Jimmy Fallon Finally Addressed the TikTok Dance Backlash

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On the March 26th episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Fallon's guest, the massive TikTok star Addison Rae, played a game in which she taught Fallon eight viral TikTok dances. Not only did the portion of the show become heavily meme-d online the next day, but audiences were upset that The Tonight Show did not give credit where credit was due—to the (mostly Black) TikTok creators who originally choreographed those dances. So, in an effort to make things right, Fallon invited those TikTok dancers to the show yesterday, April 5th.

"On our last show before break, we did a bit with Addison Rae where she taught me eight viral TikTok dances," Fallon said at the top of the segment. "Now, we recognize that the creators of those dances deserve to have their own spotlight."

Fallon then interviewed Mya Nicole Johnson and Chris Cotter (who choreographed a dance for "Up"), Dorien Scott ("Corvette Corvette"), Fur-Quan Powell and Camyra Franklin ("Laffy Taffy"), Adam Snyder, Nate Nale, and Greg Dahl ("Blinding Lights"), and Keara Wilson ("Savage").

When backlash over the original segment first hit the airwaves, Rae told TMZ that she agreed with what audiences were saying—"[the creators] definitely deserve all the credit because they came up with all of these amazing trends," she said, adding, "They all know that I love them so much." Her non-apology didn't really sit well with those who were upset, though.

Rae then posted Fallon's interviews with the dancers to her Instagram Story when the segment aired yesterday.

Yes, the Tonight Show team should have thought about inviting the choreographers to the show before pulling the Addison Rae stunt. Though the dances have taken on a life of their own on TikTok, they aren't necessarily Rae's to teach. It wasn't a good look, and it was super cringe, but Fallon took note and did the right thing in the end.