Drew Afualo<\/strong> has never been one to bite her tongue, and she isn\u2019t about to start now.<\/p>\n The refreshingly unfiltered TikTok creator and host of \u201cThe Comment Section\u201d exclusively spoke to Us<\/em> about her role under the pressure of having a platform and what people tend to get wrong because of it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe largest misconception is that I\u2019m just walking around swinging on people no matter what. That\u2019s not how I am, quite literally at all. I think people would hate me if I was,\u201d Afualo, 30, told Us<\/em> during an interview to promote her new collaboration with Popsicle.<\/p>\n She first rose to fame on TikTok in 2021, which was an unplanned pivot after being laid off from a digital content role with the NFL<\/strong>. With time on her hands, she began posting videos calling out men for misogynistic behavior, a now-signature topic of hers that would eventually launch her career; content Afualo explained she initially made \u201cpurely for the love of the game and nothing more.\u201d<\/p>\n With over 8.1 million followers on the app and a recent No. 22 spot on Forbes<\/em><\/a>\u2019 2026 Top Creators list, the content creator-turned-podcaster is well aware of the influence she holds. \u201cThere is a lot of power in exercising that autonomy as someone with a platform, as someone who has a very, very large power of influence,\u201d she told Us. \u201cI can influence people very quickly and mobilize them very aggressively. I am very strategic about how and when I do that.\u201d<\/p>\n The viral star carries that same dominant energy into topics she discusses on \u201cThe Comment Section\u201d, where A-list guests like Cynthia Erivo<\/strong><\/a>, D\u2019Arcy Carden<\/strong><\/a>, and Hayley Kiyoko<\/strong><\/a> have joined her for conversations about public scrutiny and navigating life in the public eye. As for how the creator handles hate from male trolls, Afualo said she\u2019s learned not to let it affect her. \u201cI think because I\u2019m not afraid of men saying awful things to me or about me, I think they just kind of assume because I have no fear, that I\u2019m like rude or mean or just crazy,\u201d she added. \u201cThey just assume I\u2019m like constantly like attacking people out of nowhere, which is insane. Nobody does that.\u201d<\/p>\n Even as one of the internet\u2019s most candid creators, she admits holding back from addressing certain topics isn\u2019t easy, and she said the pressure of constantly weighing when to speak up and when to stay silent has become something she\u2019s been actively working to juggle.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the hardest things about this job that I talk about quite frequently in therapy is feeling muzzled to me. When I feel like I can\u2019t talk about things or I feel like I\u2019m not allowed to talk about things, which I am, but I\u2019m not,\u201d she explained to Us<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s like, it\u2019s this very invisible barrier that I\u2019ve been learning to navigate as I\u2019ve been doing this and growing in this career.\u201d<\/p>\n Pressure or not, her mission since the beginning of her career has stayed the same \u2014 mute the manosphere and empower her audience to do the same. \u201cWhen women stand up for themselves, when women assert boundaries, when women are confident and unapologetic, it almost always goes to s***,\u201d she continued. \u201cWhereas with men, that does not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
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