Don’t be fooled by Julia Fox’s so-called ‘relatable’ New York City flat tour
On Wednesday 25 January 2023, Italian-American actress, model and infamous shit-stirrer Julia Fox posted yet another iconic video to her TikTok. In it, she gave the world an inside look into her New York City flat, explaining: “I do believe in maximum transparency” and adding, “I know I’m going to get roasted, but maybe someone can watch this and think ‘Okay, well maybe I’m not doing so bad’.”
The flat reveal shows Kanye West’s ex-girlfriend’s bedroom which she notes is actually in the living room, so that what was initially intended to be her bedroom could be turned into a playroom for her son, Valentino.
The Uncut Gems—pronounced “Uncah Jamz” please—actress’ walls feature pictures of Fox with friends and loved ones as well as images of two friends who have passed away on what she calls her “nostalgia mirror.” Though it’s nowhere near Hoarders level, her place is messy and smaller than one might expect from someone who once went food shopping in her underwear. It’s relatable, an approach that Fox seems to be constantly going after when it comes to her TikTok content.
She then takes viewers down a long corridor past a “grow station” featuring two plant pots filled with soil, “where nothing’s growing, because we don’t know what we’re doing.” There’s also a small bathroom, a kitchen filled with shoe boxes, “which is very common for New Yorkers,” and an adorable room for Valentino.
Back in her bedroom/living room, Fox concludes, “I don’t like excessive displays of wealth, they make me feel really icky, especially when people have really big houses. It’s just wasteful and there’s so many homeless people in this country. I’m not really like that.”
She also adds that the flat has a “small mice problem” and goes on to clarify in her caption, “I have only one mouse and he’s cute 🥰.” It’s not hard to imagine why netizens have flooded the video’s comments section since it was posted—most of them are spelling it out by noting how surprisingly relatable Fox is.
@juliafox Come with me on a very underwhelming apartment tour! also to clarify I have only ONE mouse and he’s cute 🥰
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“She’s just like us fr 🥲” reads one while another with calls her “a relatable icon.” And don’t get me wrong, there is something to be celebrated about Fox’s authenticity on social media—or on TikTok at least. She achieved a similar status in April 2022 when she shared a chaotic tutorial for her infamous eye makeup.
She even did it before in 2021 when she was seen singing Lana Del Rey in a bra on the app. Fox has clearly cracked the code at being a celebrity by finding the perfect balance between her outlandish public persona—she has once called her street style a “service” to the people—and her more down-to-earth side. But it’s also crucial that we take the time to recognise that her relatability can only go so far.
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Soaking up in a bathtub, makeup smudged across her face, Fox once told gen Z TikTokers that “ageing is fully in; like, fully, dirty girl, ugly, not wearing clothes that fit your body type, just fully just wearing anything you want.”
Writing about the contradicting messages behind that video at the time, Refinery29 stated that although “many great points were made,” the clip also “felt incredibly self-serving and the furthest thing from intersectional.”
It’s a privilege to even say that “ugly is in.” It’s also a privilege to be able to afford such a flat in New York City—no matter how small it looks compared to Kim Kardashian’s £46 million sterile mansion. We’d take a relatable queenie over a nepo baby any day of the week, however, it should be advised to take these so-called ‘down-to-earth’ moments with a pinch of salt.
