'Very Demure' TikTok Influencer Jools Lebron Fears She 'Dropped the Ball' in Tearful - And Deleted - Post

The TikTok influencer who sparked the "Very Demure" craze on social media posted a quickly deleted video in which she sobbed that she had "dropped the ball" and blown a chance to monetize the phrase.

"The viral social media star shared a vid to TikTok Sunday [Aug. 25]," TMZ shared, "barely capturing their face while they lay in bed – choking out how they felt they'd invested so much time into their social media presence for nothing."

The cause of Lebron's distress, TMZ went on to detail, was that "a person from Washington state named Jefferson Bates applied for the trademark for 'Very Demure .. Very Mindful ..' hoping to make some money from the viral phrase."

In the video, captioned "When you didn't trademark fast enough," Lebron sobbed that the "situation really fucked me up."

"Like, I just invested so much money and time into this," Lebron gasped through tears, "and I feel like I did it wrong, like, I feel like I didn't try hard enough."

"And, like... like, I wanted this to, like, do so much for, like, my family, and, like, for my transition," Lebron continued, "and, like, I just feel like I dropped the ball."

"Like, I feel like I fucked up, and someone else has it now," Lebron went on to say. "And I, like, don't even know what I could have done better, because, like, I didn't have the resources..."

TMZ took note of a possible ray of hope, however, pointing out that "trademarks aren't handed out on a first come, first serve basis necessarily – with the legal process allowing multiple parties to make their case."

"This might be why Jools quickly deleted this vid," the outlet added.

It was not long ago that Lebron was flying high on the viral success of what quickly became her catchphrase. "One day, I was playing cashier and making videos on my break," Lebron told her followers in a recent post, "now I'm flying across countries to host events, and I'm gonna be able to finance the rest of my transition."

In the now-famous post that started it all, Lebron told her followers about how to be "demure" in the workplace and continue to give a good impression once an interview led to a job.

"I don't come to work with a green cut-crease," Lebron advised. "I don't look like a clown when I go to work. I don't do too much, I'm very mindful at work."

Similar videos proliferated on Lebron's account as the phrase spread across the internet and into real life.

"Lebron is known for posting makeup tutorials and generally talking about her life as a plus-sized woman to her 1.3 million followers," EDGE detailed in a previous report. "Seemingly overnight, everyone is channeling her vibe from a video that has over 10 million views."

"Having exploded in popularity along with the term, Lebron now has 1.5 million TikTok followers and nearly 100 million likes across her videos on the platform," Variety noted, and she "has continued to create content for fellow 'divas' on how to be 'demure' in other random life scenarios, like boarding a plane, thanking hotel staff or flat-ironing one's hair."