‘The Group Chat’ Is Tiktok’s Must-Watch Series With Tons of Fans and a Charlie Puth Cameo
The viral video series was created after a pivotal 'Jersey Shore' moment.
Published April 14 2025, 6:19 p.m. ET
To many people trying to stay connected with their friends, the group chat is sacred. It's a time to plan a getaway, share memes that no one outside of the group should ever see, and keep everyone updated with their daily lives. For many women, the group chat is sacred, allowing friends to go beyond the surface and share their real, vulnerable moments. Or, in most cases, it's used as a tool to be shady towards someone's boyfriend or other people within the friend group.
Writer Sydney Robinson, also known as @thatgirlsydjo on TikTok, used the latter situations to create one of the app's most-watched series. As TikTok storytelling continues to be a vehicle to be a profitable way for writers to get their stories out, Sydney decided to use her platform to create a relatable series simply titled The Group Chat. The series has received millions of views and celebrity support as Sydney expresses very real situations that happen in "girl world." Let's dive into the hilarious series.
TikTok's series, 'Group Chat' follows a friend group having a far too relatable debate.
Group Chat's first episode debuted on TikTok in March 2025. In the first installment, Sydney plays a group of friends trying to plan a dinner when one girl in the group, Hayley, writes in the chat that her boyfriend is coming along.
"Justin really had such a rough day and I don’t want to leave him alone,” she explains to her friends.
Hayley has clearly done this before, which is why her friends scoffed at the idea of Justin's presence.
“Is she kidding?" one of the friends asks in the group chat. "She’s trying to bring her boyfriend AGAIN."
Hayley continues bringing chaos to the group, from bringing up her and Justin's issues to leaving the group chat for a week and returning with a "Hey girlies!" and an attempt to make dinner plans without Justin. The drama continues across multiple TikToks, leaving the internet fully invested in what would come next. Don't believe me? Ask celebrities like Leslie Jones, Hailey Bieber, and Charlie Puth, who literally said the series is all he could think about.
"I’m so invested in this…,” Charlie wrote under the second episode. "Sorry I can’t make a part 3- I’ve simply passed away.”
The "We Don't Talk Anymore" singer became so obsessed with the series, like the rest of us, that he and Sydney DM'd about it after the second episode. By episode 4, when (SPOILER ALERT) the girls find Hayley's boyfriend at the restaurant, where a male voice enters the series for the first time. It didn't take long for fans in the comments to realize the man in question was Charlie.
"YOU GOT CHARLIE PUTH TO VOICE JUSTIN?!? ARE YOU KIDDING?????" one fan excitedly commented.
"Charlie Puth as Justin is Wild!!!" another commenter exclaimed. "Love how this has played out!"
Sydney Robinson was inspired by a memorable 'Jersey Shore' scene when she wrote 'The Group Chat.'
Since releasing her first Group Chat video, Sydney said she gained up to 10,000 followers each day. Her new bout with fame was something she said took one year in the making, as she started writing the series in 2024. In an interview with Today.com, Sydney shared the idea for the series came after she watched an episode of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation where gets released from jail and alerts the rest of the cast via their group chat.
"He texts everyone that he’s out, and they’re all on a vacation in a house sleeping, and it just revives the group chat,” she explained to the outlet. “It revives the entire group. Everyone’s like, waking up, looking at it, and just the very idea of his name popping up on their home screen sent shock waves through the house."
Sydney added she was shocked by the response she received from celebrity fans, including Charlie. She also confirmed there will be much more content from The Group Chat series, and we love to see it!