In many respects, Jessica Herman’s TikToks are indistinguishable from countless other online vlogs, depicting the lives of young women for their social media followers. The South African mother-of-two films herself playing with her two young sons, going for walks in her neighborhood, and meeting her husband for dinner.
The twist? Herman’s content was filmed in Neom, a planned Saudi Arabian city backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The crown prince envisioned Neom as “the land of the future, where the greatest minds and best talents are empowered to embody pioneering ideas.”
Instead, Neom has been beset by controversy – including the deaths of construction workers, repeated allegations of racism and misogyny, and people in leadership roles who were hired after they had to leave previous jobs due to crimes or misconduct.
When three people died constructing Neom, in the brutal desert heat, executives including Australian Wayne Borg, were called in to manage a brewing crisis.
“A whole bunch of people die so we’ve got to have a meeting on a Sunday night,” Borg was recorded saying, according to the Wall Street Journal. He then added that the deceased Indian construction workers were “fucking morons.”
“That is why white people are at the top of the pecking order,” Borg continued.
Borg is far from the only controversial official brought on board the Neom project. Antoni Vives helped lead development efforts in the city, until he was pushed to resign after he pleaded guilty to public-malfeasance charges in Spain. Vives later returned to the project, at the behest of chief executive Nadhmi al-Nasr.
Vives subsequently got into a physical altercation with a construction manager but still remained in his position, according to the Wall Street Journal (NWS). Spanish officials also accused Vives of criminal conspiracy, fraud and perversion of justice and are currently seeking a six year prison sentence for the executive.
Saudi Arabian officials envisioned Neom as a “cognitive city” of 1.5 million residents, spanning 105 miles to the Red Sea by 2030. Current estimates suggest it will actually be about 1.5 miles, with a population of 300,000, according to a Bloomberg report.
The videos posted to social media of Neom don’t dispel concerns that the city is behind schedule. X $TWTR users responded derisively to Herman’s videos when they were reposted to the platform on September 17.
“Oh wow this looks great. I’ve always dreamed of living in an industrial estate on the surface of the sun,” journalist Matt Bevin posted in response to Herman’s evening video.
“This is like if my first year catered uni accommodation was moved to the middle of Arrakis and was owned by people who dismembered journalists,” another X user said of Herman’s TikTok channel. The same user also compared a different video of Herman attending a social event in Neom to the 2003 film “Holes,” which depicted life in a desert prison camp.
Herman subsequently deleted her TikTok account, while fellow Neom influencers Sara Sarasid and Aida McPherson switched their popular accounts to private.