Brilio.net - A major fire hit Los Angeles on January 7, 2025. Many residents lost their homes and businesses that they had built for years. Debris and ash are now silent witnesses to the tragic event.
A victim, Carolina Ramirez, expressed her frustration. She saw people making content in front of her house without permission. One of them was an Indonesian YouTuber, Uya Kuya, with his wife and child.
In a video uploaded to TikTok @camr1517, Carolina found them recording in front of her house. Uya and Astrid Kuya were seen interviewing Indonesians living in LA. They stood in front of a burnt-out house with police tape surrounding it.
Carolina said that before Uya Kuya , there were also noble families who did the same thing. She felt that those people did not respect the grief of the victims.
"This is so ridiculous. First the royals yesterday and now these people. It's like they have no respect for our loss at all," Carolina said in a TikTok video @camr1517, Sunday (19/1).
TikTok/@camr1517
In the video, Carolina approaches Uya Kuya and his entourage who are interviewing Indonesian citizens in front of his house. She then asks about their whereabouts.
"Excuse me, who are you?" he asked.
One of the sources being interviewed, a man in a white shirt, replied, "We are from Indonesia."
Astrid Kuya tried to explain that they had family around the location. Carolina immediately denied the statement.
"This is my property. Can you please (leave)? Sorry, this is ridiculous," he said firmly.
TikTok/@camr1517
Realizing the situation, Uya Kuya and his entourage immediately stopped recording. They immediately left the location while apologizing.
Carolina was furious with the incident. She considered Uya Kuya and his team as if they wanted to sell the sadness of the victims. In fact, she herself lost the house she had lived in for decades.
"It's a shame that people are doing this. Don't they understand that we are losing our homes? They don't have the trouble of having to replace everything that we have worked for for 21 years," he said.
Carolina feels that such people do not understand how difficult it is to lose a home. She also deplores those who want to monetize the suffering of others.
"We had to start over, and they didn't understand it. It's sad that people are trying to monetize our pain," he added.
Netizens also highlighted this incident. Many criticized Uya Kuya's actions in not asking permission before recording. Most also felt that the content was made without empathy.
"America is very protective of privacy, especially when it comes to property. If you step on their property just 1 cm, you can be reported to the police if you don't have permission," said @__ar541
"Even though the property owner has asked, instead of asking permission first if you want to record someone's property, it's like the house owner is disturbing their recording," said @fitriparamitha379
"I thought they had permission, but it turns out they didn't. The ones who objected were those who made interview videos or whatever and if lots of people watched them they would definitely get money. Things like that seem like there's no empathy," commented @gitafp_
In response to the controversy, Uya Kuya provided clarification. He explained that the purpose of creating the content was to provide information to the Indonesian public regarding the fire conditions in Los Angeles.
"We just want to provide information to several Indonesians, including Indonesian journalists, who asked for pictures or videos of the conditions there," said Uya when contacted by journalists on Saturday (18/1).
He also denied allegations that the content was created for personal gain. According to him, the video was intended to show the real situation at the fire site, considering the circulation of fake images engineered by AI.
"Regarding the fire, there are many fake or AI-generated photos. So, we actually just want to help provide a picture of the situation to friends who ask for it," he added.
TikTok/@camr1517
When reprimanded by Carolina, Uya admitted that he immediately stopped recording. He also deleted the video.
"When he told us to stop recording, we immediately stopped and deleted the video," he said.
Her daughter, Cinta Kuya, has also tried to apologize through messages on social media. However, Carolina has not responded.
"Love has sent a DM to the person, explaining, apologizing, but he didn't reply. In fact, many of Cinta's comments were deleted by him," explained Uya.
Carolina is now considering putting chains and locks on her house. She doesn't want anyone else to use her house as content without permission.