An online beef between fashion company Torrid and popular plus-size model slash TikToker That Other Hannah is heating up online.
@that_other_hannah is known among many TikTokers as an advocate for plus-size women. The majority of her TikTok page is dominated by videos examining, reviewing, and sometimes rating brands for their plus-size clothing options. Many of her videos see Hannah comparing the small size options of brands like H&M, Forever 21, and Target to their plus-size options, revealing to viewers who may be unaware of the vast difference between the clothing produced for different sizes.
The TikToker recently found herself embroiled in online drama, however, after a video of her reacting to Torrid’s most recent line of plus-size clothing went viral.
In response to the launch of the plus-size brand’s fall line, Hannah created a video. She captioned it with a straightforward plea, tagging the fashion brand and asking “can we talk? Please? I want to help.”
In the video, Hannah notes that she roasts Torrid “all the time.” It is not because she hates the brand, however. In fact, Hannah says she desperately wants the brand to succeed, particularly after it debuted on the stock market, tying its ultimate success or failure to the entire plus size fashion world.
She chooses to continue dragging the brand through her videos, according to Hannah, due to its consistently frustrating fashion choices. The video goes on to flip through several items included in Torrid’s fall launch, including several tent-like tops, “the same shapeless, cold-shoulder top with florals that they give us all year round,” and a genuinely unfortunate fleece jacket.
After cycling through several outfit options, the camera shifts back to focus on Hannah. She notes that she roasts Torrid “because I care,” before “respectfully” asking the company “what the fuck” it thinks it’s doing.
Following the stir her first video riled up, Hannah posted another Torrid-centric video a few days later. Noting that “many people were angry” over her review of the fashion company’s latest line, Hannah admitted that her tastes are “subjective.” She added, however, that there are “things that are ‘on-trend’ in fashion at this current moment, and none of the plus-size retailers that carry above a size 28—like Torrid—are participating in those trends.”
She also accuses the company of “willfully excluding fat women from being able to participate” in current fashion trends. Torrid is the primary company that plus size women shop at, Hannah notes, a privilege which qualifies them for critique.
The video that really put Hannah on Torrid’s radar came a few days later, in early October, when she dueted a video from Torrid’s CEO, Liz Munoz. In the stitched video, Munoz announces that she is headed on a cross-country trip to visit different Torrid locations. She then cycles through various outfits while Hannah reacts. Via caption, Hannah wrote “Liz, I love you but this ain’t it.”
Within a few hours of Hannah’s TikTok going up, Torrid’s original TikTok had turned comments off. The stitched video on Hannah’s page also went promptly viral, rocketing to more than a million views. A few follow-up videos see Hannah blasting the brand for how it reacted to criticism, particularly as compared to other plus-size companies.
All of her viral Torrid videos eventually lead to Hannah attending a virtual meet and greet with Munoz in late October. She told fans of her intention to attend, and promised them a recap once the event was over. She delivered spectacularly, posting several videos the following day with her takeaways. In a nutshell, she found the live-streamed event to be a “hot mess.”
Within a few days of her recaps of the Torrid event going viral, Hannah uploaded a very different video to her page. In this video, she is wiping tears from her eyes as she explains that she has to “leave social media for awhile.” According to her TikTok, someone contacted her job after watching her Torrid videos, and accused her of “making fun of someone with cancer” and using her LinkedIn profile to harass and bully people.
Hannah noted that all of the accusations levied by the stranger are “not true,” and reminded viewers that “Torrid is a multi-million dollar business, and I am an individual. Me making videos about Torrid is not the same thing as somebody reaching out to my job and trying to get me fired.”
Thankfully, Hannah didn’t get into any trouble over the incident. Still, it shook her, and she admitted via an Instagram post that she intended to leave social media for a while and was unsure when, or if, she would be back.
Torrid finally responded directly to the incident following significant backlash to Hannah’s tearful video. In a statement posted to the brand’s Instagram, Munoz wrote that Torrid is a “brand that champions community” and claims that it desires feedback from its consumers.
“We will not tolerate harassment and condemn bullying of any kind, internally and externally,” the statement goes on to say. “We always welcome respectful conversation and would not and have not taken action against anyone for sharing an opposing opinion, including contacting an individual’s employer.”
The comments on Torrid’s Instagram post are almost universally negative, with several big names in the business—like model Tess Holliday—chiming in to drag the company for its role in Hannah’s harassment. Torrid has yet to make another statement addressing the situation. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hannah, for her part, seems to be handling the sudden attention relatively well. Despite her tears and initial threat to leave social media, she has continued to upload videos responding to confused commenters and clarifying her role in the situation. Her most recent video went up only hours ago, and addresses previous comments she’s made about the company.
We reached out to Hannah.
