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Jalaiah Harmon: 14-year-old who created viral TikTok Renegade dance performs at NBA game

A number of high-profile TikTok stars had performed the Renegade dance without crediting Jalaiah for the viral routine

Roisin O'Connor
Monday 17 February 2020 06:16 EST
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Teenager who created viral Renegade dance gets to perform at NBA All-Star-game

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Louise Thomas

Louise Thomas

Editor

The teenager who created the viral Renegade dance got to perform the routine in front of thousands of people before an NBA All-Star game.

Jalaiah Harmon, 14, from Fayetteville, Georgia, performed the dance solo at Chicago's United Center – months after first posting a video of the dance, which was choreographed to Atlanta rapper K CAMP's "Lottery".

Fans are delighted Jalaiah is finally getting credit, after a number of TikTok stars with large followers, including Charli D'Amelio and Addison Easterling, performed the routine without attributing her.

When Jalaiah tried to receive credit by posting in comments of viral videos where the dance was featured, she was mostly either mocked or ignored.

Easterling and D'Amelio were invited to take part in the NBA All-Star celebrations, a day after K CAMP tweeted a video to thank Jalaiah for making his song go viral. She was absent from the TikTok All-Star event.

However, following an online backlash, she was then invited to perform at the game on Sunday (16 February) and recorded herself dancing with Easterling and D'Amelio.

She told the New York Times: "I was happy when I saw my dance all over, but I wanted credit for it."

"I think I could have got money for it, promos for it, I could have got famous off it, got noticed," she added. "I don't think any of that stuff has happened for me because no one knows I made the dance."

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