The story of Johnny Elbows is quite thrilling. He was born John Thorington Jonathan Lee and gained fame when his friend posted a viral video of him on TikTok. While such an occasion may seem like the stuff that social media stars need, in his case, it was short-lived fame due to questionable things he said in some of his updates. Since then, he faced a backlash that led to his being canceled.
He was Cancelled a Year after he Became a TikTok Celebrity
38-year-old Johnny Elbows is getting canceled after a shortlived social media fame on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. For social media stars with a wide following getting canceled means they would no longer enjoy the support and following. Notably, he is not the first star to go through this, others include American rapper, Kanye West also known as Ye, and Dave Chappelle.
In Elbows’ case, things started unraveling on May 18, 2023, when Johnny said something problematic while on a live video with his friend, Mario known as @bigboyofomahaa, and Underfaker on TikTok. Reportedly, he said questionable things such as calling an underage girl cute at a park.
Soon enough, he faced backlash. Starting from his friend, @bigboyofomahaa condemned Johnny for his statement and also made it clear that he would be cutting any ties with the Nebraska-born.
Following this, the platform also brought down his content while many users showed their displeasure with him.
The TikTok Star Apologized for his Comments and Promised to Stay Away from Everyone
Following the backlash, the Tiktoker regretted his actions and apologized. In a video he uploaded, he apologized for his actions and promised to stay away from everybody.
Through his update, he revealed that he does not want to go to jail like his brother Nathan. Also, he made it clear that Nathan can put him in a home so he can stay away from everybody.
In his desire to stay away from people, he suggested having a cabin in the country and promised to fix his mistake. Moreover, he promised to stay away from the park and TikTok.
A Look at Johnny Elbow’s Life Before Fame
Before he became famous, Johhny was just another regular person going about his day-to-day activities. He was born John Thorington Jonathan Lee in Fremont, Nebraska in 1986. He grew up alongside a younger brother named Nathan Thorington.
Looking at his pictures, we can’t help but ask questions about his physique.
Many explanations have been given for it. On the one hand, some reports claim he was in an accident at the age of 8, when accidentally ran in front of his uncle’s semi-truck and damaged both elbows. Others explain it as a medical condition.
Regardless of what caused him to look the way he is, he has lived with unusual elbows which made his schoolmates nickname Johnny Elbows.
Focusing on his education, he attended special education classes during high school and graduated sometime in the 2000s. Though many of his mates moved on to college, this was not the case for him. He is said to have started living a quiet life by playing video games and wandering around.
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He Rose to Fame through TikTok Updates
@yungmycelium His moonwalk at the end 💀 #fyp #johnnyelbow #johnnyelbows #viral
His rise to TikTok fame was quite a surprise. As the story goes, it was his friend, @bigboyofomaha who is also known as @underfaker who uploaded Elbows in an April 2022 update. Understandably, the friendship between Mario and Johnny meant so much to him, and no wonder the TikToker describes Mario as a brother to him.
Following this, @bigboyofomahaa started sharing more content about him which in turn added to the latter’s following. Behind this newfound fame for both, there was the usual expectation that more collaborations would be seen between the two. Some of their notable collaborations were in the saga of Candy and Sandy as well as in Elbows’ video doing the Griddy dance.
Somehow, the video became viral within a short time, Elbows’ video attracted more than 17 million followers.
