Everything We Know About The Viral TikToker Known As 'Scar Girl'

The name Annie Bonelli might not be instantly familiar, even if you're one of the 800,000-plus people who follow her on TikTok. But if you're au fait with all the latest social media sensations, you'll undoubtedly know her nickname. Indeed, the teenager dubbed "Scar Girl" has become an online star thanks to the facial blemish she proudly shows off in her clips. But while she's an inspiration to some, she's a source of great skepticism to others.

Indeed, while Bonelli's content is entirely innocuous — think the usual TikTok dances, lip-syncs and challenges — she's still managed to enrage a certain section of the online community who believe the star is faking her facial blemish for attention. In fact, the platform's #scargirl hashtag has racked up nearly 450 million views as a result of those questioning her authenticity.

While the debate is unlikely to be cleared up, there are some things about Bonelli that we can say for certain. From her college education and unfortunate phobia to career ambitions and self-prescribed treatments, here's a look at her intriguing story.

As longtime viewers of her TikTok account will already know, Annie Bonelli got her scar when she was a 15-year-old high school junior in March 2021. But while the social media star has been happy to share the when of her facial blemish, she's been much more reticent about the how.

Speaking to NBC News in 2023 about the fascination surrounding her scar's origin story, Bonelli explained she didn't want to reveal too much and said, "[It's] just a very personal subject." She continued, "Looking in the mirror, sometimes it can be hard because I know exactly where it's from." Luckily, Bonelli is able to take something positive from whatever caused her scar, adding, "But at the same time, I feel like in a way it's empowering. It's like, you know, I got through that." 

During an appearance on the BFFs podcast earlier that same year, the social media star did at least reveal that her blemish wasn't the result of a dog attack. And in a chat with Rolling Stone, Bonelli hinted that she may reveal the whole truth at some point, too: "Maybe one day I'll decide that this is something I feel like people need to know. But for right now, I feel like where I got my scar doesn't matter as much as [what] I'm doing with it now."

One of the reasons why there's so much skepticism surrounding Annie Bonelli's scar is due to the fact that in the summer of 2021 it appeared to be fading before coming back with a vengeance in the winter. However, the TikToker says there's a perfectly rational explanation.

In an interview with NBC News, Bonelli explained that toward the end of the same year that she got the scar, she applied some topical treatment to it. Unfortunately, this was without any professional medical guidance. And her self-prescribed approach backfired when she received a chemical burn from her product of choice, resulting in a fresh blemish on top of the faded scar.

Bonelli recalled, "It was bubbly and bloody and gross ... That turned into a new wound on top of it, which is why [the scar became] significantly longer, because I just sloppily put it on. I wasn't thinking that I'd have a reaction like that, but also my skin is really sensitive so I probably should have taken it into account."

The reason why Annie Bonelli decided to apply some topical treatment to her facial scar without any medical guidance was all down to a phobia. "I also just have a big fear of doctors and stuff," the Tiktoker explained while speaking to NBC News about the issue.

Thankfully, approximately nine months after inadvertently making her facial blemish worse, the teenager, who goes by the TikTok handle @wtmab, decided to tackle her fear head-on and visit a dermatologist. The professional prescribed her a new treatment to help fade both her original and self-inflicted scars.

Bonelli added, "Scars can come in all different colors, all different shapes and sizes, and they can change throughout healing, especially when further injury is done to them. The issue is people don't understand there was like two separate injuries, which is really more why people are stuck on it." The star also revealed that she'd been brought up not to comment about anyone's appearances in the first place: "My parents always told me, 'Don't say things about people's bodies, don't make comments about other people, don't say things about what other people can't control."

With over 800,000 followers to her name, Annie Bonelli can undoubtedly lay claim to being a TikTok star. But in a 2023 interview with Rolling Stone, the teen famous for her facial scar claimed that she never planned to make it big on social media.

"The past two or three months have been a little crazy," she revealed. "I'm averaging one to two million views per video. TikTok was always a thing [for me], but to actually try to be an influencer, that wasn't really ever my path. It kind of just happened. I've had two other accounts, but this one, obviously ... got big two years ago."

Bonelli acknowledges that she went from being a complete unknown to a TikTok sensation because of her facial blemish. But although the teen enjoyed the attention, she admits it also left her feeling insecure about her appearance. In a chat with NBC News, she said, "I feel like on social media people get so comfortable, especially with influencers in general, to make comments on things because they don't always view them as real people. Like, I'm a real person."

In 2022, Annie Bonelli became a victim of the fame game's "build them up, tear them down" mentality when she began to regularly get accused of faking her scar for attention. The teen initially tried to ignore the backlash, concentrating on her impending college years and friendship group instead. But the scrutiny soon became impossible to avoid.

" ... The debate is a little weird to me because at the end of the day, people are commenting about something on my body," Bonelli told Rolling Stone in 2023, adding, "Especially watching some creators use big platforms to almost tear me down, it's upsetting. I can't take my scar off and hang it up on a hook. I don't feel like I should have to cover it."

Bonelli argues that her natural surroundings would have instantly exposed her if she was a fraud: "You don't think I go to the ocean every day with my friends?" she said, referring to the fact that its waters would wash off any makeup used to create a fake scar. "I'm sorry, it's just one of those things where you come back to it and it's like, I would've been caught in my hometown."

Although Annie Bonelli has uploaded several videos that attempt to disprove the theory that she's faking her scar — including one where she tries to remove it with a makeup wipe — she has yet to post what many consider would be the ultimate confirmation that it's genuine: medical records.

While speaking to NBC News in 2023, the TikToker refused to show any confirmation of her visits to her dermatologist. But in an interview with Rolling Stone that same year, Bonelli explained that she didn't feel as though it was anyone else's business: "This is a personal thing. Why do I even owe that to people? I could 100 percent just go 'here' and hold [my medical records] up on TikTok, but then people are still going to say it's fake. So it doesn't matter what I do."

Instead of getting angry about the constant skepticism, Bonelli admits she's now decided to capitalize on it instead: "I can't control what people are going to say. And if anything, it just gets my platform out there more. So yeah, I'd rather take advantage of it than just sit in a corner and cry about it."

Thankfully for Annie Bonelli, not everyone who views her TikTok videos are haters. Many of her more than 800,000 followers see her as an inspiration and she's been supported by fellow influencers such as lifestyle guru Reagan Baylee and lip-syncer Nessa Barrett.

And as she revealed to NBC News in 2023, the teen believes that she can continue to be a role model no matter how long the debate about her rages on: "Even if the whole like physical scar, like that whole aspect dies down, my message still is there, because not everyone has physical scars. Everyone has scars, people have mental scars, emotional scars, like I want to broadcast that to the world, that no matter what, you should be proud of your scars."

"And I have a lot of plans in the future to carry forth my message, which I'm really looking forward to," she continued. Bonelli named body positivity and awareness of domestic violence as two particular areas she's interested in advocating for.

Of course, there's much more to Annie Bonelli than her facial scar and the social media status she's achieved as a result of it. The teen also appears to be gifted when it comes to both education and sport.

After graduating from high school in the Connecticut city of Niantic, Bonelli landed a place at High Point University, a private North Carolina college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. It's not known what subject the TikToker is majoring in, but in her first year, she made the Dean's List of students who the previous semester hat achieved a 3.5 GPA or higher.

It seems likely that Bonelli is also continuing to pursue her love of sports while at the institution. In her Next College Student Athlete College Recruiting profile, there are details of her impressive vertical jump and 20-yard and 40-yard dash records along with a YouTube video showcasing her skills as a softball player. In her personal statement, she writes, "I am looking to play at a higher level and compete athletically at a college that also has a strong academic program."