New fame, secular exploitation

These TikTok creators trusted their managers. Now they just want their money.

When Celeste Polanco amassed 100,000 followers on TikTok, she started thinking about money.

"I knew I was able to get brand deals," said Brooklyn-based lifestyle content creator Ms. Polanco. "I just didn't know anything about the business side of things."

So Ms. Polanco, 30, was intrigued when a Carter Agency representative, a talent agency for TikTok creators, contacted her in 2021. She liked the energy she received from Ben Popkin, a representative of the agency, during their first meeting, which took place via video . “I told him my limits and how much I think I have value as an influencer new to the space,” Ms. Polanco said, adding that Mr. Popkin had indicated that his value was higher than that. than she thought.

She signed a contract.

Mrs. Polanco's story is not uncommon for many people who have embraced TikTok over the past few years and found themselves blessed with the mysterious algorithm that serves their videos to large numbers of users. The path from fame to fortune on the platform is mapped out in real time, often on TikTok itself. Most users don't make money; those who usually earn it by promoting brands and products. Talent agencies can help broker those deals.

Now, more than a year after signing with the Carter agency, Ms. Polanco says she won't l never paid for several deals she made while working with the agency. According to documents provided to The New York Times, the Carter agency brokered deals on her behalf for at least $10,000, none of which, Polanco said, she received. Ms. Polanco is one of two dozen creators who have recounted similar allegations against the agency to The Times, including withholding money and concealing brand deal pricing.

The Times attempted to contact The Carter Agency by email, text message, and phone call for a response to these charges, but the agency did not respond.

Niké Ojekunle was among the first designers to speak on the agency, on TikTok and on the "Women in Influencer Marketing" podcast in November.

On TikTok, Ms. Ojekunle accused the agency of claiming to represent her in an attempt to sign another creator. She said she had never signed with any manager in her decade in the influencer business.

From pranks to profits

The Carter Agency has been founded by Josh Popkin, who worked with Ben Popkin, his brother, and a handful of other managers. They represented dozens of TikTokers, and an archived version of the agency's since-deleted website lists "strategic partners," including Netflix, Amazon, McDonald's and the N.F.L. (An Amazon representative denied ever being a "strategic partner" of the agency. The other companies did not respond to requests for comment.)

ImageThe Carter Agency's Josh Popkin has previously posted joke videos on TikTok and YouTube.Credit...YouTube

Before starting the agency, Josh Popkin was a TikTok creator. His account, which had more than three million subscribers, made headlines in the spring of 2020 for a video in which he threw a jar of cereal and milk onto the floor of a New York City subway car.