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Home / Lifestyle

Teen influencer Danielle Cohn exposed by father after lying about age, family story

news.com.au
19 Sep, 2019 08:19 AM5 mins to read

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An adult posed as a teenage girl on TikTok and received replies within minutes. Video / 9news

A teen influencer with a million followers has been shut down by her dad after he became sick of doing the "diplomatic thing" for years and copping the brunt of her lies.

Danielle Cohn, 13, is a controversial social media influencer from the US who shot to fame on Musical.lt before it became known as TikTok.

She also has 3.7 million followers on Instagram and 1.4 million on YouTube, news.com.au reports.

Danielle lives with her mother and manager Jennifer, who often also takes to social media to stick up for the teenager. She also has previously claimed her daughter is 15, not 13.

The parents of another TikTok star, Mikey Tua, 17, who had been dating Danielle when she was barely 13, intervened in July after learning her real age and forced the two to break up.

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View this post on Instagram

@fashionnova I mean I wouldn’t mind kissing you💋❤️

A post shared by Danielle<3 (@daniellecohn) on Sep 15, 2019 at 10:06am PDT

Mikey has since wiped all the loved-up pictures of her and Danielle from his social media.

The couple also pranked their millions of followers in April, claiming Danielle was pregnant.

In a lengthy Facebook post from earlier this week, Danielle's father Dustin said it was time to set the record straight about his young daughter.

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"For years I have done the diplomatic thing while dealing with my daughter being online in a way I didn't approve of and trying to have it handled out of social media because I figured the system would work and keep my daughter safe," Cohn started.

Danielle and Jennifer have previously claimed they were forced out of their home by Cohn, but the father claimed the pair had lived with him for 10 years and were "never homeless".

"I would never throw my child out on the streets," he said.

Cohn also confirmed his daughter was barely a teenager — not 15 as she and her mother had previously claimed.

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"I have never liked Danielle being on social media, especially when she started at such an early age. But pageants and modelling and then Musical.ly we're all pushed on her," he wrote.

"It was always a huge problem to me. I asked for it to stop immediately, which it didn't. We found Pinterest boards with her photos and I told her mom I worried about paedophiles. We tried to take measures to stop it but it didn't stop. The pictures now have gotten worse and worse. I am finally saying something on social media because people need to be held accountable."

View this post on Instagram

🐍 @fashionnova

A post shared by Danielle<3 (@daniellecohn) on Jul 29, 2019 at 1:05pm PDT

Cohn said he was "worried" about his daughter's safety and called on the social media companies to do something.

"(The companies) have used a minor for profit because the money is more important than the truth. The exploitation of children on these sites needs to stop. If that means I have to be that person, I will come out and show the disgusting truth," he said.

Cohn said YouTube, Instagram, Fashion Nova, Buzzfeed, Universal, Target and Bang Energy Drinks were "OK with child exploitation".

"Despite my feelings, I allowed Danielle to move to California if this made her happy, with the agreement that she would visit once a month, send school records and be appropriate," he said.

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"If I found something inappropriate they'd take it down. It started with crop tops to bikinis and now lingerie? Instead of it being taken down, now every time I ask, I'm told Danielle wants to post it (even when she was 11), and I'm told she's losing likes. To me safety is more important."

Cohn also commented on his daughter's relationship with Mikey Tua.

"How is that fair that because I am a father the system screws us. Everyone can see this is wrong the way she's been posed and her pictures," he said.

"I also feel sorry for these young guys who are being lied to and put in a horrible position of dating an under age and ILLEGAL minor. She is 13 and should not be around 17-year-old boys."

Cohn said despite his worry, unfortunately, "no one cares".

"I am a private person and never wanted to have to come out and make this kind of statement, but I have been forced to as I am tired of being bothered and disgusted for years," he said.

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"I never get to see my daughter Danielle, because I won't go along with the lies and am alienated for it.

"I do want Danielle to be happy, but not at this cost. No 13-year-old should be dancing in lingerie.

"I hope one day she sees that I've only ever tried to protect her. I hope others around her wake up and realise it shouldn't be about the money but living life as a kid that she is."

The post has since gone viral with more than 1000 shares and 4000 likes.

On August 29, Danielle's mum Jennifer wrote a post defending her daughter's social media fame.

"You might not agree with what my daughter post or what she does but at this age she setting up her life she become a millionaire at her age. She does it all on her own. We argue and go back and forth as any teenager does with their parents. At the end of the day I will give up my life for them," she said.

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Danielle is yet to comment on her father's post.

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