Kate Haralson, the TikTok user, who called out Matthew Perry for matching with her when she was only 19, has reportedly been kicked off the dating app. The reason is simple. Haralson broke the guidelines of the dating app to share how Perry pursued her and the two matched each other on the high-profile adult celebrity dating app.
Haralson told Page Six that she was no longer allowed on the app after posting a cringe-worthy video message from the Friends star, which went viral on TikTok. According to the privacy guidelines of Raya, its users cannot disclose who they are matching with even if it is a celebrity.
Banned Forever
Haralson said that Raya's decision to block and remove her account doesn't come as a surprise as she was aware of its privacy guidelines. "I should have expected that would happen," said Haralson, now 20. "I feel fine about it. I never really used it anymore anyways."
Perry who is 51 and is currently engaged to fiancée Molly Hurwitz, 29, allegedly had asked then 19-year-old Kate, "Am I as old as your dad?" during a flirty exchange. Haralson made this exchange public earlier this week by sharing a now-deleted video on TikTok of her FaceTiming with Perry after they matched on Raya in May 2020. She intended to say in the video that how older men try to chase young women on Raya.
However, Raya's privacy policy doesn't allow its users to share all these. On Friday, Haralson said that she was removed from the app but she doesn't mind that because she doesn't use it any more.
In Raya's Removal of Member section, guidelines note: "Every member is expected to follow our simple rules of respect, trust, and privacy. There are plenty of places across the internet where an expectation of behavioral standards and respect for other users isn't required."
Haralson's Big Disclosure
Haralson is the second person this week to break Raya's rule of privacy, after Ben Affleck, 48, was revealed to have chatted to another TikTok user Nivine Jay, 29. Jay had posted their exchange on TikTok claiming that Affleck even pursued her on Instagram after she though the Affleck's Raya account was fake and unmatched him .
Two days later Haralson shared the footage of herself with the caption: "When you match w Matthew Perry as a joke on a dating app and he facetimes you and plays 20 questions with you." Haralson, a personal assistant, told PageSix that she wanted to show how older men in Hollywood are "taking advantage" of younger women on dating apps. She also said that she was somewhat inspired by Nivine Jay.
"A lot of people were saying I'm a bully and mean for posting this, and it made me feel kind of bad, but at the same time, I feel like a lot of guys in Hollywood are talking to all these young girls and it's something that I think a lot of people should be aware of," she told the outlet.
The LA-based Haralson also claimed to have matched with a number of other celebrities but she preferred not to "ever talk to older guys" though she thought talking to the Friends actor "would be funny."
Haralson also claimed that she even told Perry that he was only about a year older than her father, which she claims he "laughed off" and said she at one point felt "uncomfortable" during their call. "I don't think he minded that," she claimed. "It kind of felt weird talking to someone my dad's age and it just felt not right, especially when he knew how young I was."
That said, Haralson has a piece of advice for those may be considering calling out celebrities for their interactions on Raya. "My advice is unless you wanna get banned, don't do what I did," she said, adding an extra tip for those who want to stay on the app and actually find a celeb match. "As far as talking to celebrities, be yourself. They are just normal people with abnormal careers!"
Raya is often described as the celebrity version of Tinder, as the dating app requires a membership and a vetting process, which is enticing to big movie stars like Affleck. Meanwhile, a source claimed to Us Weekly last May, that Perry was on Raya, saying he was "messaging girls and getting back into online dating again."
