiss.

It wasn't until October 2020 that they confirmed they were a couple. Noah posted a photo of him and Dixie masked-up in a car on his Instagram story with the caption, "Happy [one] month bub, I love you."

Noah Beck went on a YouTube series called "Jeff's Barbershop" to explain how he asked Dixie to be his girlfriend. "I took her to Malibu on September 25, we went to the lifeguard post and I decorated it with candles. I brought s'mores … I got some stuff out of the trunk, decorated the lifeguard post, like rose petals, candles, stuff like that," Beck said in the video.

He continued, "I came back when I was done decorating, walked her there, and she knew what was happening, I think. And then I just popped the question!"

Like other social media stars, Beck was met with backlash after vacationing during a pandemic

Many social media stars have come under fire for vacationing or throwing parties during the global coronavirus pandemic. Most recently, influencer Nikita Dragun, as well as the D'Amelio family were called out for vacationing during a time when health officials advise against unnecessary travel.

Beck accompanied the family on the trip. Everyone involved received major backlash. The patriarch of the family, Marc D'Amelio was filmed speaking to a paparazzo defending his family's decision and said of the global pandemic, "We do take it seriously and we want to protect other people, we don't take it lightly. We heard them loud and clear, and yeah, it's what it is."

Noah echoed that same sentiment when asked about vacation during a pandemic, saying, "It is what it is" to Pop Galore in a YouTube video. "I think, especially the business we're in, it's, like, you need some time to kind of disconnect for a little. That's what that was meant for. It was just a little trip to get away."

This did not sit well with fans as they took to social media and continued to voice their consistent displeasure with influencers vacationing and partying during a pandemic.

Read more: TikTok Star Noah Beck defended traveling to the Bahamas for a 'reset' with Charli and Dixie D'Amelio during the pandemic - but some fans are still angry

The comments section of the YouTube video was filled with negative comments towards Beck. One user commented, "PEOPLE ARE LITERALLY DYING. There's nothing wrong with wanting a break but traveling is out of the question. Healthcare workers are out there with the mess people like them caused. Don't be selfish and quarantine, social distance, and wear a mask!"

Another comment read, "Please- this is so embarrassing. They wanted to get away from what? Their million dollars mansions? Access to a bunch of beaches in California?"

Noah Beck's steamy viral photos have been repeatedly removed from Instagram.

Beck's most current viral moment came when he posted shots from a photoshoot he did with photographer Damon Baker. The black-and-white photos feature the 19-year-old's toned physique, sporting just a pair of Calvin Klein boxer briefs.

Instagram did remove the photos from their app, prompting both Beck and Baker to speak out against the app. Baker wrote on his Instagram story, "Dear Instagram. What exactly is offensive about a confident male body?! stop censoring art. Thanks!" In a separate post on his story, he added, "It is our upmost responsibility as the new generation to make sure that ART SURVIVES. We cannot be silenced. History has done that too much to us. Without art, without expression, who do we become?! FREE ART!!!!"

Noah then followed up and said on his Instagram story, "Y'all soft over at Instagram… stop taking my stuff down. Like yes, I was kind of naked but like… not completely lol. I didn't violate any guidelines."

Beck has a new show called "Noah Beck Tries Things" with AwesomenessTV premiering soon

The 19-year-old TikTok star teamed up with the ViacomCBS owned studio, AwesomenessTV and now has his own reality television show hitting the studio's digital platform on January 22, 2021.

According to Variety, he co-developed the show with the studio and it "follows Beck after his move to L.A. in the summer of 2020 to be a full-time content creator. Across six episodes, Beck's newfound influencer friends help him learn about making diss tracks, DIY crafts and more."

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