Charlie Puth Bids TikTok ‘Farewell’ Ahead of Ban With Wistful ‘See You Again’ Piano Performance
Charlie Puth is saying goodbye to his TikTok followers as a ban of the app looms large in the United States.
The hitmaker shared a video of himself playing piano on the platform. After propping up his camera to the side of the keyboard, Puth wordlessly dives into a mellow arrangement of his and Wiz Khalifa’s 2015 smash hit “See You Again” — which spent 12 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — adding melancholy chords to the track’s bittersweet melody.
“Farewell TikTok,” he wrote in his caption. “Although this isn’t goodbye…”
In the comment section, Puth teased, “I’ll be back soon.”
Also in the comments, the musician’s fans agreed that the performance had gotten them in their feels. “Charlie you know this is gonna make everyone cry,” one person wrote, while another follower added, “Charlie this will actually make me crash out.”
Puth’s post comes on the same day the Supreme Court voted to uphold a federal statute that will effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. starting as soon as Sunday (Jan. 19). The government initiated the ban over national security concerns relating to the Chinese ownership of parent company ByteDance, which has argued — to no avail — that the ban infringes on the First Amendment’s protections for free speech.
One hope for the app’s future might be that president-elect Donald Trump — who takes office Monday (Jan. 20) — has vowed to “negotiate a resolution” to save it. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has personally appealed to Trump to prevent the ban, saying in a statement following the Supreme Court’s ruling that he is “grateful and pleased to have the support of a president who truly understands our platform.”
In the meantime, Puth isn’t the only star bidding TikTok adieu. Kesha also shared a tongue-in-cheek goodbye video to the app this week, pairing a clip of herself looking blankly at the camera with her 2009 smash “Tik Tok” and writing, “TikTok might be temporary but TiK ToK is forever.”
Watch Puth’s TikTok below.
Hannah Dailey
Billboard
