Draft:Benji Krol

Benjamin Aleksander Krol, Commonly known as Benji Krol. , is an European social media personality, influencer, and makeup artist. Krol is best known for his following on TikTok, having over 34 million followers, and over 2 million followers on Instagram.

Early life
Krol grew up in a Christian environment, with both of his parents being strong Christian believers. Besides being born in Brazil, Krol spent the majority of his childhood and early adulthood in Madrid, Spain, where he went to a local high school, as well as a private college.

Career
Benji created his YouTube Channel in 2014, but only began to share content on the platform in 2018. In 2016, In 2016, Krol began posting content on the formal video sharing app Musical.ly, now known as TikTok. His content began to gain popularity until 2018, when his career skyrocketed reaching millions and millions of views. In 2021 he reached more than 27 million followers on Tiktok and over 2.4 million on Instagram

Controversies and allegations
Like many internet personalities, Benji Krol’s journey to success wouldn't be different in question of controversies. In 2020, Benji was accused of Grooming allegations. The controversy began when a minor, a 15 year old boy posted allegations against Krol. The would closely involve TikTok and YouTube star Jorge Garay, who was Krol’s boyfriend at the time, Although no accusations would directly blame him. The boy revealed that he had been sent numerous explicit FaceTime screenshots of Benji sent by Jorge. After the allegations gained traction on Twitter, Benji released his initial response on August 23. He said his apology had taken longer than expected due to a suicide attempt, though stressed that “it’s not the first time” and was not a direct result of the allegations

Krol explained that the explicit FaceTime was true, but that he “talked to Jorge about how the situation was wrong, and how he was very uncomfortable with it.” In addition, he revealed that he “doesn’t even know the full story” and that “Jorge knows everything else,” but he doesn’t have access to that information as Jorge took off to go back to his own home

Jorge’s response to the allegations were posted a week later, on August 30. he stated that he knew he was not the victim, and how he manipulated Benji and the minor, apologizing to the two for his actions.

Mental health advocacy
One of the defining aspects of Krol’s online presence, is his dedication to mental health advocacy. Krol commonly uses his Social Media platforms to spread positivity, and creativity. He also casually addresses topics like anxiety, depression, and self-acceptance. Self acceptance is the main mental-health related spoken about by Krol, as he strongly encourages fans and followers to accept themselves for who they are.