Americans flocking to the Chinese app RedNote thought they’d been welcomed by the platform’s CEO. Turns out, he’s just a guy from Vancouver.
“It was a typical Sunday,” Jerry tells Fast Company. “I was home alone, browsing RedNote as usual.” As a Chinese Canadian, Jerry has been using the platform for years. “It’s a popular platform among Chinese people for restaurant recommendations, memes, culture, and news,” he says.
That day, Jerry noticed an influx of English-speaking users on the app. He had no idea about the TikTok ban driving them there, but as a longtime user, he wanted to extend a warm welcome. “As a Chinese-Canadian, I thought it’d be nice to welcome them in English,” he says. “The English-speaking community on RedNote had always been super small, so I was happy to see some English speakers joining the platform.”
Jerry, who shares a RedNote account with his girlfriend Dani that has over 10,000 followers, posted a video doing just that on January 13. “I made the initial video in one take,” he says, “not thinking much about it and walked away to do other chores.”
For reasons unknown, users assumed Jerry was RedNote’s CEO though it was mentioned nowhere in the video. His welcome message quickly found its way onto TikTok, where the rumor quickly spread. “I had no idea until Dani’s friend texted her a TikTok link claiming that I was CEO,” Jerry says. Finding out he’d gone viral while at work, Jerry was both flattered and a little scared. “I didn’t know what the implications were, I thought I may get in trouble from the real RedNote team,” he says.
On Tuesday, Jerry and Dani tried to clear up the confusion. “I’m just another normal guy in Vancouver,” Jerry explained in a video posted on their joint TikTok account FakeCEORealGF. “I didn’t expect this post to go viral like this, and thank you for all the comments, but I want to clarify that I’m not the CEO of RedNote.”
@fakeceorealgf Hey guys! It’s really us – we woke up to find that apparently Jerry went viral as the accidental CEO of red note so we recorded this reaction/clarification video to diffuse the confusion 😂 He is flattered but also very embarrassed by how this misunderstanding came about. We decided to reupload this video natively on TikTok (this is our only account) to spread the word – if you see this video, please help us share it for the people 😂 From Jerry: I stand by what I saw in my original welcome video. For all the TikTok refugees coming over to Red Note, we stand with you all to make your voice heard! I am flattered by all the kind and polite comments and hope the TikTok refugees find a new home and friends to discover a new side of Chinese culture and community ❤️❤️🇨🇳 #rednote #rednoteceo #tiktokrefugee #xiaohongshu #xhs #littleredbook #redbook #rednotemigration #rednotewelcome #accidentalceo #tiktok #china
♬ original sound – FakeCEORealGF
But the ball was already rolling. The next morning, Jerry woke up to a flurry of texts from friends. Fox News had picked up the story and was calling him the CEO of RedNote. Reacting to the coverage in a follow-up video, Jerry asked: “Where in that video did I say I’m the CEO of RedNote?”
Now over the initial shock, Jerry and Dani see the funny side. “We’re grateful for the warm support we’ve received from both TikTok and Red Note users worldwide,” he tells Fast Company. “We hope this era of digital unity lasts as long as it can, and we’re excited to be part of it in our small way.”
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