High school student Carter Wilkerson broke the record for most retweets on Twitter, surpassing Ellen DeGeneres who previously held the title.
In April, Wilkerson, 16, tweeted Wendy’s asking the fast food chain how many retweets it would take to receive a year of free chicken nuggets. Wendy’s replied it would seal the deal if he could earn 18 million retweets.
Wilkerson took on the challenge and the hashtag #NuggsforCarter was born.
HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3
— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017
DeGeneres held the record for the most retweets with her March 2014 Oscars selfie. While hosting the Academy Awards, DeGeneres gathered big-name celebrities like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep and Lupita Nyong’o for a selfie that has since received more than 3.4 million retweets.
If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014
As Wilkerson gained on DeGeneres, the talk show host invited him on her April 18 show and gave him a new TV and a year’s supply of Ellen underwear in exchange for him to not take away her title.
While Wilkerson didn’t reach 18 million he did surpass DeGeneres’ tweet making his plea for free chicken nuggets the most retweeted on Twitter. Wendy’s agreed to gift Wilkerson his nuggets and donated $100,000 to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption in his name.
Wilkerson has started his own website to raise funds for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and Pinocchio’s Moms on the Run, a charity that provides services to women with breast cancer and their families.
.@carterjwm is now the most retweeted tweet of all-time. That’s good for the nuggets, and $100k to @DTFA. Consider it done. #nuggsforcarter pic.twitter.com/k6uhsJiP4E
— Wendy’s (@Wendys) May 9, 2017
