A 25-year-old influencer is facing backlash for publicly flirting with a TikTok star days after he turned 18

Nikita Dragun faced accusations that she was preying on 18-year-old Alejandro Rosario.
Nikita Dragun faced accusations that she was preying on 18-year-old Alejandro Rosario. Instagram/@nikitadragun, @alejandrorosario
  • Nikita Dragun is a controversial 25-year-old influencer with 9 million Instagram followers.

  • She recently received backlash for publicly flirting with a teenage TikTok star.

  • When Alejandro Rosario turned 18, Dragun immediately commented to ask about his age.

  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Nikita Dragun is attempting to shut down backlash she's receiving for her seemingly flirtatious interactions with a TikTok star who just turned 18. The controversial 25-year-old beauty influencer now says she and Alejandro Rosario are "just friends," but only after she commented on his Instagram post to ask if he had turned the legal age of consent.

On January 21, a week after he turned 18, Rosario posted a new Instagram picture. Rosario has more than 5.5 million followers on TikTok, where he often posts videos of himself dancing. Dragun commented "u 18 now right ? ...asking for a friend 👀" on his Instagram post. The comment quickly attracted scrutiny from critics who accused Dragun of "preying" on Rosario by waiting for him to turn 18.

"A 25 yr old has no business being with an 18 yr old," said one tweet that got more than 15,000 likes. "It's just weird." Another tweet with more than 800 likes said "Nikita Dragun is 25 years old asking a child are they 18 yet. on a public platform. that's a predator!"

Dragun has 9 million Instagram followers and just turned 25 on January 31. She celebrated with a large party in LA attended by dozens of maskless guests. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Dragun has remained controversial for seemingly failing to adhere to social distancing guidelines. She has also been pictured in public without a mask multiple times.

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After her birthday party, Dragun was pictured leaving with Rosario, who also left a "Happy birthday" comment on one of her recent Instagram posts. She also showed up with him to BOA Steakhouse, an influencer-favorite for staged paparazzi moments, and dined there with him.

While the two appeared to be romantically linked, given their flirtatious online and in-person interactions, they both have denied that they were dating. Dragun posted a TikTok of the pair lip-syncing to audio that says "Why does everybody think we f---?" She then starts dancing up against Rosario in the video.

One comment on the TikTok replied "You was just waiting for him to turn 18 right," to which Dragun responded "u don't need to create a false narrative just to get likes on ur comment. we are just friends." Under a since-deleted TikTok of the pair, Rosario also wrote "We're literally just friends btw before you all assume."

Drama has become routine for Dragun, who has yet to address her friendship with the Lopez brothers - both of whom have denied accusations of sexual misconduct - and her repeated "blackfishing" scandals, in which she appears to artificially darken her skin tone.

Read more: Influencer Nikita Dragun asked her fans 'what race' she should be that day, reigniting 'blackfishing' accusations

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