Who is Bella Poarch?

Bella Poarch (born February 8, 1997) is a Filipino-American social media personality and singer. On August 17, 2020, she created the most liked video on TikTok, in which she lip syncs to the song “Soph Aspin Send” by British rapper Millie B.[3][4][5] In May 2021, she released her debut single “Build a Bitch”.

As of August 30, 2021, she has over 80.1 million followers on TikTok, ranking as the fourth most-followed individual on the platform behind Charli D’Amelio, Khaby Lame, and Addison Rae. She holds the record for the most-liked TikTok video, with over 50 million likes. She also signed a music record deal with Warner Records in 2021.

Poarch was born in the Philippines to Filipino biological parents. She was raised by her grandmother in the slums until the age of three and was then adopted by her adoptive family. Her adoptive father is a white American who had served in the US military and her adoptive mother is Filipino; both adoptive parents had met in Saudi Arabia where her adoptive father was stationed, before settling in the Philippines. In an interview, she recounts that she and her adopted brother were heavily abused all throughout her childhood, up until her enrollment in the military.

She lived on a farm with her family: two older (adopted) sisters, her adoptive parents, and her brother. She had many of the responsibilities for the farm, even as young as seven years old. She recounts that her adoptive sisters did not receive the same treatment as her. Poarch says that her father was verbally and physically abusive, while her mother did not get involved. Her family (except her two older sisters who still reside in the Philippines) moved to San Francisco to live with her aunt for a couple of months, before the family moved to Texas when she was 13[1] due to her father’s need for bypass surgery. She says that the abuse decreased here, but she still faced some mental abuse from her father at home.