Dixie D’Amelio faces backlash over ‘privileged’ comments about attending college

Dixie D’Amelio is facing backlash from fans for being “privileged” after revealing her reasons for staying close to home and deciding not to attend college.

The TikTok star, 19, discussed her choice to skip college during a YouTube video with Vogue, which saw D’Amelio followed by the magazine for a day.

At one point during the video, D’Amelio brings up her move to Los Angeles, California, with her family, revealing that she moved out on her own just a few months afterwards because she felt she needed to mature.

"I was supposed to be in college right now so I thought I needed to learn how to grow on my own and mature and I wasn't doing that because I would just have my mom do things for me," she explained. "So now, living by myself, I still go home every day to my parent's house and have my mom do things for me.  

“But, I mean, that's what moms are for, right?"  

As for her reasoning for deciding not to attend college, D’Amelio said that she had concerns about the amount of travel – as well as fears that her music would be played at frat parties.

Over the past year, D’Amelio has released songs with both Wiz Khalifa and Liam Payne, in addition to her debut single Be Happy.

“I fully got into college of August of 2019 and I decided not to go just because travelling back and forth was going to be a lot," the 19-year-old said. "And I was also really scared because I saw someone make a TikTok saying that they would play my songs at a frat party and that's really what, like, turned me away from going to school because I don't think I could handle that level of embarrassment."

The social media star’s explanation was met with confusion on Twitter, TikTok and YouTube, where some of her fans appeared to suggest her comments were tone deaf.

“Imagine getting into college AND having the money to pay for it, but not going because someone will play your song at a party,” one person commented on TikTok, where a clip from the Vogue interview has been viewed more than 5.8m times.

Another said: “Imagine being privileged enough to simply refuse to go to college because you think your song is gonna be played at a party.”

“The privilege here is ASTRONOMICAL,” someone else wrote.

However, others have defended the 19-year-old’s decision to stay close to home, with some pointing out that college is not for everyone, while others acknowledged D’Amelio’s valid fears over being publicly embarrassed.

“That’s actually sad that she didn’t want to go to college because kids threatened to embarrass her,” one person wrote. “Damn you don’t have to like Dixie, but there is no reason to be mean to her in real life. You can state valid criticism about her music, but no need to be cruel.”

Someone else commented: “She isn’t embarrassed of HER song but more embarrassed of people playing it out loud. Y’all find something wrong every chance you get.”

The latest criticism comes after D’Amelio previously faced backlash for travelling to the Bahamas amid the pandemic, as well as for her behaviour towards her family’s private chef.