A teen's fatal from a Florida theme park ride is being used in a TikTok trend that many creators have denounced as insensitive and distasteful.
Fourteen-year-old Tyre Sampson died last week after falling from a ride at ICON Park in Orlando, Florida. Videos of the fatal fall circulated on social media, sparking criticism of platforms like Twitter for allowing graphic “snuff” content.
Now, videos referencing his death have received hundreds of thousands of views.
One video with 1.7 million views starts with a blurry clip of a carnival ride, taken from a rider's perspective. It's paired with a sped-up version of Labrinth's "Formula," which was featured in the HBO show "Euphoria."
"Aren't you gonna stop going on rides after what happened to that boy?" the first caption reads.
As the ride takes off, the camera spins with it, giving the viewer a dizzying glimpse of the carnival below. The words "I'm livin for the the thrill of it" appear, matching the lyrics of the song.
Videos with the hook "Livin' for the thrill of it" were popular on TikTok before the fall at ICON Park. In videos posted as far back as December, users edited clips to the song.
TikTok users started using the sped-up versions around February to post about reckless behavior. Videos using the trend would typically start off with the caption "Aren't you scared you'll get caught?" and end with clips of them sneaking out of the house, vaping and exploring abandoned buildings. Many would either lip sync or caption the video with the words "Livin' for the thrill of it."
Days after Sampson's death, TikTok users began posting videos of amusement park rides with the already popular sound. A trend emerged as posts replaced "Aren't you scared you'll get caught?" with references to the ICON Park fall.
One TikTok with the references posted earlier this week has nearly 500,000 views. Another video with 206,400 views included the caption "rip tho bro."
"i will never stop going on rides [because] i know what happened wouldnt have happened if that worker was doing his job," a TikTok user captioned their video.
As the trend gained attention, other creators spoke up.
"A little boy DIED," Lil Theydy wrote in a video posted Tuesday. "Because of someone's gross negligence and y'all are making a TREND out of [it]."
"You didn't even have the decency to say his name."
tiktok creator rynnstar
Erynn Chambers, a creator known as rynnstar, called the trend "disgusting."
"You didn't even have the decency to say his name," she said in a video posted Thursday. "He's just 'that boy' to you."
In light of the criticism, several TikTok users took down their videos. But many others continue to gain views, without acknowledging the insensitive nature of the trend.
"Just wanted to clear everything up," one TikTok user wrote in a follow-up comment to their widely criticized video. "I'm sorry that I've offended a lot of you ... I honestly do not aim this at that poor 14-year-old boy."