Lili Reinhart’s TikTok joke quickly spiraled into a full-blown news story after she posted an 8-second clip in an Uber, playfully saying, “If you never see me again, show this to the police.” While her followers understood the humor, media outlets like BuzzFeed sensationalized it, reporting that she sparked genuine concern and highlighting a 15-hour gap in her social media activity. Lili herself was stunned by the response, calling the coverage “fucking embarrassing” and clarifying on Instagram that she was never actually in danger.
This incident highlights how easily social media posts can be misinterpreted and exaggerated by news outlets hungry for attention-grabbing headlines. With over half of U.S. adults now getting at least some news from social media, the pressure for clicks has never been higher—often leading to confusion and misinformation. And while many people turn to trusted voices to cut through the noise, as Northwestern University’s Stephanie Edgerly notes, this cycle of hype and fear-mongering can overshadow the truth, as seen in Lili’s harmless TikTok.
This incident highlights how easily social media posts can be misinterpreted and exaggerated by news outlets hungry for attention-grabbing headlines. With over half of U.S. adults now getting at least some news from social media, the pressure for clicks has never been higher—often leading to confusion and misinformation. And while many people turn to trusted voices to cut through the noise, as Northwestern University’s Stephanie Edgerly notes, this cycle of hype and fear-mongering can overshadow the truth, as seen in Lili’s harmless TikTok.
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00:00Lily Reinhart's recent TikTok was meant as a joke, but 15 hours later,
00:03it's making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Let's break down why the Riverdale star is calling
00:08the whole thing embarrassing. Reinhart, who you probably know as Betty Cooper on Riverdale,
00:14shared a quick 8-second TikTok yesterday that sparked a viral moment she never expected. In
00:19the video, Lily's sitting in the back of an Uber, panning her phone across the doors,
00:24covered in duct tape, and adding the text,
00:26if you never see me again, show this to the police. Most of her followers immediately picked
00:31up on the fact that it was a dark, playful joke. Comments flooded in like, it's been 8 minutes,
00:36where are you at? And even one said, a missing persons report has been filed and the driver
00:41has since been arrested concerning the disappearance. But things took a turn when
00:45mainstream media outlets picked it up as a story, most notably BuzzFeed, who ran with the headline,
00:51Riverdale star Lily Reinhart has sparked genuine concern after she posted a worrying
00:56TikTok from her Uber ride 15 hours ago and nothing else since. And suddenly, what started as a
01:03playful TikTok turned into a genuine concern story. Now, Lily's videos already racked up over 4 million
01:09views in less than a day, which has left plenty of room for confusion if you didn't see it before the
01:14headline. Especially since BuzzFeed and others zeroed in on the 15-hour gap in Lily's social media
01:19posting, framing it as a sign that something was really wrong. But here's the thing, Lily herself was
01:25shocked by how serious her TikTok video was being made out to be. One fan who commented on Lily's
01:30original video stated that BuzzFeed made an entire post about it, to which the actress responded,
01:35I know. Embarrassing. And Lily has since taken to her Instagram stories to clear the air, stating,
01:41I'm alive. I was never actually scared for my life. I thought it was funny. Can we joke these days?
01:46Now, while BuzzFeed has updated their original story with a new post for clarification,
01:51Lily's video being misunderstood continues to point to how quickly social media posts get twisted into
01:57headlines that feed on panic and confusion. According to a 2024 Pew Research study, around
02:0354% of U.S. adults say that at least sometimes they get their news from social media. And with more than
02:092 million news articles published every day on the web competing for clicks, headlines seem to be
02:14getting more dramatic, sometimes turning a harmless joke into a serious safety concern. And that seems to be
02:20one of the reasons why more people are turning to other outlets to get their news, like YouTube
02:25breakdowns, sub-stack newsletters, and even independent reporting, according to Medium.
02:30Stephanie Edgarley, a Northwestern University professor and associate dean of research,
02:35explained to the Center for Journalism Efforts,
02:38Audiences sometimes need a person who they trust and they relate to that will take what journalists are
02:42covering and translate it in an accessible way. The problem, according to writer Caroline Walsh,
02:48is that this has led to journalism being sacrificed for clicks, which in Lily Reinhart's case can lead to
02:54misinformation over the safety of your well-being. But what's your take? Share your thoughts below
02:59and follow us everywhere at What's Trending.