TikTok Awards 2025: Keith Lee takes home 'creator of the year' trophy

Keith Lee won the 2025 Creator of the Year trophy at the Inaugural U.S. TikTok Awards.

On December 18, the 29-year-old social media star took to the stage at the Palladium Theatre in LA to accept the honor.

"I never in a million years thought I was going to be standing on this stage," Lee said while accepting the trophy.

Keith, known for his viral food-critic videos, has 17 million followers on TikTok.

"This means more to me than I can explain," he said while sharing a story of how he grew up as a shy kid.

"TikTok provided me a platform to be able to talk about that," he added. 

Concluding his speech, Keith thanked his wife, Ronni, for helping him get his start on the platform.

In honor of Keith's win, host LaLa Anthony announced that "in the spirit of our new Creator of the Year, Keith Lee, TikTok will be contributing 50,000 to Feeding America."

"Keith Lee has used his influence to help fellow citizens facing food insecurity, and TikTok is honored to contribute to the cause," shared LaLa, as per People magazine.

Keith won the award by beating out prominent social media stars Alix Earle, Adam W, Brooke Monk and Kristy Sarah.

For those unversed, 2025 TikTok Awards took place at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on Thursday, December 18.