Aussie entertainment powerhouse and activist Abbie Chatfield has defended her partner, Adam Hyde, after people accused the singer of not standing up for Black creators at the TikTok Awards.
The 2025 TikTok Awards have been embroiled in controversy after several Black creators claimed they were discriminated against at the show’s red carpet.
Australian creator Niiyéll (@niiyells) first brought the alleged mistreatment to light, claiming a photographer working at the TikTok Awards denied her and Beauty and Fashion Creator of the Year nominee, Florence Baitio, red carpet access.
“This has nothing to do with you. We don’t need your photo. What are they going to do with your photo?” the photographer can be heard saying in footage shared Niiyéll.
In the back of the video, Adam — who goes by the stage name Keli Holiday — was seen walking towards them as the incident unfolded.
While many commenters expressed their disappointment with TikTok Australia, some folks questioned why Adam didn’t defend the creators.
“Why was your man completely silent in the back of the video of the situation?” one TikTok user commented.
In response, Abbie explained that despite appearances, Adam wasn’t part of the conversation and likely didn’t even hear it.
“Adam was not a part of that conversation, so I didn’t feel that I had to address it because he was merely walking in the background of the video,” Abbie said.
“He was walking in the background of the video on a loud red carpet. Everyone’s seen all the accounts of the fact that there were 8,000 people in that room. It was so loud.”
Abbie went on to add that Adam had been busy with gigs as Keli Holiday and with Peking Duk, and that he hasn’t had the opportunity to look on social media and see the comments about the TikTok Awards.
“Adam has done nine gigs in like I think four days or something at that point. It was wild. He was so exhausted and trying to get through press because people are yelling at you,” Abbie continued.
The It’s A Lot podcast host went on to slam the claim that Adam was a part of the controversy and said she didn’t initially address it because his presence in the video wasn’t relevant to the issue the creators were trying to highlight.
“That’s why I haven’t brought it up because I didn’t think that it was relevant that he was walking in the background of a video,” Abbie said.
“I can confidently say that if Adam had heard an entire conversation like that, where someone was spoken to like that, he would pull that person up. And he also would’ve told me about it.”
Abbie’s response has been met with support, with TikTok Award Entertainment Creator of the Year Nominee Maddy Turner agreeing that the red carpet “was so loud and chaotic”.
“I didn’t hear about what happened until Aicha came to our nominee table and let us know what happened, and we were APPALLED. It’s completely disgusting and unacceptable,” Maddy wrote under Abbie’s TikTok.
Days after the allegations of the incident first surfaced, TikTok Australia issued a statement on its official account, apologising to “anyone who felt excluded or uncomfortable” at the awards show.
“We are deeply upset that some of our valued guests had a negative experience,” the statement read.
“It was always our intention for everyone to walk the red carpet, but two hours before the guests arrived, the venue’s risk management team told us a severe storm was coming and it was not safe for our media wall and some activations to proceed.
“In the interest of safety, we made the decision to move inside, halving the space available and making the flow of people throughout the venue challenging.”
“Our amazing and diverse community is what makes TikTok great and the awards are designed to celebrate that – more than one third of this year’s nominees were from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds.
“We appreciate the feedback to help us improve future events.”
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