Rick Scott criticizes Met Gala for making TikTok CEO honorary chair

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) posted online criticizing the announcement that TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, was named the honorary chair of this year’s Met Gala.

“Disturbing the Met Gala would allow TikTok’s CEO to be an ‘honorary’ chair,” Scott posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Vogue Magazine announced Thursday that the 2024 Met Gala will be hosted by its own Anna Wintour, alongside co-chairs Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hemsworth and Zendaya. Jonathan Anderson and Chew will be the event’s honorary chairs, the magazine posted online.

Chew, a 40-year-old Singaporean and Harvard Business School graduate, has been grilled by lawmakers in Congress recently as he seeks to defend his widely popular platform.

The app has gained a massive following among younger users, and lawmakers in Congress and states across the country have called for it to be banned.

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, a Beijing-based company, is at the center of the controversy as it has connections with the Chinese government. Officials are worried that the platform poses a national security threat and puts Americans’ data at risk.

Scott echoed that sentiment in his online post.

“This guy leads CCP’s effort to spy on your kids and feed them information. Every Met attendee and co-chair should be asked if they’re okay with that,” his X post said.

In March 2020, Scott, along with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a bill to ban TikTok on government devices. The Senate unanimously passed the legislation in August 2020, just weeks after the House approved a similar measure.

The announcement comes just after President Biden posted on the app for the first time last Sunday with a Super Bowl-themed video. Biden banned the use of TikTok in 2022 on federal government devices but his campaign officials said they were taking the appropriate security precautions to allow the president to reach younger voters on the platform, The Associated Press reported.