Larri Merritt, best known by Larray is a TikTok star and YouTube creator. He has now signed with CAA, a major talent agency for representation, to focus on expanding his creative reach through podcasting, touring, launching his clothing line "Girlies," and brand partnerships.
Larray has appeared on Netflix's reality TV show, The Hype House, and has over 28 million followers on TikTok, 10 million YouTube subscribers, and over 1.2 billion YouTube views.
The social media personality's comedy singles, Canceled, First Place, and Last Place, have earned a high rank on the Billboard Comedy Tracks chart and have over 41 million views on YouTube. In 2023, Larray made it to the Forbes 30 under 30 list.
More about Larray
Per his Forbes profile, Larray or Larri Meritt was raised in a Compton household with 13 other siblings. Merritt explained that he had to hide himself and "act straight" before coming out years later,
Growing up there definitely makes you a stronger person. And growing up in that strong environment, the men didn't accept people who are flamboyant. So, I had to hide myself and act straight, which was the most terrible thing as a child."
At 13, he moved to the suburbs to live with his dad, where he was bullied in school for being gay and having an active following on Musical.ly and Twitter. While talking about his school situation, he said, "they would shout homophobic slurs from their cars at me. It was a terrible situation."
While talking about his fans and being an influencer, he said,
"I was just with an influencer who refused to take a picture with a fan. It blew my mind. I was like, 'We're not doing anuthing. You're just standing here. You need to take the picture.' So, I took the fan's phone and took the picture."
He added that sometimes he gives fans his number or calls them on FaceTime or Zoom.
While speaking to Forbes, Merritt had also revealed that he had plans to appear in an upcoming movie where he accidentally time-traveled to 1992, where there were no cell phones.
In 2021, Merritt announced the launch of his very own virtual restaurant brand in partnership with Virtual Dining Concepts, known as Larray's Loaded Mac. His virtual restaurant takes traditional mac and cheese to new flavors from cheese, meats, vegetables, seasonings, and sauces.
As per Forbes's profile, Merritt's favorite creators are Tati, Zachary, Santea, Ashton Ray, Nathaniel Broomes, and Skai Beauty.
