A TikToker with over 500,000 followers says HR called him ‘a liability’ and told him to delete his account or lose his new sales job

A TikTok creator known as Deniz says he lost a new sales job after human resources told him he had to delete his social media account to keep the position. The creator shared the situation in a video. The hiring process initially seemed to be moving forward without any issues, according to The Daily Dot. Deniz said the employers spoke positively with him during the interview and expressed no concerns about his background.

He said an HR manager later reached out to say his online presence was a problem. According to Deniz, the manager told him that although he was considered a strong candidate and a good fit for the role, his TikTok account would have to go. Deniz said the HR manager described him as “a liability,” and when he asked what that meant for his status, he said the manager responded, “You don’t have the job.”

Deniz said the ultimatum left him with a binary choice: delete his TikTok account, which has nearly 535,000 followers, or walk away from the job entirely. He chose to keep the account and continue creating content rather than accept the position under those conditions. While he admitted he was disappointed to miss out on the role, he said he doesn’t regret his decision and plans to keep looking elsewhere.

Deniz says he picked his followers over the job

Deniz framed the outcome as a choice between his career and his audience, noting that many of his followers had warned he wouldn’t last more than a month in the position. Other creators have described losing jobs over their social media activity, including an Alabama woman who said she was fired for posting TikToks recorded at her workplace.

After the news broke, he sarcastically congratulated a commenter who had predicted his early departure. Deniz said he had to choose between a professional career and an audience telling him he would not last one month. “My enemy succeeded,” Deniz said, then urged viewers to follow him, as he had picked them over a career.

Commenters largely sided with Deniz, with many arguing that having a TikTok account should not bar someone from corporate work. Similar debates followed a viral clip in which a Burger King worker was reportedly fired after mocking her manager, though that claim was never confirmed.

The report does not identify the company. The details of the ultimatum are based solely on what Deniz said in his video, as the outlet could not independently verify his account of the hiring process or the reason the offer was withdrawn. Deniz said he plans to keep creating content on his TikTok account while he looks for work elsewhere, and he captioned the video “Unemployed again.”