Some TikTok influencers say the reality of living rent-free at content mansions wasn’t the Hollywood dream they anticipated

Hi, this is Amanda Perelli and welcome back to Insider Influencers, our weekly rundown on the business of influencers, creators, and social-media platforms. Sign up for the newsletter here.

In this week's edition:

• A startup promised influencers the Hollywood dream and mansion living. But some insiders say it turned into a nightmare.

• TikTok is now the No. 2 platform for influencer marketing.

• How TikTok star Abby Roberts became one of the biggest makeup creators.

• The Instagram account that has become DC's hub for gossip.

• And more including what "cheugy" means on TikTok and an interview with YouTube creator Cody Ko.

Send tips to [email protected] or DM me on Twitter at @arperelli.

Some TikTok influencers who lived at Clubhouse content mansions say the startup's CEO bullied talent, made misogynistic comments, and treated their personal lives like 'a game'

Clubhouse Media Group has built a business running a chain of TikTok influencer mansions.

Some talent, who lived rent-free, said CMG's CEO often yelled and would try to set them up on unwanted dates.

One former house member said CMG management treated their lives like "a game."

Dan Whateley, Sydney Bradley, and I reported on how living rent-free at content mansions wasn't the Hollywood dream some TikTok influencers anticipated.

• CMG mansions like Clubhouse Beverly Hills are home to a rotating cast of Gen-Z TikTok stars who live there rent-free.

• Some sources said there was a volatile atmosphere at the homes, and that the CEO spoke to them in ways they found to be inappropriate and, at times, misogynistic.

• Some influencers said the CEO inserted himself into the personal lives of CMG house members - many of them still teenagers - in a manner that made them uncomfortable.

"They were just trying to manipulate all of our roles in the house, almost as if we were playing characters instead of being ourselves," one former Clubhouse BH member told Insider.

Clubhouse Media Group provided Insider with the following statement:

"When Clubhouse Media Group formed, it endeavored to bring an earnest, professional approach to the content-house industry, an industry that is still very much in its infancy. As a startup, we have had our share of learning lessons and challenges. Thankfully, we've also gotten a lot right. It has been through our challenges that we aim to grow, learn, and course-correct for the good of our team of creators, our employees, and the industry as a whole."

Check out the full story, where some influencers say the CEO fostered a toxic atmosphere, here.

TikTok is now the second most popular platform for influencer marketing, right behind Instagram.

68% of 163 enterprise marketers surveyed by the agency Linqia said they planned to use TikTok for influencer marketing in 2021.

Sydney Bradley broke down some key takeaways from Linqia's recent report:

• Marketers care most about return on investment (ROI). About 65% of marketers surveyed said ROI was their top concern when investing in influencer-marketing campaigns.

• Vertical video is key. One in three marketers surveyed by Linqia said that vertical video was "extremely important" to their influencer-marketing plans for 2021.

• Budgets are healing after a rocky 2020. 71% of respondents who already knew their 2021 budgets indicated that spending on influencer marketing would increase compared to 2020.

"TikTok is here to stay and brands know that," Brian Sorel, the COO of the influencer-marketing company NeoReach, told Insider in January.

Check out a full breakdown of all the major social-media platforms, here.

Abby Roberts has quickly grown to become one of the biggest makeup creators on TikTok

Abby Roberts is a popular British-based TikTok beauty influencer with 16 million followers on the app.

Soon, Roberts is moving to Los Angeles to expand her business and to launch a YouTube beauty show.

Molly Innes interviewed Roberts about her marketing strategy and investments in bitcoin and property.

"I get a lot of US-based brands wanting to work with me, so I kind of try and market myself more to US audiences," she said.

Check out how Roberts grew to become one of the biggest makeup creators on TikTok, here.

More creator industry coverage from Insider:

• The Overheard District Instagram account became DC's hub for gossip. Insider scored an exclusive interview with the account manager (Kayla Epstein)

• Cody Ko explains how his computer science background helped prepare him for a career as a YouTuber (Kylie Robison)

Industry Updates:

• YouTube's TikTok-like feature Shorts is rolling out to all US creators, and the feature will replace the "explore" tab on app's home screen.

• If you have more than 600 followers on Twitter, you can now host a Twitter Space, the platform's Clubhouse competitor.

• The winners of Adweek's inaugural Creator Visionary Awards, including Tori Dunlap as finance influencer of the year and "The Crib Around the Corner" as Creator House of the Year.

• A rundown of recent moves in the creator industry, from new hires and talent signings to startup investments.

This week's top trending hashtag on TikTok:

Each week, we will be highlighting a trending hashtag on TikTok, according to data provided by Kyra IQ.

This week's top hashtag: #Promszn.

• The percentage uptick for the last 7 days: 1,983%.

• This trend is centered around prom season starting, and creators are showing off how they are getting ready for the event.

This week from Insider's digital culture team:

'Cheugy,' TikTok's viral new word that's similar to 'basic,' explained

The word "cheugy" went viral on TikTok and was the subject of a recent New York Times report.

The term (pronounced chew-gee) has been making the rounds on TikTok over the past month or so.

It signifies a certain out-of-touch aesthetic that's difficult to define, but easy to identify.

Insider reporter Palmer Haasch wrote that the term is similar to more familiar descriptors like "basic" or "local."

Read more about what's "Cheugy," according to TikTok creators, here.

More on digital culture:

• Influencer Trisha Paytas said they were almost cast in season two of the HBO series "Euphoria."

• A viral TikTok appears to show Ben Affleck asking why a woman unmatched him on the dating app Raya.

• A Vlog Squad member said he thought David Dobrik wanted them to get injured during stunts.

Here's what else we're reading:

• Internet trolls attacked a creator after she called out healthcare misinformation on TikTok (Kalhan Rosenblatt, from NBC News)

• Young adults are now getting their financial advice from TikTok (Cheryl Winokur Munk, from The Wall Street Journal)

• Inside the business of MrBeast, the most-subscribed YouTuber in the US (Taylor Lorenz, from The New York Times)

• International TikTok stars struggle to earn a living on the platform that made them famous (Andrew Deck, from Rest of World)

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