Did viral TikTok star Bella Poarch serve in the U.S. Navy? Here’s how long she was in the Military.
TikTok is helping throngs of attractive young people pulling off mirthless 20-second dance routines to catchy tunes become famous on the internet. And while that may seem innocuous enough, there are still some big implications for what these young and pretty personalities do, something thatBella Poarchlearned the hard way when she accidentally inked herself up with a “racist” tattoo. And now folks want to know if she served in the U.S. Navy.
Yes, Bella Poarch was indeed in the United States Navy.
She was born in the Philippines but moved to the United States when she was 13 years old with her family.
Something truly interesting about Bella is that before her rise to TikTok fame, she enlisted in the armed forces in 2017 as an aviation Ordnancemanand served for three years where she was stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She spoke toVogueabout her time in the military, explaining that she joined to feel more “free.”
“I wanted to be free. I wanted to be independent. As weird as it sounds, the Navy allowed me to feel that way,” she explained. Bella, who is Filipino-American, also spoke about the AAPI hate in the country and how she has special skills learned in the Navy that she could use if she ever needed to protect an Asian-American person who is being attacked.
“My time in the military doesn’t affect my view on what’s going on in the country within the AAPI community. I think what’s happening [with anti-Asian-American violence] in our country is terrible and there are flaws in everything. But I’ll tell you one thing: if I ever see someone getting attacked, I will use everything I ever learned in the military to dismantle them.”
Why did Bella Poarch quit the military?
Besides her struggle with depression, Poarch also battled with post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD), which made her suicidal. Eventually, doctors unanimously advised Bella against renewing her contract; hence,her exit from the military after working for three years.
Bella Poarch is now a celebrated singer and social media personality.
She has managed to accrue a massive social media following, with nearly 13.5 million Instagram followers, 92.3 million TikTok devotees, 6.34 million YouTube subscribers (despite not having any content), and over 1.2 million Twitter followers.
This isn’t bad when you consider she was born in 2001 and as of this writing isn’t even old enough to legally buy beer yet. The most popular piece of content she uploaded was to TikTok — an “M to the B” lip sync clip where she makes a variety of slight head movements and is clearly enjoying herself. Just take a look below to see what I’m talking about.
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@bellapoarch To the ? ? ? #fyp
♬ M to the B – Millie B
While the video has received a lot of hate in the comments section with tons of people saying they have no idea what Bella did to get so many millions of likes aside from just moving her head, there were several other people who absolutely adored the video.
It seems like the reason why so many people liked it is because she’s genuinely “vibing” the song and isn’t trying hard to entertain people. It’s something that’s difficult to put your finger on as to why her videos are so addictive, but many folks are pointing out that it probably has a lot to do with a specific cuteness factor.
She almost seems like a Disney animated character that’s come to life with her cartoonish facial expressions. Whatever the reason for her notoriety, it doesn’t seem like many people can emulate it because her followers are growing at an insane pace.
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@bellapoarch Mulan is one of my favorite and I can’t wait to watch the movie? I hope ya guys like this one?
♬ Mad at Disney – salem ilese
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@bellapoarch ?Knock at the door?
♬ Knock at the Door – Playsongs People
People are trying to conflate Bella Poarch’s “racist” tattoo with her military service.
One of her videos showcased a Rising Sun tattoo on her body, but there are tons of Korean fans who find that tattoo offensive. The “Rising Sun” flag symbol is an image that hearkens back to Japan’s occupation of Korea, so the offense is understandable. After learning of the backstory behind the tattoo, Bella immediately had the tat covered up and apologized on social media for not doing her research.
I apologize to Koreans because 6 months ago I got a tattoo of the red sun with 16 rays. At that time, I didn’t know the history. But when I found out, I immediately had it covered and scheduled for removal. I am ashamed of myself for not doing my research. I sincerely apologize.
— Bella Poarch (@bellapoarch) September 6, 2020
An all-out race war between Koreans and Filipinos erupted on social media in the aftermath of the tattoo controversy, but things seem to have boiled down by now and everyone seems to be going back to enjoying Bella’s particular brand of ahegao-inspired face dances and video routines, complete with tie-dye sweatpants outfits.
