Anti-vax conspiracies spread about a young TikTok star's death. She previously went viral for spreading anti-vax conspiracies.

No one seems to remember her most viral video.

Earlier this week, you might have seen the headlines involving the death of a TikTok influencer named Taylor Rousseau Grigg. Over the weekend, her husband announced on Instagram that the social media star sadly passed away at the young age of 25. 

In numerous videos over the past few years, Rousseau Grigg had shared with her more than 1.4 million TikTok followers that she was experiencing health issues. Although, she never disclosed exactly what they were. 

With over one million followers on her TikTok account @itstaylorrousseau, Rousseau Grigg’s passing made headline news. NBC News, TMZ, E! Online, HuffPost, People magazine, New York Post, and many more covered the “sudden” death of the TikTok influencer.

Anti-vaxxers quickly glommed on to Rousseau Grigg’s death to spread conspiracies– regardless of the fact that the TikTok influencer previously went viral due to her own anti-vax beliefs.

“Died Suddenly”

In quoting Rousseau Grigg’s husband, many media outlets described the 25-year-old TikTok creator’s passing as having “died suddenly.” 

The phrase “died suddenly” has become sort of a Bat-Signal for anti-vax conspiracy theorists who falsely believe the COVID-19 vaccine has been responsible for recent deaths involving young people.

X / Twitter user Matt Wallace, a regular right-wing disinformation spreader, received nearly 6 million views and over 11,000 likes for his post about Rousseau Grigg’s.

“Christian Tik Tok  influencer Taylor Rousseau Grigg has been found dead “suddenly and unexpectedly,” Wallace posted to his more than 2 million followers on X. Wallace included a video compilation of photos depicting Rousseau Grigg’s health struggles. 

Wallace’s followers immediately started speculating that it was the COVID-19 vaccination that led to Rousseau Grigg’s death.

“The jab? That’s so sad.. so young,” replied @akafacehots, another right-wing X user with more than 400,000 followers.

Similar anti-vax conspiracy theories also spread on other social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, regarding her death.

Taylor Rousseau Grigg: Viral anti-vaxxer

Aside from conspiracies about vaccine-related deaths having been debunked, it seems unlikely that Taylor Rousseau Grigg’s was even vaccinated.

Rousseau Grigg was mostly known as a “lifestyle” influencer. Most of her content appeared to just be about her everyday personal life. Her Christian faith was a regular topic of her videos. And her content did sometimes overlap with right-wing ideologies. In one TikTok video, for example, she referred to herself as “anti-feminist.”

When I first saw the stories pop-up in my feeds about her death, I knew she looked familiar regardless of the fact that I don’t normally watch this type of content. Then, I realized that there was one video of hers I had previously watched that had crossed over to those outside her fanbase – it was an anti-vax video.

In October 2020, Rousseau Grigg’s went viral across multiple social media platforms thanks to a video she posted on TikTok about COVID vaccines, which she refers to as “the mark of the beast.” 

In the scripted video, Rousseau Grigg appears as, seemingly herself, a blonde girl wearing a red cap while a melodramatic, slowed down version of “Train Wreck” by James Arthur plays in the background. She turns down the COVID vaccine after another character (also played by Rousseau Grigg) accepted the vaccination and had a “chip implanted.”

“Do you understand that if you deny it, you will be killed…” reads on-screen dialogue.  Rousseau Grigg’s character accepts these terms as she appears to be physically beaten by an entity off-screen. After depicting herself with a black eye and blood pouring down her mouth and nose, Rousseau Grigg’s character is executed.

“Well done, good and faithful servant,” God says to the TikTok influencer as she appears in heaven.

Shortly after this video was released, it was everywhere on social media. Mainstream outlets, like the BBC and Vox, all covered her video at the time. Thanks to the anti-vax rhetoric combined with the over-the-top dramatics from Rousseau Grigg, the TikTok influencer unintentionally created a perfect internet comedy video. It instantly became a viral hit.

But, none of the media outlets covering her passing mentioned Rousseau Grigg’s biggest claim to mainstream fame. It seems to have been completely forgotten. 

The cause of Rousseau Grigg’s tragic death has not been disclosed. But, its safe to say it wasn’t due to the vaccine.