TikTokers are flooding a hairstyling college with negative reviews after a woman said her ex-friend purposely ruined her haircut

• Joshah Keala told a story on TikTok of how her hair stylist ended up being her former school friend.
• She said the stylist chopped off more hair than she wanted, then bragged about it to friends.

Most people can relate to a bad haircut stemming from a communication blunder or misaligned vision between client and stylist, but 19-year-old TikToker Joshah Keala says hers was on purpose.

In a video with 3.5 million views, Keala said she went to her local cosmetology school for a cheaper haircut, and happened to be paired with a stylist that she'd stopped being friends with in middle school.

Keala, who is now a freshman in college, asked for curtain bangs but wanted to keep her length. "In Hawaii, a lot of us have long hair," she told Insider. "My grandmother always took care of my hair for me when I was younger, and told me to never cut it."

Keala ultimately agreed to take off three inches, but when she looked down at the floor at the end of her appointment, she was stunned. The stylist cut off "over a foot of my hair," the TikToker told Insider.

After the cut, she said the stylist asked, "Are you going to cry yourself to sleep now that your hair is short?" and offered her a ziploc bag to take home the remnants.

"It was so hurtful because I hadn't seen this girl in six years," Keala told Insider. "If the roles were switched, I would have done my job and done her hair how she asked. It would not even cross my mind to intentionally ruin her hair."

Keala told Insider a mutual friend later sent her screenshots appearing to show the stylist discussing the incident and indicating it was intentional and bragging about it.

"The conversation makes me sick to my stomach," Kaela said of the purported screenshots. (Insider was unable to independently verify the origin of the screenshots, and the stylist did not respond to a request for comment.)

Fans are review-bombing the college

Keala said the incident occurred in August 2022, but she shared a recap in late January because the school, Evans Hairstyling College in Utah, has yet to discipline the trainee stylist.

When she first complained, Keala said administrators declined to get involved in a "personal" dispute. She isn't sure whether she is still enrolled at the school. (The school did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)

"I reported her to the state board of cosmetology so they have that report on file for when she goes to apply for her license," Keala told Insider. "But since she is not licensed yet there's nothing they can do."

But onlookers appear to be taking matters into their own hands, review-bombing the college with hundreds of negative one-star reviews on Keala's behalf, saying the stylist "should never be allowed to touch someone's hair again," and that the school needs to cultivate a "safer environment." The average rating has dropped to three out of five stars despite being much higher earlier this week.

Keala told Insider that she wanted people to be aware that others can be capable of "bad things."

"Even if you have a kind heart, not everyone does," she said.