There’s a whole lot of drama coming out of FragranceTok, and it has nothing to do with perfume. During the week of Nov. 4, old tweets from what appeared to be fragrance content creator Scout Dixon West’s account began circulating on social media, which featured insensitive comments about COVID-19, weight, and race. Her Campus reached out to West’s team for comment on the tweets, as well as for confirmation that they were posted by West, but did not hear back at the time of publication.
If you’re not involved in FragranceTok, allow me to catch you up. On TikTok, West (whose real name is Taylor Rinauro) rose to popularity by reviewing various fragrances. Fans were drawn to her content due to her vivid descriptions, high-level vocabulary, and unique taste in perfumes and colognes. After gaining recognition in the space as a creator, West released her debut fragrance collection on Sept. 13, which included three perfumes (one of them with notes of vanilla soft serve and *checks notes* gasoline?) that intrigued and excited fragrance enthusiasts. With over 200,000 followers and millions of likes across platforms, West has become one of the most popular fragrance creators on social media. Well, that is, until now.
Around Nov. 6, what appeared to be West’s old tweets resurfaced on TikTok. The tweets, which were posted in 2020 and 2021, featured a variety of insensitive remarks about the COVID-19 lockdowns. One of the tweets dated Feb. 12, 2021 read, “Can everyone who’s gonna die from covid just die already so I can go to the movie theatre? Let’s get this show on the road.” Another tweet posted on Oct. 15, 2020 read, “2020 is an incredible year for me… and I don’t care how many people had to die.” Additionally, users found other tweets that featured more insensitive and racist language toward Chinese and other AANHPI people.
At the time of publication, West has yet to address the controversy. Needless to say, fans aren’t happy about the apparent tweets. The comment section of West’s recent video, posted on Nov. 5, has been flooded with messages of disappointment, with one user writing, “This is the first I’ve heard of you. Sometimes I think I’m too negative or too mean, but you have surpassed me infinitely. Thank you for reminding me that I’m not so bad ♥️.” Another commented, “This one hurt. We were all rooting for you Scout.” Her Campus also reached out to West for comment on the backlash, but did not hear back at the time of publication.
Since the controversy, various perfume stores, including Lucky Scent and Ministry of Scent, have dropped West from their websites.