All eyes are on Addison Rae’s TikTok-famous family this summer.
The family rose to fame on the video-making platform, with 21-year-old Addison Rae amassing 88.5 million followers since her first video was posted in 2019. The third highest-earning TikTok user earned an estimated over $8.5 million from TikTok alone in 2021, and has since expanded into music, movies, makeup and modeling.
But the same platform that helped Rae’s rise has been scrutinizing her personal life of late. TikTok users turned their attention to Rae’s family, who have become celebrities in their own right.
Rae and her mother, who has 14.2 million TikTok followers, have made videos together and hosted a podcast, “That Was Fun? With Addison and Sheri.” Rae’s family also joined the 21-year-old internet sensation in “Addison Rae Goes Home,” a 10-episode, Snapchat-produced reality series that aired in 2022. Her parents were both signed to WME’s digital talent agency alongside Rae in 2020.
Here’s what to know about why they’re in the news, and what Yung Gravy had to do with it.
Addison Rae's parents' marriage has been in the news
In July, videos posted to TikTok showed Rae’s father Monty Lopez, 46, with a young woman over FaceTime and touching another woman’s backside at a bar.
Lopez has not addressed the videos, but he and Rae’s mother, Sheri Nicole Easterling, 42, split the same month the allegations emerged, per NBC News.
In the aftermath, Easterling updated the bio in her Instagram, which has garnered over a million followers, to say “single mom.” Easterling also shares sons Enzo, 14, and Lucas, 8, with Lopez.
The two had previously divorced in the 2000s and remarried in 2017.
“You were a single mom for a good few years,” Rae said on “That Was Fun,” the podcast she shares with her mom, recalling that time. “From about three to six for me, Dad wasn’t really in my life very much. I’m sure that was a personal decision on your part with Dad. You brought me to work with you all the time. That’s where I remember being all the time.”
Who is Yung Gravy, and how does he come into all this?
In late August, Lopez and Easterling’s marriage was once again in the spotlight when Easterling appeared at the MTV Video Music Awards as rapper Yung Gravy’s date. The two shared a kiss on the red carpet.
Yung Gravy, whose real name is Matthew Raymond Hauri, is a SoundCloud rapper known for his song "Betty," which samples Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up."
In a pre-show interview, the 26-year-old said he met Easterling online and the two “connected right away.”
“I’m into MILFs and she’s kind of the queen of MILFs, so I figured it was just a perfect match,” Yung Gravy said in a red carpet interview, per People.
Speaking to Billboard, he said he decided to “rap about moms” because “not enough people (were) doing that.” Then, it became a part of his brand. The rapper’s first song was “Karen,” and he told Billboard that “Betty” was “next in the list of MILF” songs.
“It’s gotten to the point people are offering their moms non-stop sending DMs with their pictures and mom’s phone number. Sometimes it’s wholesome like, “My mom got divorced recently and she needs somebody, could you take her on a date?’ Sometimes it’s legit,” he told Billboard.
The kiss between the 26-year-old rapper and Easterling nearly broke the internet for those keeping up with the family online, with those who watched the award show taking to social media to share their reactions.
One Twitter user wrote, “trying to explain to my bf who is barely on social media the absolute scandal of sheri/ yung gravy at the VMAS."
“Yung Gravy and Sheri Nicole stepping out as a couple was not on my 2022 bingo card but… alright...," another user wrote.
Yung Gravy and Easterling have been teasing a relationship for a while
The pairing may come as no surprise for those following Easterling and Yung Gravy on TikTok, where they carried out a public banter.
Yung Gravy posted a TikTok on July 14 zeroing in on her “single mom” Instagram bio.
The same day, the two posted a TikTok duet joking about a picnic date.
On an episode of the “BFFs” podcast released Aug. 4, Yung Gravy said that he found Easterling attractive and planned to take her on a date.
The rapper then appeared to be on Lopez’s radar. Resharing a clip from the podcast, Rae’s dad challenged Yung Gravy to a boxing match on Aug. 7.
Yung Gravy responded to the challenge in his own TikTok video, saying, “I’m a grown man. I’m not going to fight you over TikTok drama.”
Yung Gravy, in the Billboard interview posted on Aug. 11, confirmed that he and Easterling are “in touch,” talking via text and FaceTime. “I’ve just been on some flirty wholesome s–t. She lives in Louisiana, so when I have my New Orleans show, I’ll make sure she gets the VIP treatment. Take her out for something fancy.”
Are Easterling and Yung Gravy actually dating?
Neither party has confirmed whether they are more than red carpet dates. The day after the VMAs, in response to scrutiny over the kissing photos, Yung Gravy tweeted, “She’s newly single and living her life. leave her alone."
Lopez responded to the affair via Instagram story, captured by Insider, E! News and other publications. Writing over a mirrored selfie, Lopez wrote, “Unbothered! Thank you @youngravy for taking the leftovers!”
Rae has not commented. TODAY reached out to Lopez and Easterling for comment.
