Culture

Explaining The Drama Surrounding Emmanuel The TikTok Famous Emu

"Finding out the emu lady is racist and going to be patient zero in the next pandemic isn’t a great way to start the week."

by Charles Rushforth  25 October 2022

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Accusations of racism and controversy following the handling of an outbreak of avian influenza have engulfed a south Florida hobby farm, home to the TikTok famous bird Emmanuel the emu.

Subscribers of the highly specific niche that is Hobby Farm TikTok were horrified recently after the picturesque south Florida property Knuckle Bump Farm — usually known for its wholesome social media content featuring mischievous internet celebrity Emmanuel the emu — became the site of a deadly pandemic.

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Emmanuel’s owner and chief social media manager Taylor Blake — famous for her catchphrase “don’t do it, Emmanuel!” — interrupted the steady stream of wholesome emu-related content in mid-October to make a grave announcement. A flock of wild migrating ducks had accidentally spread the highly infectious avian influenza onto the property.

“Our farm was heavily impacted by wild geese bringing in AI [avian influenza], and we lost 99 percent of the birds on our farm,” Blake wrote on Twitter. “I cannot even begin to express the guttural feeling of watching innocent animals die. Daily. Innocent animals that did NOT deserve to die.”

It’s even harder to swallow the fact that we did nothing wrong, it was not our fault, and there’s nothing we could’ve done to prevent it,” said Blake.

Things turned from bad to worse after the hobby farm’s most popular attraction Emmanuel also fell ill, darkening the social media channel in the following days with tragic scenes of Blake sleeplessly struggling to keep the sick emu from death.

However, as the outbreak on Knuckle Bump farm attracted new viewers invested in following Emmanuel’s medical treatment (including Bindi Irwin), a strange dichotomy between Blake and another famous hobby farmer began to crystalise. You see, there are actually two TikTok famous emu ladies online right now.

A Tale Of Two Emu Ladies

Blake’s emu ranching and TikTok famous counterpart/competition is an Ontario woman named Amanda, lovingly known for her overly-aggressive emu named Karen. Despite describing her famous bird as an “absolute bitch” that “hates me with every fibre of her being”, Amanda is known in the terminally-online hobby farm community as the “good” emu lady.

In contrast, Blake’s moniker is much harsher. As those outside of the discourse struggled to differentiate between the emu ladies and their respective hobby farms, seasoned veterans of emu-tok offered that Blake could be identified as the “racist lesbian emu lady”.

You see, while the outbreak saw Knuckle Bump Farm gain a flock of new followers as concerned audiences tuned in to track Emmanuel’s recovery, it was also the catalyst for Blake’s problematic past to resurface. Unbeknownst to many fans, Blake has previously garnered a reputation by saying problematic stuff on social media — ranging from the careless use of racial slurs, to the promotion of some pretty weird political beliefs.

In a previous life before her emu ranching career, Blake was known for making instructional tutorial videos on how to be a good ally under the pseudonym Karen. Many of these “Good Ally” videos were marred with controversy; in one, Blake encourages her followers to show “love towards their oppressors”, arguing that “showing a racist love” was more productive than using “hatred”.

Elsewhere, Blake’s reputation as an extremely flawed racial justice advocate can be seen after the emu rancher shared a quote from Morgan Freeman suggesting that the best way to end racism is “to stop talking about it”. There have also been several screenshots of deleted tweets which critics allege show Blake using the n-word several times on social media.

Virologists Warn Blake To Stop Kissing Her Sick Emu

As Blake continued to post images of Emmanuel’s recovery on social media, veterinary experts began to criticise how Knuckle Bump Farm was handling the outbreak on the property, begging Blake to refrain from kissing the sick animal and consider euthanasia to halt the potential transmission of the virus.

“I screamed when I saw this,” posted virologist, Dr Angela Rasmussen in response to a photo of Blake resting her forehead on the critically ill emu. “If your emu (or any bird) has avian influenza, do not kiss it. Do not cuddle with it. Do not touch it.”

“Bird flu is extremely dangerous to humans and other animals. And it sounds harsh but to prevent its spread, birds that get avian flu should be euthanised.”

Other scientists have echoed Rasmussen’s warnings, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of the consequences of underestimating the transmission of influenza from animals to humans.

“Being face to face with a bird with avian flu is a bad idea — this is how zoonotic transmissions occur, this is why entire farms cull sick birds. We live with the threat of pandemic flu,” another wrote.

But if you think this whole thing couldn’t get any more ridiculous, that’s exactly what happened when Blake took to social media to defend herself, clarifying that the emu didn’t actually have avian influenza at all.

Blake Says That Emmanuel Was Simply “Stressed”

“Emmanuel Todd Lopez tested negative for Avian Influenza at two separate labs, swab, fecal, and blood. He does not have the virus, and is not actively shedding the virus” Blake revealed on Twitter on Sunday.

“We believe this all stemmed from stress. Emus are highly susceptible to stress. He was incredibly overwhelmed by the state coming in and euthanising our flock.”

Blake went on to explain that Emmanuel’s illness was probably the result of dehydration following the stress of watching other animals being euthanised on the property, and that the emu was recovering from nerve damage in his neck and leg after struggling to stand up in his weakened state.

So what did we learn here after following this whole messy saga, folks? Perhaps the best conclusion to arrive at is the reasonable verdict: that despite owning a much angrier emu, Amanda’s farm has considerably less drama.