The first U.S. TikTok Awards have jumped from the For You Page to a live stage and invited the platform’s top creators, viral trendsetters and pop heavyweights for an evening designed to be clipped, shared and remixed. Streaming on TikTok and Tubi, the show is designed for short-form attention spans and long-form cultural impact — starring Ciara and with a red carpet that vibrates like a live feed you can walk through.
As with “Saturday Night Live,” this show tonight is a snapshot of how internet culture currently propels mainstream entertainment. There are categories like “Storyteller of the Year,” alongside breakout creator honors, and presenters and performers that were drawn from among the ranks of those who built their audiences just a single vertical video at a time.
How to Watch and What to Expect From the TikTok Awards
The awards stream directly on TikTok and aren’t carried via a traditional TV provider — they will also be accessible via a simulcast on Tubi, signaling that creator-first shows get packaged for both social feeds and free, ad-supported TV.
Look for quick-cut segments and bits led by creators, plus performances engineered for second-screen sharing — more cutaway camera moments, less marathon speeches.
The run of show, producers say, mirrors the app’s pace: tight edits (users prefer videos shot in a vertical frame), interactive voting features and awards that cater to communities that have come to define the platform’s personality, from comedy and beauty to sports, food and storytelling.
Red Carpet First Looks and Viral Moments at the TikTok Awards 2025
K-pop Demon Hunters star Rei Ami arrived phone-ready — in a completely pocketed (at least functional) dress that pays lip service to the timeless designer calculus of fashion meets function. Designer details are a trend, but utility is the night’s whisper-soft flex.
There was also a surprise background cameo on the press line from drag icon Trixie Mattel, demonstrating that even photobombs are content at the TikTok Awards. Elsewhere, Ashby Florence — aka “The Lorax,” on TikTok at least to some — set aside her signature character for one irreverent dress and chose instead an edgy red “I Heart Ashby” dress on which she wrote herself a self-referential wink that can be spun directly in front of the camera.
The unofficial carpet icebreaker: word of the year. “Storyteller of the Year” presenter The Bachelor winner and creator Kelsey Anderson answered, “Period,” while Tan France offered a far more explicit, off-air response to the prompt. Josh Richards went with “Damnit,” a pick he attributes to the cadence of his girlfriend. Elizabeth Esparza opted “live,” and Jeannette Oak continued the punctuation-as-declaration in “Period.” There was a passing reference, from Merriam-Webster’s, to “slop” — but creators had their own vocabulary in mind.
Creators Flip the Pre-Show Into Shareable Content
Hours before the arrivals, feeds are packed with GRWMs (Get Ready With Me) fit checks and last-minute glam. Storyteller nominee Logan Moffitt — the “Cucumber Guy” — shared a suit check that resulted in the ultimate pocket reveal: Listerine spray, lip gloss, eye drops. LA fashion creator Juhm posted a Coach-forward GRWM, the sort of brand-meets-personality moment that advertisers love and audiences have come to expect.
It’s a reminder that for TikTok-native talent, the carpet isn’t the pregame — it’s the product. The pipeline goes from makeup chair to press line to main stage, all perfectly calibrated for vertical video.
Why This Show Matters for Creators, Brands, and Viewers
The scale of TikTok, meanwhile, means the awards are more than a vanity warning. DataReportal puts the app’s global audience at well over 1 billion monthly users, and TikTok itself has said it has 170 million users in the United States. Pew Research Center reported that 67% of American teenagers use TikTok, with a large share reporting they are on it virtually all the time. Gen Z, it appears, spends more time per day on TikTok than its rivals in the tech industry, according to Insider Intelligence.
For brands and creators, the stakes are financial. Goldman Sachs Research estimated the creator economy could reach nearly $480 billion in a couple of years, with revenue derived from direct fan monetization, affiliate commerce and platform payouts. A night of awards that treats creators like primetime talent isn’t just optics — it’s a market signal that social-native storytelling has arrived as a marquee category.
Beyond the Carpet: Inside the TikTok Awards 2025 Show
With Ciara anchoring the music portion, the rest of the performance-packed telecast is a mix of star power and creator-first performances meant to have a life beyond the show. These hosts run the gamut of fashion, TV and internet culture, highlighting the app’s cross-pollination tendencies. And yes, the passing of Storyteller of the Year from Kelsey Anderson — a tip of the cap to that episode’s framing devices that transformed everyday voices into must-watch serials.
As trophies are passed around, look for speeches that seem more like sewn-together video montages than classic monologue moments; shoutouts from winners to esoteric microcommunities and minute personal concerns; a steady flow of on-the-fly footage shot by audience members. The TikTok Awards are designed to cater to the space you’re living in on your phone — and in a room judged by how fast those moments travel outside of it.
