It’s Terri Joe’s World, But Kelon Is Running It [Video]

The social media star captivates watchers with their infectious southern bell accent and off-beat sense of humor.

Kelon has 1.1 million followers on TikTok, but not all of them know who he is. When the 27-year-old Texan posts videos of himself not wearing a wig on his account @_itzpsyiconic_, he often gets confused responses. “People would be like, ‘I didn’t even know this was you. I was literally about to unfollow you ’cause I was like, Who is this person?’” Kelon, who uses any pronouns and prefers to go by his first name, tells Vulture in his first interview. He’s better recognized when he is in character as viral sensation Terri Joe, an extremely religious southern belle who doesn’t like Black people or “homaseggsyuhs.” You might also know Terri’s “cousins” — Jeorgia Peach is an L.A. influencer with a penchant for pink décor, and Amethyst is a Salem-based spawn of Satan. Although each of the characters has different looks and personas, they’re all equally willing to roast whoever joins a TikTok livestream, even when that means getting temporarily bannedWhen this happens, Kelon has multiple backup accounts he can try to go live on instead. for bullying. Kelon describes his approach to humor as akin to drag queen Bianca Del Rio. “Comedy, but being absolutely rude to people,” he laughs. His celebrity guests aren’t exempt from this treatment — Terri has told Madonna she was a forgetful 80-year-old, called Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer a “harlot hussy,” and made Doja Cat a frequent target — but you don’t have to be famous to join his world of improv. In fact, some of the funniest conversation partners are confused TikTok users who make Kelon lean out of the shot to laugh with earnest reactions to his shockingly over-the-top characters.

Not Terri Joe calling Madonna 80 and forgetful ??? pic.twitter.com/TBn9KTFl1k

— FocusOnTPhotog (@TaRiiOoo) October 13, 2022

Like many others, Kelon was first pushed onto TikTok by quarantine boredom. In 2020, he began going live in a wig and a grandma costume he had from a past Halloween. It wasn’t his first time chatting with strangers online; shortly after finishing high school, he started going on Omegle with friends. But on TikTok, he went viral enough times that celebrities started popping up in his join requests; he credits Doja Cat for starting a “snowball effect” of other famous fans like Madonna. Now, more than two years later, he goes live from a tripod in front of his bed about four times a week, normally from around 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. (central time, for those of you who want to join). When just chatting with guests starts feeling stale, he will randomly come up with a dramatic story line to “boost the lore,” whether that’s getting Terri kidnapped or killing off her dad. By this past April, Kelon, whose last job was at a tech start-up, was getting enough livestream gifts to make TikTok his main source of income. People tell him they watch his lives instead of TV and that they’re late to work because they have to stay up with him. Some fans are so dedicated that they get FOMO over missing even two minutes of the Terri-verse. Vulture called Kelon up to ask him about rubbing elbows with celebrity guests, where he draws the line when it comes to roasting, and what a TV show for Terri Joe could look like.