Bill Gates’ daughter Phoebe spoke out against racist abuse thrown at her on social media because of her connection with her Black partner in an interview with The Information. Aside from that, Phoebe, a social media star, discussed “misconceptions and conspiracy theories” about her family.
According to the Daily Mail, the 20-year-old first made her connection with Robert Ross public in an Instagram post last July. The two lovebirds are Stanford students. But, shortly after publishing images of her and her beau, the comments area was flooded with negative feedback. Several social media users said her boyfriend was romantically involved with her because she was the billionaire’s daughter.
When asked about the benefits and drawbacks of being prominent on social media, the social media influencer stated that she has had enough of the criticism. Phoebe has over 60,000 TikTok followers and over 200,000 Instagram followers.
“The misconceptions and conspiracy theories about my family and my relationship with my boyfriend,” the 20-year-old said. “It’s 2023. I’m done being memed for being in an interracial relationship.”
Phoebe stated that while she is aware that people visit her social media profiles to get a glimpse of her personal life, they tend to “stay around” after becoming acquainted with the stuff she publishes.
“I’m pretty realistic that people start following me because of my family name. And people probably find it funny to see my dad being a goof and playing [Box Ball],” she said.
“But once they follow me, they stick around, and I think some of that is because of the issues that I post about, like women’s health. I like to bring audiences along to the events I go to, my life at college, what’s front of mind for me, that kind of stuff.”
Phoebe also expressed her hope that her social media presence will dispel any “misconceptions” about herself and her family. “People have a lot of ideas about me, so TikTok has given me the opportunity to share my own story while simultaneously using the attention my family name may bring to highlight issues that are important to me, such as women’s health and sustainable fashion,” she stated.