Are Sofia Richie & Jake Shane Related? TikTok Has Theories

If your TikTok FYP is filled with people shouting inexplicable catchphrases like “Tents up!” or “We’re nyming!”, you can thank Jake Shane for that. You might recall that the creator rapidly rose to TikTok fame in early 2023 for his less-than-accurate historical reenactments and sense of humor. But despite the fact he was on the rise at the time, fans were still very surprised to see him at Sofia Richie’s lavish wedding in the south of France in April.

Understandably, this unexpected collab inspired TikTok users to begin investigating how the content creator and quiet luxury icon know each other. Are they related? Is Shane friends with Richie’s husband, Elliot Grainge? Did he somehow grow up with ties to the Richie family? Sadly, if you’ve been wondering how Jake Shane and Sofia Richie know one another since the model said “I do,” don’t expect the duo to reveal the secret anytime soon.

Who Is TikToker Jake Shane?

Jake Shane, 23, is a popular TikTok creator and University of Southern California alum. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, perhaps the handle @octopusslover8, or one of Shane’s many viral videos — in which he “reenacts” historical events in literal ways and creates imagined scenarios based on the dozens of prompts in his comments section — might jog your memory.

Frequent visitors of the FYP have undoubtedly come across Shane’s content before — after all, the creator has more than 2.4 million followers on TikTok and has amassed a whopping 161 million likes on the platform altogether.

After making the pivot from reviewing octopus dishes (this explains his username) to more skit-focused content, it wasn’t long before Shane had caught the attention of the Jonas Brothers, Lea Michele, and Olivia Rodrigo. Sophie Turner was even spotted wearing his merch when leaving Taylor Swift’s house amidst her divorce drama. For this reason, it wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility that Richie knew who Shane was. But to get an invitation to her wedding? TikTok is sure there’s something deeper at play.

Jake Shane & Sofia Richie: Related?

Shortly after the Richie-Grainge wedding, user @marykatev made a video on April 23 outlining which A-list guests attended the ceremony and how they knew the Richie and Grainge families. In the video, the creator matter-of-factly stated that Shane is “cousins with the Grainge family” but provided no proof to back up the claim. Plus, in a July 25 video with Vogue, Richie and Grainge say Shane isn’t actually their cousin after joking earlier in the video that he is. Shane previously told Elite Daily the ceremony was “full of so much love and happiness” but didn’t go into any details about how he got the invite.

The cousin theory seemed to stick initially, though, but somewhere along the way the narrative changed from “family members” to “family friends.” In a video examining whether or not Shane is a nepo baby, Cora Breilein (@corabreilein) explained that the creator and the model are rumored to have met through Richie’s sister-in-law, Alice, before clarifying that “no one’s confirmed this” — a disclaimer that should be included in all Shane/Richie conspiracy videos since the two haven’t ‘fessed up to the details of their friendship.

“I almost feel like the theories around Jake Shane [are] part of his brand now,” Breilein says in her TikTok. “On pretty much all of their videos, people are trying to figure out how they’re related or how they’re friends.” Whether or not this is a lasting part of their brand, the cloudy rumors have definitely infiltrated the duos’ content. On Sept. 2, Shane posted a video with Richie, Elliot, and Alice in which they try to figure out how they’re all related.

It’s not the only time they’ve filmed together. It appears Richie made her first appearance on Shane’s account in March 2023, and since then the friends (Best friends? Cousins? Mysteriously-linked duo?) have recorded a number of TikToks alongside one another. One video was filmed during the Richie-Grainge wedding weekend and might have been the catalyst for all of this speculation. “Find yourself a puss,” the model captioned a video of the two of them on Sept. 2 and received tons of supportive comments like, “This friendship is everything!” from one enthusiastic user.

Whether or not Shane is actually part of the family, he seems to fit right in with the entire Richie crew. On Aug. 24, Richie posted a video of herself, Shane, and her sister Nicole Richie all celebrating at her 25th birthday party. The duo seemed to confirm they’re BFFs in a Sept. 24 TikTok in which Richie lip-syncs the words, “We’re friends,” though they could’ve just been messing with fans by playing into all of TikTok’s theories.

Unfortunately, the more fans theorize about their relationship, the harder it becomes to tell the evidence apart from the rumors. Regardless of how they know each other, however, the bond between Shane and Richie is undeniable.