TikToker sparks debate after cleaning 'abandoned' graves in viral posts

A TikToker has sparked debate online after posting videos of herself cleaning up “abandoned” graves.

Whether it’s a rant over the treatment of Gen Z workers, or a groom spraying champagne all over his new wife at their wedding, TikTok is a place where a seemingly innocuous clip has the ability to completely divide opinion.

That’s exactly what happened when TikToker Kaeli Mae McEwen, who uses the nickname “The Clean Girl” and shares videos of her cleaning things, posted a viral clip in which she chose a “random grave” to clean.

In one video, shared with her 2.8 million followers, McEwen picked a grave at random by throwing a pink ball to see which one it landed in front of.

In the voiceover, she said, “Who do you think is buried here?” as the clip showed her spraying a brightly coloured pink cleaning substance onto the cross-shaped headstone and scrubbing at it.

McEwen could be seen using a vacuum to pick up dirt from the top of the grave and also using a leaf blower to get rid of debris that had accumulated around it.

The TikToker said, “Woah, there’s a tree growing out of it”, before proceeding to pull at the foliage removing it.

She said: “This transformation is extremely hard for me, but I believe everyone deserves a beautiful grave.”

McEwen added: “Ok, so I did some research. A woman is buried here and she has two brothers – just like me!”

At the end of the clip, McEwen cleaned the name plaque revealing the name of the woman buried in the grave and the date she passed away.

In the comments, viewers were divided about whether the act was disrespectful or not.

“Cleaning a grave feels so wrong but it’s also so nice,” one person commented.

Another wrote: “This is like respectful but also not.”

Someone else argued: “The vacuum felt so disrespectful.”

One TikToker added: “I have very mixed thoughts.”

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