Content creator Anaïs Felt thought she was posting a romantic story. Instead, she found herself in a hate scandal. With the news of her engagement to Black fiancé Nichloas McKoy, this lifestyle influencer found herself on the receiving end of racist remarks that made it impossible for this pair to continue living on social media as they had been or continue revealing as much of this romantic relationship as they had been.
From Wedding Bells to ‘Hate Comments’
Felt, who resides in the Bay Area and usually shares content related to lifestyle and relationships, posted her engagement pictures in May 2025. This was supposed to be a celebration, but it just escalated as the photos went viral.
Instead, they received a flood of hate messages. White supremacists appeared to disparage Felt for supposedly “ruining her bloodline.” Some commenters from the Black community expressed disappointment that McKoy was with a white woman. Other users ruthlessly called for a divorce or mocked Felt with messages stating she’d “end up a single mom.”
“I thought I would have some family and friends and my lovely followers congratulate me and celebrate this new season of life,” Felt explained in a video posted on TikTok. “But what happened is our engagement photos went unexpectedly viral, and we had a huge onslaught of racist comments.”
@anaisfelt This experience has been a heavy on my heart since we announced our engagement in May 2025 and I felt it was important that I bring this into the light. This is what it’s like to create content and show up publicly as an interracial couple in 2025. The commentary on our engagement photos that went viral across several platforms online broke our hearts and provoked important discussions about if we want to continue sharing our life publicly. Where we landed is that our representation online is important and necessary. That our presence on social media is an act of resistance toward this hateful, racist, and divided rhetoric that is pervasive in our society right now. This is not the world I want my future child to grow up in and that’s why I’m speaking out.
♬ original sound – Anaïs
Two Months Offline: Love on Pause
It was so extensive that Felt was forced to take a two-month break from both TikTok and Instagram. She confessed that she was finding these comments start to take a toll on her mental state, making her question whether it was all worth it for her to continue being out in public.
‘I guess we just live in a bubble in California,’ she mused, thinking about how representing interracial families seemed so prevalent in her experience compared with the hate she saw expressed in cyberspace.
This allowed time for reflection on boundaries. ‘When I was thinking about where to go from here… I’m going to show less of my partner on social media, but we both agree that it’s important to continue showing up and having representation.’
Love as Protest: Why They Refuse to Hide
Felt has since gotten back to content production with a clear purpose. She has explained that being visible as an interracial relationship partner has a political undertone for her.
“‘Our presence on social media is an act of resistance toward this hateful, racist, and divided rhetoric that is pervasive in our society right now,’ she explained. ‘This is not the world I want my future child to grow up in and that’s why I’m speaking out,’ she added.”
McKoy will now make a few more appearances in Felt’s videos, for a reasonable level of personal privacy, but Felt remains a passionate supporter for inclusivity. She believes that this backlash has highlighted just how important representation remains in 2025.
The Modern Couple America Can’t Handle
Felt originally created content as she didn’t find others like herself represented on the internet. “In my mind, it’s just the modern day relationship,” she explained, saying that interracial families and multicultural children are a regular sight in the Bay Area.
Yet the backlash to her engagement reminded her how divided the internet and society at large remains. The couple’s decision to continue sharing, despite the hate, makes their love not just a personal celebration but a public stand against racism.
As Felt explained, “The hateful commentary on our engagement post is an indicator of a society that is so sick and divided. And our presence here is important and necessary.”
