This wild TikTok copying scandal between two Chinese adoptees is all over everyone’s FYP

Only on TikTok could a heartfelt adoption story turn into one of the most chaotic plagiarism scandals of the year.

It starts with Xav (@xav_bav) — born in China, adopted by Irish parents, now living in the US working as an influencer. Recently, she posted a long, emotional “storytime” video about her adoption: the One Child Policy, growing up in a predominantly white environment, and complicated feelings toward her birth parents.

It seemed like very powerful stuff. Except… they weren’t her words.

Because over on the other side of the internet, there’s Esme (@esmehewitt) — also born in China, adopted by British parents, now a journalist. And if some of Xav’s speech sounded suspiciously polished, that’s because it was word for word from an article Esme wrote for The Times.

We’re talking bar-for-bar quotes. Down to the exact phrasing: “I was one of the millions of Chinese babies that were abandoned during the One Child Policy. All I wanted was to be normal and to have blonde hair and blue eyes.” You can practically picture the article open on a laptop in front of Xav.

Esme wasn’t exactly thrilled. She posted a calm video pointing out the plagiarism, making it very clear she supports adoptees sharing their stories — just not when it’s literally someone else’s copy-and-paste work.

In an exclusive interview with The Tab, Esme said: “It felt senseless to post something on the internet that wasn’t yours in such a public space. Like, did you think I wasn’t going to find out?

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“Writing that piece for The Times was so personal – I’ve only ever written things like that in my journal. It’s not something I usually talk about because it’s always been something I’ve buried.”

She even reached out to Xav privately first. But instead of a conversation, she claims she got an aggressive DM from Xav’s fiancé, who insisted Xav hadn’t stolen anything.

So Esme went public, receipts in hand. Her video has now passed a million views (Even Julia Fox liked it), and the receipts are undeniable.

@esmehewitt

Plagarism is not cool. Taking someone’s work and passing it off as your own is crazy. Especially a story that is so personal and emotionally charged #receipts #plagarism #notcool #justice #journalism #soconfusing

♬ original sound – Esme

You’d think the next step is obvious: Xav apologises, takes down the video, end of story. But nope. Instead, she posted a response starting with a montage of all the times she’s spoken about her adoption before, insisting this is her story. The whole time, her fiancé lurks menacingly in the background, staring deep into the souls of viewers.

No one’s questioning whether Xav’s adopted or whether she’s faced those struggles. The issue is the plagiarism. And people aren’t buying her spin.

Esme responded again, baffled: “That’s great, I love that you’ve spoken about it before — but you retold your story using my exact words, and that’s plagiarism.”

She called it “insane” to pour so much emotion into something so personal, only to have it lifted and repurposed: “I had very specific reasons for wanting to be blonde and blue-eyed — all my friends were, and the boys at school always went for them, never me.”

@esmehewitt

Replying to @josephine 🤺🤺 Can’t thank everyone enough for the support over the last day it’s meant so much to me !! Sharing such a personal piece has been terrifying and so vulnerable and having someone steal my writing as their own has been wild. Would love for everyone to read my words in The Times, link in bio x

♬ original sound – Esme

Then came Xav’s “apology” — if you can call it that. She admitted to reading out some of Esme’s work and said: “What I did was wrong, and I’m sorry. I’ve done some reflection and I’m deeply sorry for using some of someone else’s words in a video to tell my story. I have of course taken down that video and I’m really sorry. It was wrong and I did not mean it in a malicious way.

“I’m really sorry for the hurt and upset that I have caused, and I’m sorry for casting a shadow over my true lived experience and anyone else’s true lived experience as an adopted child.”

“I’m grateful that she apologised, but I can’t help but think — if my video hadn’t blown up, would she have apologised at all?” Esme said.

@xav_bav

I’m sorry @Esme

♬ original sound – Xav

Final plot twist? The Times emailed TikTok, and the platform actually took Xav’s video down. Xav hasn’t dared make a video since.

“People who say ‘it’s fine’ aren’t creatives, aren’t writers, have never had something they’ve worked really hard on stolen from them — especially something so personal and so emotional. Plagiarism just isn’t taken seriously enough in influencer culture,” said Esme.

And that’s where we’re at: blatant plagiarism in the big 2025. It’s terrifying how easily content can be stolen for views. Chaos, drama, and a little Julia Fox cameo.

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Featured image credit: TikTok/@esmehewitt, TikTok/@xav_bav