The 23-year-old who helped popularize the "OK Boomer" meme is receiving pushback from social media users who are questioning her political views in light of her new wealth, according to the Independent.
Content creator and Twitch streamer Nicole Sanchez (AKA Neekolul) climbed to viral fame in March 2020 when a TikTok video of her dancing in a blue Bernie Sanders shirt caught the attention of Millennials and Gen Z.
Her video was highly shared across several social media platforms weeks before Sanders dropped out of the presidential race, and it has been viewed by millions. In April 2020, Sanchez tweeted out that her "OK Boomer Girl" received more than 50 million views.
Sanchez’s viral video uses the 2019 song "Oki Doki Boomer" from animator and music creator Senzawa, which is now a tune and expression that’s become a pejorative toward Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964. However, the meme has also been widely used against people who are younger than 57 or have views that aren’t deemed progressive enough.
Since the success of "OK Boomer," Sanchez has built up a loyal fan base who follow her every move on various social networks, including TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and more.
Combined, the former business and marketing major has millions of fans who support her life updates, gaming ventures and cosplay. But, more recently Sanchez is receiving criticism for opening up about her personal finances.
In late May, Sanchez posed with a BMW and captioned the photos with "Beamer Girl" on Twitter.
Then on Tuesday, June 1, Sanchez uploaded a YouTube video that gave her followers a tour of the $2 million apartment she shares with her boyfriend in Dallas.
Many YouTube commenters and Twitter users have since expressed distaste for Sanchez’s elevated lifestyle considering her posts from last year were in favor of Sanders and Democratic socialism. Others criticized a recent video she’s shared dancing to "Oki Doki Boomer" in a "Tax the Rich" sweatshirt that’s sold from the Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s online shop.
"The lack of self-awareness here is absolutely shocking," one commenter quipped under her apartment tour video.
Sanchez did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
Although in a YouTube video she uploaded in March 2021, Sanchez defended her political stance and denied having a net worth between $1 and $5 million – which has been published in speculative gossip websites.
"I feel like there… if… there should be more people like me I think. But, that if you… if you're doing better, it shouldn't change like your train of thought with things. And yeah like all I’m doing is standing by the beliefs that I started off with, and I’m here," Sanchez said in her March video. "So whether I’m making this money or not I just feel like it's definitely not something to like I guess like [be] rude about because there's nothing to be rude about."
She added: "I think when people mean like tax rich, I think at the end of the day they do mean like billionaires and people that have insane unfathomable amounts of wealth. Listen, listen whoever wants to show me to where those $1 to $5 million dollars are, I would happily follow you and reclaim them because I have no idea where this money is at or where it’s from."
While some online critics aren’t all that pleased with Sanchez’s newly acquired wealth, she still has dedicated followers who are willing to defend her from the virtual mob mentality.
"People saying ‘tax the rich’ in reply to this tweet have no fundamental understanding on what they are saying. She is wealthy and yet still expects herself and the rich to be taxed higher, if they aren’t, then she is allowed to spend her money in any which way she pleases," one Twitter user wrote under Sanchez’s house tour tweet on Wednesday. "Saying ‘tax the rich’ DOES NOT mean ‘make every rich person poor,’ [it’s] about redistributing disposable income so that it can be used to improve the lives of those who need it most. There will STILL be ‘rich’ people who can afford $2m properties, that will never change..."
This article originally appeared on Fox Business.
