'It was literally viral, and then I barely got any credit for it.' Black TikTok creators start dance crazes — and white users profit.

TikTokers with bigger followings have performed his dances without giving him credit — and he's not alone. Forbes recently ranked TikTok's seven highest earners, all earning at least $1 million a year, with Addison Rae Easterling in pole position with $5 million. The top five earners are white, even though young Black trendsetters like Jelks create some of the platform's most widely shared trends. Now some of these Black creators are fighting back, trying to get the recognition and money they feel they deserve.

"I thought to myself, there was no way this person would take credit for something they didn't create; that's so wrong," Jelks said about times he's seen his dances appear on other popular users' pages. "At first when I asked for dance credit, in the comments I was told, 'Why does it matter?' or, 'It's just a dance; get over it.' I kept asking for credit and explaining why it was a big deal. Then people understood."

When Atlanta's 14-year-old Jalaiah Harmon's "Renegade" dance routine was widely shared earlier this year, it was imitated by Lizzo and Kourtney Kardashian — but it was Charli D'Amelio who was dubbed "CEO of the Renegade." She is TikTok's second-highest earner, with total earnings of $4 million last year, according to the Forbes list.

This false crediting didn't go unnoticed. The online-gaming phenomenon "Fortnite" made an in-game emote dedicated to Jalaiah. She's since appeared in a Sufjan Stevens music video. Easterling also went on to post a video to her millions of followers of herself, D'Amelio, and Jalaiah all doing the dance together. The caption thanked Harmon for "teaching us the og renegade!! show her love!!"

But while there's been increased pressure on TikTok's most famous users to properly credit the Black creatives they're imitating, some creators feel it's too little, too late. The latest Forbes figures show this is not just about clout — these creators have missed out on income too.

"I think I could have gotten money for it," Jalaiah told The New York Times in February. According to the Forbes figures show, she wasn't wrong.

Deaundre Lewis, 20, is another creator who lost out after not getting credit for his work on TikTok. Lewis is the creator of multiple popular dance challenges — more than 12.1 million videos have been made using his custom sound, "2liveSoundsmix," with people trying the accompanying dance routine.

"Charli, Addison, James Charles, Shaq and his son, you name it — everybody was doing it. The queen of TikTok is Charli, and, you know, Charli did it about 80 times. It was literally viral. And then I barely got any credit for it," Lewis said. It's clear there's no easy solution to this: When asked what he intended to do to address the lack of credit, Lewis simply said: "I don't even know."

White people copying Black culture and passing it off as their own is nothing new — especially online. Before "cherry emoji twitter," there was "Hoe Twitter," a community formed by two Black women: Jessica Fant and Taylor Crenshaw (aka Nicole Milfie). If you've seen the phrase "on fleek" anywhere, that was created by a Black woman called Peaches Monroee. Even the meme of Kermit the Frog sipping iced tea is from Black culture — specifically, queer Black culture: The phrase "spilling tea" originates from Black gay slang.

Black TikTokers are the latest in a long line of creators who get forgotten as their work takes off. Nicole Bloomgarden, 20, is another whose name was forgotten as her "Out West" challenge was rapidly shared.

"Everyone was doing it. It felt like you couldn't scroll on the For You page without seeing it," she said, referring to TikTok's landing page. "Then a lot of celebrities started doing it too. At that point, the dance became bigger than me, and I lost credit for doing it. I think it all came to a head when they had some of the biggest TikTok stars doing it at the NBA All-Star weekend."

Could the creators on the Forbes list be doing more to address this TikTok pay gap? A representative for Easterling told Business Insider that she was unavailable for comment. A representative for Josh Richards, fifth on the Forbes list, said he recently created a hoodie from which 100% of the proceeds were donated to the NAACP. Many have also started putting dance credits in their captions, as where D'Amelio credits creator Amiyat Rae for her dance to "The Race" by Tay-K.

A representative for Easterling declined to comment. Representatives for D'Amelio, Dixie D'Amelio (No. 3 on the Forbes list), and Loren Gray (No. 4) declined to comment.

Bloomgarden said, "It's not necessarily any influencer's fault that Black creators didn't make that list, but it does show that Black creators are not getting the same opportunities as others on the platform."

Even if top earners credited and gave a platform for Black creators as much as possible, it's not clear that content by Black creators would receive more engagement. Though Lewis has created multiple popular dance challenges, he has relatively few followers: about 360,000. Jelks has a significantly larger following with 3.3 million, but this pales in comparison to the numbers reached by the white users on the Forbes list.

Lewis said, "You don't see other Black creators with millions of followers." Easterling and Charli D'Amelio have 58 million and 83 million, respectively. 

Some Black creators also say they believe TikTok's algorithm suppresses their content. There was an outcry in May when a "technical glitch" meant videos tagged #BlackLivesMatter and #GeorgeFloyd displayed having zero views, while they were actually reaching upward of 1 billion hits. TikTok has also previously acknowledged suppressing posts from users who are disabled, LGBTQ-plus, or overweight, saying it feared wide exposure would make them vulnerable to bullying, which raises questions about what else they might be suppressing.

A TikTok spokesperson told Business Insider: "Nothing in our community guidelines or in how our For You feed works seeks to discriminate against any creator or diminish diversity on our platform. We fully acknowledge our responsibility to not simply wish for and talk about the importance of diversity on our platform, but to actively promote and protect it."

In any case, one cause of the pay gap extends beyond the app: Brands also fail to pay their Black influencers fairly or don't reach out at all, creators say.

"I am friends with some of the people on [the Forbes list], and I think even they would agree that it is harder for Black people to rise to TikTok fame," Jelks said.

Whatever TikTok's future in the US looks like, Jelks said he couldn't envisage Black creators on Forbes' list next year.

"I think eventually there can be a Black creator on that list, but unfortunately I cannot see it happening in the near future," he said. He added he couldn't see himself taking legal action against the creators copying his dances, though he plans to continue calling out those who do copy him — and hopes they "do the right thing."

Bloomgarden is more hopeful and has been more proactive. She's managed to reassert ownership of the "Out West" challenge: Young Thug, one of the artists behind the song, has publicly acknowledged her as the creator of the dance, and "Fortnite" recently released an "Out West" emote that credits her.

"I hope to keep this momentum going. I have a lot more to share with the world. I hope to use this platform as an example of how women of all backgrounds can be heard in the entertainment industry. If TikTok is here next year, I hope to see a lot more Black creators on that list, including myself," she said.