TikTok star Gina Tew hinted to her almost one million followers that a celebrity may have transmitted HIV to her.
Tew, who is in her late 20s, was diagnosed with HIV in 2021. She said she was confident the person who transmitted it to her was a particular "celebrity man" who she had been "sexually with on and off for years," and "actually had feelings for."
The influencer was alerted by someone she knew to an interview with the unnamed celebrity, which prompted Tew to start thinking again about how she had contracted the virus. She spoke about how she had "dealt with cops over this person due to sexual conduct," and said comments he made in the interview made her think again.
Tew hinted the person spoke about STDs and was "living his best life," but may also be engaging in risky behavior in his sex life.
"I don't know if I want to brush it off anymore because what if this is the person who did this to me," she said to the camera.
"But hey, you can't have assumptions because it just makes an ass out of you and me, that's what they say. I'll never know, right?"
Tew added: "I just don't like seeing stuff like that. I wake up and it ruins my whole day because, I don't think about this stuff for that reason... because I have it now (HIV), I'm half blind from it.
"But if you did this to me and you've been fronting to me about it's just it's a lot... I don't know what to do but I'm just going to let it go."
She added in the video caption: "I just feel gross and irritated. It is what it is but I'll never blame anyone without proof."
@genatew2 When I say a few years meaning on and off .. I just feel gross and irritated. it is what it is but ill never just blame anyone without proof..
♬ original sound - Gena Tew
In another video, Tew dismissed her fans who wanted her to name the celebrity especially because she wanted to pursue the matter "legally."
"For my peace of mind, my sanity and my clarity, this has been nagging at me for a while and I've brushed it away," she began.
"It's so hard to say stuff without saying stuff. I'm going to get to the bottom of it. It's going to take me a while but you know, just be patient with me."
Tew told her fans it would take time to pursue the matters legally and couldn't go public with the name just in case she got it wrong.
@genatew2 I can only say so much! Please be paigent with me 🙏 i have god on my aide so im not worried. #fyp
♬ original sound - Gena Tew
She has regularly kept her fans updated on her health since publicly revealing her HIV diagnosis in March 2022.
Her weight had plummeted to 65 pounds and muscle atrophy had weakened her legs at one point. Other issues the model has dealt with were an inability to walk unaided and blindness in one of her eyes.
But Tew's health has bounced back recently, with her weight increasing to more than 100 pounds and the CD4 cell count in her blood has been boosted through treatment.
Explaining the meaning of the CD4 count in a TikTok post in June, she said: "That means that I am no longer being seen as [having] AIDS. I am being seen as [having] HIV. HIV! Yeah! Does that mean I reversed it? Yeah, a little bit, it does. And you know how? I take my medicine every day.
"I got to the point to where I'm undetectable, untransmittable, and I can live my life just like everybody else. I mean, of course, I'm in a chair and I'm half-blind. But still, we're working on that... Y'all, I'm so happy."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more
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