The white trad-wife TikToker who casually dropped the n-word in a cooking video that went viral Monday is already paying for her ignorance, with her employer, Rophe of the Carolinas, announcing it had let her go with immediate effect on Tuesday.
The woman at the center of the controversy, Lilly Gaddis, referred to her friends’ husbands as “broke ass n***s” in the clip—dropping the racial slur in a slight southern drawl so naturally, many speculated she must use it in casual conversation.
Gaddis, whose TikTok account was taken down by Tuesday evening, boasts 50,000 followers on X. On that platform, she showed no remorse for her comment and instead reshared posts from right-wing influencers who rushed to defend her hate speech.
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“If my freedom of speech taken, they’ll be coming for yours next,” she posted Monday night, not long after posting a clip where she said she couldn’t “find a care” for the outrage she induced.
Gaddis did not strike a particularly conciliatory tone after Rophe of the Carolinas, a home health care company for the elderly and disabled, confirmed her departure in a fiery statement on Tuesday.
“Thanks black community for helping to launch my new career in conservative media!” she wrote on X. “You all played your role well like the puppets you are.”
In its statement, Rophe emphasized that Gaddis was a “newly hired” employee and that her statements “do not align” with the values and beliefs of the company, which is “operated by African American female and immigrant owned businesses.”
A since-deleted LinkedIn page listed Gaddis as a graphic designer who lives in the coastal city of Wilmington, North Carolina.
