Like it or not, influencers are probably here to stay on the red carpet

• Billie Eilish reportedly made comments about TikTokers at the People's Choice Awards.
• Those comments reignited debates about influencers working and walking celebrity red carpets.

At the People's Choice Awards on Sunday, Billie Eilish inadvertently brought discourse about influencers at awards shows and on red carpets to a boiling point.

"There's some like… TikTokers here," Eilish can be heard saying to Kylie Minogue in a clip uploaded to X by media outlet Pop Crave, briefly covering her mouth before pointing behind her.

In attendance at the awards, in addition to more conventional A-list celebrities like Eilish and America Ferrera, were a host of creators who built their career on social media. That includes personalities like Bryce Hall, James Charles, Tana Mongeau, and Harry Daniels, some of whom were walking the carpet, and others who were working it.

Hall responded to the clip on TikTok, saying that he was personally invited by the awards show and delivering a tongue-in-cheek barb in return.

"The most sad thing is, I was a Billie Eilish stan," Hall said. "I stanned you, Billie Eilish. And now I don't think I can renegade to any of your songs any more, so thanks for taking out all my content."

Outrage — or minimally, discomfort — with influencers and TikTokers on red carpets and awards shows isn't new. When social media stars like James Charles started getting invited to events like the Met Gala, long the purview of the most elite celebs and fashion personalities, there was certainly hubbub. But now, influencers have become even more entrenched in the celebrity world, cropping up frequently as guests, presenters, and content creators at awards shows and premiere events.

And the cringier incidents ricochet across social media: In the wake of the PCAs, people are dunking on influencers like Harry Daniels, who does a recurring bit singing to celebrities, and asked a baffled America Ferrera (and numerous others) the question "gay son or thot daughter" on the PCA red carpet. When he approached Eilish in a video posted to his main account, Eilish emphatically told him, "not you."

Representatives for Daniels and Eilish did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

The truth is, as Business Insider's Jason Guerrasio reported last summer, Hollywood loves influencers. Studios build and maintain relationships with creators who can promote their films to audiences on social media, paying them thousands in the process. And those creators have their own distribution channels and the fluency to navigate cultural trends and platforms like TikTok, which has already begun to supplant traditional media.

At the smattering of New York City premieres and red carpets that I've covered for BI, I've run into social media stars who are both walking the carpet and working it. I like a Reece Feldman (@guywithamoviecamera) behind-the-scenes TikTok as much as anyone else, and I can certainly appreciate the amount of work that "Chicken Shop Date" creator Amelia Dimoldenberg puts in for each carpet that she works. And ultimately, the content that they provide — even Daniels' "gay son or thot daughter" TikToks — does have value, racking up millions of views and bringing in new audiences. If it didn't, awards shows wouldn't be inviting them.

So even if influencer-generated awards show coverage isn't your cup of tea, you should get used to it. We're all probably becoming creators anyway.