This Is How Much Jalaiah Harmon Is Actually Worth
If you're familiar with the explosive short-form video-sharing app TikTok, chances are you've heard of the dance routine, "Renegade." The viral trend was a 15-second choreography that features a series of arm and upper body movements, (via Oprah Daily).
The "Renegade" dance is performed using rapper K CAMP's hit song "Lottery" and has been performed by many celebrities including Kourtney Kardashian, Millie Bobby-Brown, and Bella Thorne, (via Pop Buzz). On TikTok, the "Renegade" hashtag currently has over 2.6 billion videos with fans doing the dance.
Though TikTok's top creators – including Charli D'Amelio, Addison Rae, and Noah Schnapp - helped popularize the dance, it was a Georgia teen named Jalaiah Harmon that created the buzzy routine. According to Teen Vogue, Harmon created the famous dance just a few minutes before starting dance practice in September 2019. She uploaded the video to her Instagram profile and watched it become a viral sensation when it moved to TikTok about a month later.
Here's how Jalaiah responded to her dance going viral
When the "Renegade" blew up, Jalaiah Harmon didn't receive any credit for her choreography. It wasn't until the New York Times ran an article about Harmon that she started to gain recognition for creating one of the most popular dances in TikTok history. The creator told the NY Times, "I was happy when I saw my dance all over, but I wanted credit for it."
She felt it wasn't fair that she was watching other creators gain clout from doing a dance she created while she wasn't earning anything at all. Harmon explained, "I think I could have gotten money for it, promos for it, I could have gotten famous off it, get noticed. I don't think any of that stuff has happened for me because no one knows I made the dance."
Luckily, after the profile was published in February of 2020, Harmon began to receive credit for her creation. In the following weeks, she appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and performed during the NBA All-Star game. Former FLOTUS Michelle Obama even shared a clip of Harmon performing at the game on her Twitter, which she captioned, "Jalaiah, you crushed it—love seeing your talent shine!" Harmon currently has over 2.9 million followers on TikTok and nearly 650,000 followers on Instagram.
According to Celebs Fortune, Harmon is currently worth $100,000 as of 2021.