If you messaged T-Pain on Instagram anytime in the last two years, there's a decent chance you'll finally hear back from him today.
In an extremely relatable epiphany, the hip-hop/R&B hitmaker realized yesterday that the app has multiple inboxes, with a separate tab for message requests. "I was today years old when I found out about the request folder on Instagram that's full of celebs trying to reach me," T-Pain wrote on TikTok. "I’ve been accidentally straight up ignoring all these people for like two years," T-Pain said, shaking his head at the deluge of DMs from verified accounts.
Diplo wrote, "Hey boss," 84 weeks ago. "Dude, is that Fergie?! Smh," T-Pain lamented, realizing she'd mentioned him in her Story 112 weeks prior. Rapper YBN Nahmir sent flame emojis 61 weeks ago. Viola Davis' assistant, Anton, tried reaching out 97 weeks earlier, as did former NBA player Nate Robinson, who wrote, "Yo bro," 74 weeks in the past.
T-Pain didn't leave them on read, just unread. "I thought DMs were supposed to just show up in the normal folder and you don't have to go digging for all these," he explained. In the comments on his post, celebrities like Ashanti and Lauren Jauregui confessed they'd had the same issue. Hmm, sounds like Mark Zuckerberg needs to rethink Instagram's UX.
Honestly dude, lots of us feel your T-Pain. Who hasn't lost money because they missed an email with a job opportunity that should've been flagged "important?" I recently apologized to a new acquaintance I wasn't following, who'd been sweetly reacting to my Instagram Stories for months and wound up in the limbo of "message requests," too. But unlike T-Pain, whose DM graveyard is a sea of love notes from famous celebs, mine is more typically filled with pyramid schemes disguised as invitations to "collab" and unsolicited penis pics (but not from Chris Evans, sadly).
T-Pain clearly feels really bad about accidentally being stone cold on social media, which is partly why the whole thing is so funny. Most of the accounts he ignored have millions of followers apiece. A lot of the comments on his TikTok were from people demanding he prioritize DMing Viola Davis. “How do I super apologize?” T-Pain implored his viewers. “Press conference? Town hall meeting? I’m dumb.”
Don't sweat it, man. The whole thing is pretty endearing, plus it's going viral, which means you probably won't have to apologize to people individually. We're sure even Ms. Davis will understand.
