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“That’s The Chinese Government”: Charles Barkley Reveals Why He’s Not Interested in Opening a TikTok Account

Published 03/16/2024, 8:58 AM EDT

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Charles Barkley has finally made it on to Instagram. After years of criticizing social media, Chuck has been enjoying his time on the app owned by Meta platforms. However, there is one particular foreign app that is still off-limits for Chuck. On the latest episode of the Steam Room podcast, Sir Charles shared his reasoning with the listeners.

During the question/answer segment of the show, he was asked by social media manager Victoria to share his experience exploring social media since he made his debut on Instagram. While Chuck candidly shared that he is still learning things such as posting stuff online, DMS, polls, and more, he also expressed his wish on how he doesn’t want to be like other Instagram users. His co-host Ernie Johnson also encouraged him as he suggested that Chuck might as well join TikTok soon.

In response to Johnson’s suggestion, Barkley made it clear that he won’t be joining TikTok due to this one reason. “No, I’m not. You know, that’s the Chinese government. These fools up here in DC, y’all ain’t got out of all the crap we got going on in the world. Y’all worried about TikTok and I’m curious.”

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He further added, “Y’all say it’s a conspiracy by the Chinese people. The Communist Party steal all our crap. What’s different about that than the other social media companies? Y’all just don’t like China, but y’all do almost a trillion dollars worth of trade with China every year. But y’all want to make a big deal out of TikTok.”

Well, it’s really hard to predict anything about Sir Charles. Who would have thought Barkley would get on social media after criticizing Gen Z’s favorite app for years? However, one thing is for sure, the Philadelphia 76ers legend has many social media pundits teaching him about it.

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Charles Barkley gets odd advice from frenemy Shaquille O’Neal

Johnson isn’t the only one who is waiting for Chuck to get a TikTok account. UFC sensation Nina Marie Daniele also has the same wish. After watching the Philadelphia 76ers legend mistake an Instagram post for a live video, Nina jumped into the comments section of the post and wrote, “Wait till Chuck discovers TikTok LOL” 

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Chuck’s colleagues Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal also shared their valuable social media knowledge with him. Having said that, the crew also didn’t miss out on having some fun while pulling their favorite colleague’s leg. How? Well, O’Neal gave interesting advice to Barkley to add #onlyfans on his every post. Being a rookie in the social media scene, Chuck was almost tricked into believing him and thinking the tag meant, “only for my friends.” Do you also have a suggestion for the 76ers legend? Do let us know in the comments section below.

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Written by:

Pritha Debroy

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Pritha is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. After reporting on the luxurious lifestyle of celebrities for a year, she used that experience to cover the glamor side of the basketball world. She has expertly covered Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan's complicated love story and the lavish vacations of NBA superstars, among other off-court scoops.
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Edited by:

Caroline Joseph