Fans of a TikToker who said he was rejected from Juilliard bombarded the school with one-star Yelp reviews

• Aspiring actor Alex Webber posted a viral TikTok video saying he was rejected from Juilliard.
• He received an outpouring of support and encouragement from fans and celebrities.

Alex Webber, an aspiring actor who said he was rejected by The Juilliard School, has won the hearts of millions on TikTok who are swarming the performing arts school with negative reviews.

On December 27, Webber revealed he had an upcoming audition for Juilliard's drama program in a TikTok video which received over 7 million views.

He went on to share the process of auditioning for Juilliard in a series of videos until January 10, when Webber posted a final update sharing what he said was his rejection letter from the school.

"Dear Axel, on behalf of the Juilliard division, thank you for your interest in our program and for sharing your talent with the faculty during the initial audition," he read. "As you are already aware due to our callback process, you are no longer under consideration for admission for fall 2022."

In the wake of the news, Webber's fans flooded his comments with messages of encouragement and outrage at his rejection.

Ty Bott, a TikToker with 2.9 million followers, commented, "How do we leave a google review on Juilliard???" on Webber's rejection post, and it seems Webber's fans then latched on to the suggestion.

Bott posted a follow-up video of his own, which appears to show him scrolling through purported Google reviews for Juilliard, showing an influx of one-star reviews. "This is considered a 'top tier' academy? Not accepting my boy Axel is a HUGE mistake," one review appeared to say.

The caption on his video read, "we just canceled one of the most prestigious universities in the entire world."

Google reviews for Juilliard are not currently publicly visible, and the school did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

On the reviews site Yelp, reviews for Juilliard have been temporarily blocked. An alert on the site reads, "This business recently received increased public attention in the news, which often means people come to this page to post their views on the news rather than a first-hand consumer experience."

A recent one-star review on the site says, "If I could give you a zero, I would, but that is not possible, so I give you a 1. Due to the non-acceptance of Axel Webber. Your audacity has been noted by over 2 million people."

In a statement to Insider, a spokesperson for Yelp said, "When a business gains public attention, consumers may come to Yelp to express their views on the news through reviews — also known as 'review bombing.'" They added, "These reviews can artificially inflate or deflate a business's star rating, sometimes misleading consumers and hurting businesses."

The spokesperson said the unusual activity alert is added to pages when they "uncover an influx of activity on a business's Yelp page in response to the business gaining public attention."

Juilliard's Instagram account is also overflowing with reactions to Axel's rejection. The top comment on the school's latest Instagram post reads, "justice for axel," and has 40,000 likes.

Celebrities have also joined Webber's fans with an outpouring of support.

Singer-songwriter Charlie Puth posted a TikTok telling Axel, "I do think school is great… but a prestigious conservatory for the arts is not going to be the thing that defines your career as an actor."

Playwright and actor Jeremy O. Harris posted another encouraging TikTok, asking for Webber's Venmo information to send him money.

On January 12, Webber posted another TikTok with #SorryJuilliard in the caption, urging his followers to tone down the criticism of Juilliard.

"Thank you for your support," Webber said. "Let's keep it positive though. Let's try not to totally ruin their Instagram account. The poor social media manager over at Juilliard: I apologize!"

Webber, who grew up in Georgia, moved to New York City in early December to become an actor. He garnered attention on TikTok with an apartment tour that hit 33 million views where he showed viewers around his home, which he labeled "the smallest apartment in New York."

Webber only hit a million TikTok followers at the end of last year. Now, not even a fortnight into 2022, the content creator has more than tripled his following to 3.3 million.

In a statement to Insider, a representative for Webber said that despite the Juilliard rejection, he is still planning to pursue a career in acting in a "non-traditional way."

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