With a combined total of 126 million followers on TikTok and counting, the D'Amelio sisters know a thing or two about dealing with online trolls. In a new interview with Seventeen, Charli, 16, and Dixie, 19, open up about their skyrocket to fame — and the enormous mental toll that the newfound attention has had. "Even when I started to gain a following, I definitely never thought that it would be this much ever in my life," Charli said.
The TikTok stars haven't been shy about discussing their experiences with online bullying. Back in April, Charli tweeted, "STOP TALKING ABOUT MY BODY!" after she had been forced to delete a photo of herself in a bikini off of Instagram due to hateful comments she was receiving. "It’s not your place to tell me if I’m losing weight or gaining weight," she continued in the thread. "Why don’t we all just be respectful and understand that we should just be kind and uplift everyone instead of trying to bring others down and I’ve seen these videos about me my friends and complete strangers but it doesn’t matter who you’re doing it to."
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In this new interview, Dixie revealed that she deals with online trolls in a totally diplomatic way — by not giving them the chance to speak in the first place. "I have all my comments off so I don’t really get mean ones," Dixie shared. "But I usually just make a joke out of it or ignore it, because it doesn’t matter. They don’t know who you are as a person so it’s not worth my time to argue with someone or defend myself."
"A lot of people around my age, some younger, some older, are the prime ages for most types of bullying," Charli said to Seventeen. "We all need to be more conscious of the things we say about people because it can really affect them…. As a society, we definitely need to be more careful with our words and make sure we are treating people with kindness."
Recently, Charli opened up about her struggle with disordered eating to her 29.4 million followers on Instagram. "I’ve always tried to use my voice when it comes to issues surrounding body image, but I’ve never talked about my own struggles with eating disorders," Charli posted on her IG stories, according to Seventeen. "It’s so uncomfortable to admit to even your closest friends and family, let alone the world. I’ve been afraid to share that I have an eating disorder, but ultimately I hope that by sharing this I can help someone else. I know eating disorders are something that so many other people are battling behind closed doors."
Charli is set to reveal even more insider info in her upcoming book, Essentially Charli: The Ultimate Guide to Keeping It Real on December 1. Until then, the sisters have one last piece of advice: "Be yourself, have fun, make mistakes."