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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Entertainment
Nardine Saad

Doja Cat loses thousands of Instagram followers after Noah Schnapp TikTok controversy

Singer-rapper Doja Cat's social media following has reportedly thinned after she blasted "Stranger Things" star Noah Schnapp last week for exposing their private messages.

According to Social Blade, a social media stats and analytics website, the "Kiss Me More" and "Need to Know" hit-maker apparently lost about 200,000 followers on Instagram after blasting Schnapp for the leak. The drop took her from 24.34 million to 24.14 million since July 7, the day she addressed the controversy.

However, her following on TikTok — where she posts and jokes more robustly and where the Schnapp spat played out — appeared unchanged over the past week and held steady at approximately 25.5 million followers.

Meanwhile, Schnapp, who plays Will Byers in Netflix's hit sci-fi series, saw his Instagram following jump from 24.25 million to 25.17 million over the same time period, posting a gain of nearly 1 million followers since the debacle began. The 17-year-old actor also gained nearly 3 million followers on TikTok, jumping from 24.4 to 27.3 million on the video-sharing platform.

Doja Cat, 26, has made no secret of her crush on Schnapp's "fine" co-star Joseph Quinn and pinged Schnapp to connect them. Schnapp then leaked their conversation in a now-deleted TikTok video that he labeled "thirsty Doja."

That didn't sit well with the Grammy-winning rapper. She took to TikTok Live to blast his "borderline snake" behavior, dubbing him a "kid" who is "unbelievably socially unaware and whack."

But prickly commentary wasn't solely reserved for Schnapp. The tides also turned against Doja for soliciting Quinn's information from a minor rather than seeking it out through other channels. Other fans and followers tried to play up that Schnapp posted his video in jest and that the embarrassed rapper got unnecessarily upset.

The singer appeared to address the situation Friday, tweeting: "y'all are so cringe and lame and nobody wants to hang w u that's why y'all be on here unironically writing replies to s— that makes you mad."'

On Friday, the musician also posted a graphic photo on Instagram of what appeared to be cat droppings. "My cat is so cute i love him so much," read the caption, prompting followers to comment "Whyyyyyy are you like this??" and "Sometimes a social media manager is needed."

Schnapp has not yet addressed the controversy — and neither has Quinn — and representatives for Schnapp did not respond to the L.A. Times' requests for comment.

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