Keith Lee wins top prize at first TikTok Awards in US

American professional wrestler Keith Lee won the 2025 Creator of the Year trophy at the Inaugural US TikTok Awards.

On December 18, the social media star took to the stage at the Palladium Theatre in LA to accept the honour.

Lee noted while accepting the trophy, “I never in a million years thought I was going to be standing on this stage”.

Keith is also known for his food critic videos and has 17 million followers on TikTok.

“This means more to me than I can explain,” he said while sharing a story of how he grew up as a shy kid. He added, “TikTok provided me a platform to be able to talk about that”.

In the end, Keith thanked his wife, Ronni, for helping him get his start on the platform.

Host LaLa Anthony, in honour of Keith, announced that “in the spirit of our new Creator of the Year, Keith Lee, TikTok will be contributing 50,000 to Feeding America”.

Lala, during a discussion on People magazine, “Keith Lee has used his influence to help fellow citizens facing food insecurity, and TikTok is honoured to contribute to the cause.”

Keith won the award by beating out prominent social media stars Alix Earle, Adam W, Brooke Monk and Kristy Sarah.

For those unversed, the 2025 TikTok Awards took place at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on Thursday, December 18.