Rick Scott criticizes Met Gala for making TikTok CEO honorary chair

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) criticized online the announcement that TikTok CEO Sho Zhi Chiu was named honorary chair of this year’s Met Gala.

“If we disrupt the Met Gala, TikTok’s CEO will become ‘honorary’ chair.” Article posted by Scott X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Vogue magazine announced Thursday that the magazine’s Anna Wintour will host the 2024 Met Gala, with co-hosts Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Hemsworth and Zendaya. Jonathan Anderson and Chu will serve as honorary chairs of the event, the magazine reported. posted online.

Mr Chew, a 40-year-old Singaporean and Harvard Business School graduate, has recently come under fire from members of parliament as he seeks to defend his widely popular platform.

The app has a huge following among young users, and lawmakers in Congress and states across the country are calling for it to be banned.

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is at the center of controversy because of its ties to the Chinese government. Officials are concerned that the platform poses a national security threat and could put Americans’ data at risk.

Scott echoed the same sentiment in an online post.

“This man is leading the Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to spy on your children and feed them information. All Metropolitan Museum of Art attendees and co-chairs should be asked if that’s okay.” says his X post.

In March 2020, Scott and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) introduced a bill that would ban TikTok from government devices. The Senate unanimously passed the bill in August 2020, weeks after the House approved a similar bill.

The announcement comes shortly after President Biden posted his first Super Bowl-themed video to the app last Sunday. Biden banned the use of TikTok on federal devices in 2022, but Biden campaign officials said the president had appropriate safeguards in place to reach young voters on the platform, The Associated Press reported.