Diplo is facing backlash after 19-year-old influencer and TikToker Quenlin Blackwell said she's been living with him in Los Angeles.
According to Newsweek, Blackwell made her initial claims on TikTok on Oct. 23, where she told her followers, “I live with Diplo right now and he fully supports my endeavors.” Diplo also appeared in the live video. “Why do I live with you?” she reportedly said in the clip, to which Diplo replied, “I have no other friends. It's the truth.”
Her remarks forced the 41-year-old producer and Blackwell to address the questions about their relationship. In a tweet, Blackwell denied that she is “being groomed” by the producer and contends that the relationship is “platonic.”
“I’m an adult. I’m not being groomed. Platonic relationships exist. I’ve been living here for over a year… I’d rather break both of my legs and be forced to walk than pursue Diplo romantically and he’d rather choke. He’s barley [sic] in LA bc he’s so busy. Diplo has given me the opportunity and the security to create. Diplo and his team are my mentors in LA and they are my safety net. Diplo and his team have saved me numerous times from the weirdos in LA. My parents trust him. I trust him. Y’all are making me feel icky. Diplo is my LA dad..nothing more.”
For his part, Diplo alleged that the pair are friends, and that he's her landlord and nothing more—and that as Blackwell’s landlord, he doesn’t live in the building where she does but occasionally uses the building’s facilities.
“OK so I rent one of my properties to @quenblackwell," he tweeted. "And yes I use the studio that is in that building. Her social media is sarcastic and chaotic and I can see you can get a twisted idea but there is nothing but a friendship between us.”
In a second tweet, he wrote, “As a landlord I don't really consider age or race as a qualification. U just gotta pay security deposit. And don't poke holes in the walls or ruin my carpet.”
One Twitter user pressed him about their friendship, asking him what he has in common with a 19-year-old.
This pushed others to dig up some of Diplo’s old tweets, including one from 2010 where he wrote, “girls born in the ’90s i hav to stop sleepin with u” and another one from 2017 where he wrote, “Low key sent my cv for r kelly sex cult membership.”
In the past day, Blackwell has made more jokes about the controversy.
