The Hollywood Reporter celebrated social media’s biggest stars at its Creators A-List party on Thursday, raising a glass to the Internet breakouts who are taking over the industry.
The event, presented by iHeartRadio and sponsored by Coca-Cola, Meta and Gersh, was tied to THR‘s inaugural Creators A-List issue, out this week, featuring a list of the 50 most influential influencers and a profile on cover star Jake Paul. Multihyphenate star Huddy performed at the party — and hosted red carpet interviews for THR — in front of a crowd that included top creators Josh Richards, Delaney Rowe, Drew Afualo, Heidi Wong and Hot Ones host Sean Evans.
At West Hollywood hotspot Delilah, the night kicked off with Brian Austin Green and Sharna Burgess, Scout Willis, Anna Sitar and Josh Brubaker, Yasmine Sahid, Julian Burzynski and reality TV alums Blake Horstmann and Giannina Gibelli among the early arrivals.
On the carpet, Rowe gave advice to those hoping to launch their own influencer careers, telling Huddy, “Don’t look at the numbers for a while, just be really consistent and don’t rely on your talent, rely on your stamina more than that. Who knows what’s ever going to hit; you can’t predict the success of an idea. You just have to go, go, go, go.” The creator added, “Sit down and just squeeze your brain like a grapefruit or something and then an idea will come out; you just have to set aside the time for it.”
Gibelli, who built a platform off of her appearance on season one of Love is Blind, spoke to how social media has changed her life, saying, “I don’t sit behind a desk anymore, I’m able to express myself creatively and inspire people, and just be really authentic every day — which is terrifying, because social media is ruthless. But it just makes you a stronger person. Feeling aligned and having such a strong community is the best thing in the world, and I feel so blessed and grateful for it.”
Inside the event, with DJ Devin Lucien spinning tunes, guests munched on tray-passed appetizers and desserts and hit the bar for a trio of specialty cocktails: “Click Beit,” “The Thirst Trap” and “Blue Check.” Copies of the latest issue of THR were also sprinkled throughout the party for attendees to flip through, and many stopped by Coca-Cola’s Snapchat AR vending machine, which doubled as both a photo moment and a soda dispenser.
Content was being filmed left and right inside the moody space, as creators whipped out their ring lights to film videos with their friends and hit the dance floor.
In the last hour of the party, THR president Joe Shields and co-editor-in-chiefs Nekesa Mumbi Moody and Maer Roshan led a toast and brought Huddy to the stage for his performance. “Los Angeles, I need you guys to get as close to me as you fucking can right now,” the star — who boasts 30.7 million TikTok followers and 9.6 million Instagram followers — yelled into the mic, before playing a trio of songs.
Huddy’s second tune, “Addicted To You,” is a new release, as he told the crowd, “It actually just dropped five minutes ago” before playing the live rendition, promising it would “blow your fucking faces off.” As his set went on Huddy worked the crowd, casting aside his blazer and climbing onto the venue’s booths before saying goodnight.
Asia Jackson, Charly Jordan, Jade Sherman, Marco Zamora, David Dobrik, Carter Gregory and Juju Green (A.K.A. Straw Hat Goofy) were also among the creators in attendance, as well as journalist Taylor Lorenz and UTA’s Ali Berman and Raina Penchansky.
