TikTok star Sabrina Bahsoon, better known as ‘Tube Girl’, has been forced to delete some of her videos after appearing to fall foul of Transport for London’s advertising rules.
Ms Bahsoon has told her 800,000 TikTok followers “they have finally come for me,” explaining she will be deleting all her videos on the Tube which feature her song Not My Kind.
It comes after the influencer was warned by TfL last year about filming “commercial” videos on their property.
In a post on Monday, she said: “I just wanted to be transparent and I didn’t want the videos to just vanish, especially after I received so many sweet and kind messages about the video and the song and also just to warn any other artists if you’re filming videos on the Tube with your own song, they can take that down”.
She continued: “I just want to clarify this does not apply to me doing it with other people or other artists.
“It just applies to my own song - which is really sad and that’s why I won’t be doing my own music on the Tube anymore.”
The influencer wrapped up by saying that the ban was the “perfect opportunity” for people to make their own versions of her video, using her new song as a backdrop.
She finished: “I will be happy to see some baddies shake their ass to my song on the Tube”.
Ms Bahsoon released the song earlier this year and filmed herself catwalking along a DLR platform on April 15.
It comes after she appeared to stop filming ‘paid partnership’ videos on the London Underground after her agents were contacted by the transport authority at the start of 2024.
“Tube Girl” first went viral on the social media app in August 2023, when Ms Bahsoon became known for her care-free dancing and her ingenious use of open carriage windows to create a ‘wind machine’ effect on her hair.
As her following boomed however, Ms Bahsoon began to make some videos “in partnership” with luxury brands.
In October 2023, the influencer modelled various jewellery and accessories from Tiffany & Co, in a video captioned ‘From Tube Girl to Tiffany Girl’.
Two months later, she used the platforms at Pimlico station as a catwalk for her to show off different Hugo Boss outfits. Both videos were labelled by Ms Bahsoon as “paid partnerships”, in line with TikTok rules.
But TfL grew concerned that these videos were in breach of their “conditions of carriage”, which state that, while on TfL property, all passengers “must not undertake filming or photography for commercial purposes without the express permission of TfL”.
A TfL spokesperson said: “While we are pleased that our iconic brand and services provide inspiration for creatives to use as a backdrop, when they’re being used for commercial or promotional use, we need to ensure filming is done under the proper permit with our Film Office.
“This helps to ensure that the relevant health and safety guidelines are being followed to keep our customers, staff and those filming safe. We also charge for the use of our brand in commercial and promotional content and so need to ensure commercial terms are agreed.
“These terms have been explained to Ms Bahsoon and her agent both on this occasion and previously and we remain happy to engage with her on any commercial and promotional content she wishes to create in the future. Doing this helps to protect our intellectual property and provide additional revenue that is then reinvested in the transport network to benefit everyone."
