The Mug Drama / Strawberry Mug Gate

Overview

The Mug Drama, also known as Strawberry Mug Gate or #MugGate, refers to a feud between Australian TikTokers Sopha Dopha and Shelby Sherritt in which they became engaged in a TikTok drama surrounding a $125 AUD strawberry mug bought in December 2023. The feud was ignited after Shelby stitched a reply to Shopa's video in early February 2024, saying her business was affected by the things the influencer said about her mug, prompting a debate on the platform in which people posted TikTok Duets sharing their thoughts and opinions over the controversy.

Background

On February 1st, 2024, Australian ceramic artist Shelby Sherritt^[1] stitched a video of a December 2023 video from influencer Sopha Dopha in which she was reviewing some items she bought to gift friends and family on Christmas. In a particular moment of her video, she shows a small double-handed strawberry ceramic mug she bought without knowing it cost $125 Australian Dollars. Shelby responded to Sopha's video (shown below, left) saying that it was her mug and she was the one who served Sopha at the Finders Keepers market. She then explains how she spends “hours and hours” making the mugs and hand paints “every single one” of the products. The video has been since deleted by the creator, but TikTok^[2] user @tiktokdirtydeletes reposted the content, amassing over 698,000 views and 12,000 likes in a day.

On February 2nd, TikToker^[3] @sophadophaa posted a video (shown below, right) in which she commented about the strawberry mug in her December 2023 shopping video, which was later stitched by Shelby. The post received over 5 million plays and 367,000 likes in three days.

Developments

Sopha Dopha became aware of Shelby’s video after people were commenting, “Why would you lie to harm a small business?” on her videos. She then posted a response video^[4] on February 2nd, 2024, in which she denied the ceramic professional's accusations of hurting her business and reiterated that in her original video, she never said the price wasn’t worth it and that she was never “talked through” the price or the Strawberry collection or why the mug had two handles. The post (shown below) amassed more than 11 million plays and 894,000 likes in three days since posted on February 2nd.

Online Reactions

The mug drama quickly went viral on TikTok, dividing people supporting both sides of the story. For instance, on February 2nd, 2024, TikTok^[5] user @koolahgwallis posted a video about the drama, using Ariana Grande's single "Yes, And" stating she sides with Shopa in the feud. The post (shown below, left) received over 1 million plays and 109,000 likes in three days.

On February 3rd, TikTok^[6] user @rubyguestt wrote an overlay text saying she watched more than 50 videos about Shopa and Shelby mug drama (shown below, right), amassing over 1 million plays and 87,000 likes in two days.

Search Interest

External References