The controversies of 20-year-old TikTok star Zoe Laverne, from kissing a 13-year-old to allegedly se
- Zoe Laverne is a controversial 20-year-old influencer with more than 21 million TikTok followers.
- Laverne announced this month that she had given birth to a baby.
- Laverne previously apologized for kissing and "catching feelings" for a 13-year-old fan.
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When 20-year-old TikTok star Zoe Laverne announced her pregnancy, it was met with intense scrutiny.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in.After rising to online fame on Musical.ly, TikTok's predecessor, Laverne has held onto a strong following for 4 years. But her reputation turned upside down in early November 2020 after a leaked video appeared to show her kissing a 13-year-old fan.
In an apology, Laverne said she "caught feelings" for the young fan, who goes by Connor Joyce online. Laverne blamed the interaction on the pair becoming "best friends," and denied that she had been "grooming" Connor — a term used when an older person builds a close relationship to manipulate and exploit a young person.
For teenage influencers clinging onto fast-paced online fame, controversy can be a good thing. TikTok stars like Bryce Hall and Danielle Cohn have cultivated profitable personas as troublemakers and provocateurs, and even family-friendly influencers like Charli D'Amelio and Addison Rae are boosted by relationship drama. But there's a tipping point for influencer scandals, especially those involving inappropriate relationships with underage fans.
Here's how Laverne went from a lip-syncing Musical.ly star to a TikTok villain.
Zoe Laverne was already one of TikTok's most controversial personalities before she kissed a 13-year-old.
Laverne's biggest platform is TikTok, where she has more than 21 million followers. She also has close to 3 million Instagram followers. Laverne's early video content echoed the popular lip-sync trends on Musical.ly, and after Musical.ly became TikTok in 2018, Laverne incorporated more dancing and humor content.
Laverne has also explored other avenues, like a solo YouTube channel, where she has posted a few "Storytime" videos and has close to 450,000 subscribers. Laverne also released a song in 2019 called "Lost It All." But more so than her dance moves, singing voice, or signature winged eyeliner, Laverne is known for her many controversies.
Laverne has developed a reputation for frequent online outbursts, including on private alternative and backup accounts. Rants from 2018 and before are still floating around on Laverne's public backup pages, and as the influencer disappeared under mounting backlash in late October and early November, she communicated with her audience through posts on a private Instagram page (many of the posts circulated publicly through screenshots leaked to gossip pages).
Before reaching her current tipping point of controversy, Laverne weathered other scandals, including a one-sided feud with the most-followed TikToker Charli D'Amelio and endless drama with her ex-boyfriend Cody Orlove. Like many influencers, Laverne's career has been propped up on the drama that supports her relevancy, starting years ago when she was a rising star on the tween-dominated app Musical.ly.
Laverne grew up in an Indianapolis suburb and started posting short videos of herself at age 15.
Laverne is actually Zoe's middle name. Her full name is Zoe Laverne Pemberton. Laverne grew up in Greenwood, Indiana, the largest suburb in the Indianapolis area. She has one brother named Eric and an older step-brother named Cameron.
Laverne first started posting to Musical.ly in late 2015, when she still had braces and was enrolled in public school. Early on, classmates made fun of Laverne for being active on the app, she later said. But Laverne gained followers at a quick pace early on, she said, leading up to getting a verification "Crown" in March 2017.
"It was the best feeling in the world," Laverne described in a 2017 Instagram post. She continued to live with her family outside Indianapolis while visiting LA to meet other influencers and collaborate.
In July 2018, the Indianapolis Star profiled Laverne and her parents, who began home-schooling Laverne due to increased issues with bullying at her high school as her online profile grew. Laverne's parents said they felt she'd been robbed of a normal high school experience because of Musical.ly.
In late 2017, Laverne started dating Cody Orlove, and the relationship quickly became a huge part of her online career.
Around December 2017, Laverne made a monumental shift in her social media brand — she started dating fellow Musical.ly star Cody Orlove. The relationship between Laverne and Orlove would last well into 2020, but the road was rocky, including a break-up caused by Laverne cheating.
Despite the on-again, off-again nature of their relationship, Laverne and Orlove consistently capitalized off of it, including by going on tour together, promoting sponsorships and merchandise together, and even by releasing a joint single called "Thinking Of You" in 2019.
Most importantly, Laverne and Orlove created a YouTube couple channel for "Zody," the name fans gave the pairing. The "Cody & Zoe" channel was the pair's most popular project together, and it currently has over 1.1 million subscribers. The channel was active between April 2018 and May 2020, and their popular videos are mostly pranks, including a cheating prank video that has more than 5.5 million views.
Laverne even referenced the channel's success in a sarcastic October 2020 TikTok with the popular meme format "Yes I did that. And you would do it too, for a check."
@zoelavernejokes 🥺😂
♬ Coco Jones yes I did that - ariana grindr.As Laverne and Orlove grew their joint YouTube channel, their respective online fame grew as well.
As they continued to document the ups and downs of "Zody," both Laverne and Orlove grew exponentially in terms of social media success.
While Laverne posted pictures with fans at conventions and meet-and-greets, she was also still climbing the Musical.ly social ladder herself. In June 2018, Laverne posted a picture with top Musical.ly star Loren Gray (who was the most-followed on the app and its successor TikTok until D'Amelio surpassed her in 2020) captioned "thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to talk to me."
She also continued to pursue modeling gigs in addition to her burgeoning social media career. As Laverne's spotlight grew, so did her opposition. On one 2018 backup page, Laverne documented her frustrations with a "hate page," writing "Update the hate page apologized. She did so [sic] horrible things but we are all human and make mistakes."
Laverne also expressed struggles with fitting in with her real-life peers as her online fame grew. In one February 2018 YouTube video she described herself as "really weird" and as having "no friends" offline.
After Laverne and Orlove's first major breakup, she admitted to cheating on him.
In March 2019, Laverne celebrated a major Instagram follower milestone, surpassing 1 million followers. But over the next few weeks her popularity took a major nosedive, as Laverne and Orlove experienced their first big breakup, and Laverne eventually admitted to cheating on him with another, smaller TikTok personality.
Initially, amid speculation over the cause of their breakup, Laverne said during livestreams that she hadn't cheated on Orlove. Later, she confessed to cheating, but said the TikTok star she cheated with, Drayke Austin, had pursued her first.
Then, in a livestreamed confrontation between Laverne and Orlove on Instagram, Laverne changed course and said she drove the cheating. The changing narratives led to an outpouring of animosity toward Laverne, who routinely melted down during live broadcasts — which further weakened support for her.
"The comments that i have gotten are so horrible and so graphic," Laverne wrote under a moody ring light selfie. "Just because i made a mistake/ choice does not make me a horrible person."
She also apologized to Orlove in the same caption, writing: "Cody if you see this i am so sorry for putting you through pain and making you cry i never meant to hurt you ever.. i was just selfish and was thinking about my self.."
Laverne posted some conflicting captions over the following months (from "I may have messed up" to "Look what you lost"), but she and Orlove were back together by May 2019. "My best friend," Laverne wrote under a photo of the couple embracing.
In a YouTube video also uploaded in May 2019, seemingly before getting back together, Orlove accused Laverne of sexually harassing him by kissing him against his will despite him turning his head "back and forth" to avoid her while covering his lips and asking her to stop. On a separate occasion, Orlove said Laverne also tried to take his pants off against his will.
In the YouTube video, Orlove plays audio recordings he took of Laverne admitting to trying to kiss him against his will and another of Laverne saying her taking his pants off was "a joke."
A year later, Laverne and Orlove indefinitely split again amid abuse allegations.
In June 2020, Laverne and Orlove again announced a mutual split. Officially, Laverne said in a livesteam that "nothing bad happened" and that they just wanted to go their "separate ways" after falling out of love.
But privately, Laverne had already direct messaged a fan and called Orlove an "abuser" and said he had "hit" and "slapped" her. The fan released the direct messages, and Laverne immediately posted an apology for "lying" on her private account. In his 2019 break-up explanation video, Orlove also said Laverne had previously lied about him "hitting" her and later admitted she was lying.
However, days after the June 2020 breakup, audio was leaked that sounded like Orlove physically restraining Laverne against her will while she screamed at him to "let go." Following the audio leak, Laverne went live on Instagram and said Orlove "hit" her and "grabbed" her during the argument in the audio.
Orlove responded to the audio leak in a lengthy Instagram caption in which he said there were never any "marks or physical damage" as a result of arguments between the two. He apologized for hurting Laverne.
"The suggestion that I abused her has be [sic] skewed and misrepresents everything I am and everything I believe as a person," Orlove wrote. "As teens, we found ourselves in a toxic relationship where we both participated in unhealthy behavior that at times went too far on both of our parts."
Now-infamous leaked audio also showed Laverne getting frustrated and proclaiming herself the "star" of TikTok.
In July 2020, footage leaked of Laverne reacting to D'Amelio about to surpass her in followers. The viral clip showed Laverne crying, calling 15-year-old D'Amelio a "b----," and insisting she was "the star of TikTok."
While the leaked audio wasn't received favorably, it proved to be the type of controversy Laverne could leverage for social media engagement. A TikTok she posted in September 2020 parodying her own rant received 4 million views, which is several times more than Laverne's average TikTok view count.
@zoelaverneno caption
♬ original sound - Thalia RHowever, in November 2020, additional audio of Laverne talking about D'Amelio leaked.
In the newer audio, Laverne can be heard saying "If you're gonna defend a f------ stinky ass wh---, don't f------ ring me in the car. I'm not gonna sit in there, and act like I like Charli D'Amelio, okay?"
D'Amelio commented "@zoexlaverne this you?" on the post. In an apology livestream, Laverne said she was "just mad" and that she has since sent "paragraphs and paragraphs" of apologies to D'Amelio, which Laverne said D'Amelio didn't respond to.
Behind the scenes of her rocky relationship, Laverne's former friends say she grew disturbingly close to a young fan named Connor.
In late October 2020, Orlove claimed that all of his social media accounts had been hacked. As a result of the "hack," Orlove's direct messages were leaked to TikTok Room, a "shaderoom"-style Instagram gossip page for TikTok stars that has close to 2 million followers.
Amber Van Pelt, a smaller TikToker who Laverne started publicly hanging out with in 2018, wrote Orlove a direct message saying "I left because of her interactions with connor. They got very intense and it's something I do not stand by what so ever. It's pedophilia."
Days after Van Pelt's direct messages with Orlove leaked, video footage of Laverne and Connor, 13, appearing to kiss one another also leaked, sparking massive outrage. Afterward, Laverne, 19, denied being in a "relationship" with Connor and said she never "groomed" or "raped" him, but confirmed the kiss happened and said the two "caught feelings" for each other. Laverne also said the two mutually ended their feelings because the "age is a bad thing."
The last pictures Laverne posted on Instagram with Van Pelt also include Connor. Laverne captioned a July 2020 post with Van Pelt and Connor "My second family," and she captioned August 2020 photos with each of them "Love those who love you."
Connor also appeared on Laverne's TikTok as her "bestie" multiple times in the weeks leading up to the kissing video leak. Laverne posted the two dancing to the song "Bestie" three times starting September 26, 2020 with the caption "Duetting every time we see each other."
@zoelaverne##duet with @zoelaverne we back
♬ Wet Shoota - sound remixesIn her apology, Laverne said she cut contact with Connor and that she had told his mother about the kiss prior to the video of it getting leaked. Connor has also since posted on his own accounts asking people to stop bringing up Laverne.
Laverne's "feelings" for her 13-year-old fan brought a massive spike in negative attention.
Laverne turned off all her Instagram comments in during the controversy and briefly deactivated her TikTok account. Upon returning to TikTok, and after her initial apology, Laverne tried to stage a sarcastic comeback by poking fun at her own "cancellation."
@zoelaverne ♬ Where Is The Love? - The Black Eyed Peas"Me coming back to tiktok after i got canceled for the 100th time," the video says, and it shows Laverne dancing around in a cat costume, covering her face in mock shame. Between seemingly trying to laugh the situation off and posting fan-made edits of her own apology livestream, Laverne's attempted return seemed to do more harm than good for her reputation. She quickly shut TikTok comments off and stopped posting across all platforms.
Laverne's parents have also seemingly struggled to handle the fallout from the leaked kissing video.
Soon after the kiss tape leaked on TikTok Room, Laverne appeared in a livestream with her mother Debbie Pemberton. In it, Pemberton appears to shut down Laverne's step-father's request to have the camera turned off while Laverne cries behind her.
—Def Noodles (@defnoodles) October 29, 2020Pemberton also broadcast a statement in response to the kiss downplaying the severity of the accusations. In it, she said "Anybody can reach over and kiss somebody. They're best friends. This needs to stop you guys — why are you doing this?"
A false rumor spread that Laverne was arrested, but she says she is seeking mental health treatment.
In late October, shortly after the video of Laverne and Connor kissing leaked, a prank news site posted the false claim that Laverne had been arrested. In her apology statements, Laverne shut down comments about her getting arrested or going to jail, responding that you couldn't be arrested for "kissing someone."
There's no evidence to suggest that Laverne has been contacted by law enforcement or that she has been arrested, but the hoax spread quickly on social media.
However, Laverne did step away from the internet indefinitely and hasn't been posting since November 2, when she published to a known backup Instagram account of hers that she was checking herself "into a hospital for a while."
#zoelaverne announces she’s checking herself into a hospital
"She should check herself into jail," the top comment on TikTok Room's post about Laverne's hospital statement says. Afterwards, Laverne took a break from social media.
In February 2021, Laverne announced her pregnancy.
Laverne became a trending topic again on February 23, 2021 when she announced she was pregnant. She and Dawson Day, her 20-year-old boyfriend, said they are expecting a child together. Laverne posted multiple pictures and videos of positive pregnancy tests, including a TikTok responding to a critic who said she was faking her pregnancy.
@zoelaverne##stitch with @zoelaverne @zoelavernedisyou no honey... is this you? 👶🏼🍼
♬ original sound - Zoe LaVerneBoth expectant parents addressed Laverne's previous relationship with Joyce to say the 13-year-old isn't the father.
"Well... we're expecting," Day wrote on Instagram. "& for the idiots talking s--- I am the father. Zoe and Connor didn't do anything to have a baby. That's impossible. And if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all. That's disgusting and a real low blow to talk s--- ab an unborn child. It's sickening."
Laverne gave birth in October 2021.
Laverne announced on Instagram that she had given birth on October 3. According to a screenshot tweeted by internet reporter Def Noodles, it appears Laverne posted a since-deleted Instagram post announcing her baby Emersyn had been born on October 3. The caption purportedly read, "Link in bio for more exclusive pics."
According to the screenshot, it previously offered followers the option to "unlock" some of their first photos together for $15. A purported screen recording posted on TikTok also appears to show the Instagram post, along with the $15 payment request to see the images.
In a subsequent Instagram post she thanked her fans for supporting her, and said, "I dropped some exclusive photos in my link that were extra special moments for me during the delivery."
Laverne also said she was given an emergency C-section, and had almost died during the birth.
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