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A Timothée Chalamet fan account received viral criticism online this week after people suggested several of the account’s recent posts may be pushing love for the actor too far.
Club Chalamet has less than 4,000 followers on Instagram and just over 1,600 on X, formerly Twitter. But the account, run by fan Simone Cromer, became its own hot topic after posting several posts about Chalamet appearing in public with Kylie Jenner at a Beyoncé concert on Monday. The pair, who are rumored to have been dating for months, were spotted kissing during the Los Angeles show.
Chalamet, a 27-year-old independent sweetheart turned successful movie star, has often been considered one of many people’s favorite “internet boyfriends.” It’s not uncommon for a fan base, let alone one as large as Chalamet’s, to look into the lives of their favorite celebrities and share in-depth analysis online. The news of Jenner’s PDA sparked a mix of widespread disbelief, jokes and disappointment from some fans online.
Yet Club Chalamet’s response – which also involved hosting a discussion that drew around 8,000 people to X – was described as particularly bizarre.
“If you feel upset by the video, that’s okay. But please take care of yourself. Stay away from social media for a few days,” Club Chalamet posted in a statement earlier this week, along with unsubstantiated claims that Jenner — referred to in several of her posts as “Slurpee” — had “stalked” Chalamet.
Some netizens expressed dismay at the authoritarian tone behind Club Chalamet’s posts, such as when the account suggested Jenner’s team had to “order” him to be seen with her. Others have expressed concern over super fans’ obsession with monitoring Chalamet’s love life.
Representatives for Chalamet and Jenner did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The whole saga – which has been talked about on social media platforms, including in a lengthy Reddit thread – has reignited the conversation online around the extreme. parasocial character some fans’ relationships with their favorite celebrities. Parasocial relationships are defined as a one-sided emotional investment in a celebrity or fictional character.
Much of the viral ridicule turned into vitriolic mockery of the narrative and of Cromer herself, though some of the speech also reignited genuine questions about fan boundaries.
“For example, why are these Timothy fans acting like they know him and he owes them? This is extremely strange and disturbing,” wrote a Reddit commenter on the thread, referring to parasocial relationships.
One person called Cromer’s negative comments about Jenner misogynistic. “Internalized misogyny is too much… The key point is you don’t know him,” another Reddit commenter wrote. “You have never met him. You don’t know what he looks like.
There were also people comparing posts from a fan page to when a fan account wrote a long letter to Chris Evans expressing the pain of fans after the actor publicly revealed his relationship with Alba Baptista. Others have also drawn comparisons to when “Jelena” made baseless assumptions about the lives and motives of Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber, who split five years ago.
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Cromer referenced the conversation about parasocial relationships sparked by his comment.
“It seems the fandom has learned a new word and is applying it to me,” she wrote. “The term is ‘parasocial relationships’ and people are happy that I fall under that label. … Basically, the general public who have heard of Club Chalamet for the first time in recent days thinks that I am just a possessive and delirious fan of Timothée Chalamet, who defends his life when he does not know that I exist.”
However, she writes, she doesn’t think that label suits her.
“Well I’m happy to burst your bubble but please note he knows me,” she wrote, detailing alleged interactions in past events. “I am not his friend. I’m not even an acquaintance. I’m just a fan he knows very well and I’m proud of it.
When contacted by NBC News for comment, Cromer declined to comment further, citing concerns that a response to media inquiries could amplify the backlash Club Chalamet is already receiving online.
“I continue to be a proud fan of Timothée Chalamet through Club Chalamet and will wholeheartedly support him for years to come,” Cromer wrote in an email Wednesday.
She reiterated a similar sentiment in another Instagram post on Wednesday.
“I said what I said and I stand by my words,” she wrote in the caption. “I will no longer use this space to refer to Timmy’s current romantic life because I don’t want to provide more entertainment for the looky-loos who just want more reaction from me and other subscribers posting their comments.”
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