A TikTok-famous doctor is under fire after stating that a woman with a skin issue was faking the look with cosmetics.
On December 12, Nancy Morel shared a video of herself getting ready for work while suffering from a skin flare-up, which was seen over 7.3 million times. Morel stated that she has been seeing doctors for her issue since 2016, but has yet to receive a diagnosis.
Morel produced a follow-up video on December 13 in response to a TikTok starring dermatologist Dr. Azadeh Shirazi, who has 1.9 million TikTok followers.
Multiple captions appeared on screen as Morel’s original video played in the background, with footage of Shiraz overlaid. “Looks similar to vascular occlusion…But,” one caption said, before a second caption appeared that said, “Something’s not quite right…doesn’t seem ‘natural.'” Shiraz then pointed to a further caption that read, “She’s a very talented makeup artist.”
Although the video is no longer available on Shirazi’s account, it was used in Morel’s reaction and was stitched together by others.
In Morel’s response, she said: “I don’t wish this lady any hate or negativity. I am only speaking on this because if 14-year-old me saw a video like this she would crawl into her self-conscious shell.”
She continued, “I hope this lady can understand why this video is extremely upsetting considering her large following and spreading false information on situations she clearly hasn’t researched.” The video received over 8.3 million views.
Morel cleaned her face to show there was no makeup on her skin and showed the inside of her mouth, where the flare-up was clearly apparent, throughout her reaction video.
“If you’re going to speak so vocally on something that is so sensitive, then make sure you’re 100% right,” Morel said at the end of her video.
A number of top comments criticized Shirazi. “What the hell!!! That is SO unprofessional of her!” a comment with over 100,000 likes said. A comment tagging Shirazi’s account and telling her to “apologize” was liked over 15,700 times.
Shirazi apologized in a video that is no longer accessible to see but was partially re-uploaded by a TikTok user known as @northernmamabear84.
The video featured Shirazi superimposed on a background of her initial response video to Morel. Shirazi can be heard addressing Morel, saying, “Hi Nancy, hi TikTok. I am really sorry.” The on-screen caption read, “I want to apologize for thinking your skin condition was not real. I did not know enough about you or your condition to make any assumptions.”
The further on-screen text read, “I deleted the video immediately” after realizing it was “hurtful or insensitive.”
Dr. Kelly Killeen, a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles, California, who has 48,000 TikTok followers, responded to the issue in a video that has received over 216,000 views. She called Shirazi’s statements “wildly inappropriate” and praised Morel for filming her reaction.
“It shows people how harmful this kind of behavior from medical professionals is,” Killeen said. “I hate when I see medical professionals, many in my field, who are giving unsolicited opinions and advice about other people’s bodies, bodies which they have not examined and they have no relationship with.”
Morel has 1.7 million TikTok followers, and she often uploads videos answering queries regarding her skin problem, as well as get-ready-with-me videos and vlogs. Her videos have gotten over 69.5 million likes in total.