Doja Cat should have known better.
The singer seemed embarrassed after “Stranger Things” actor Noah Schnapp revealed to the world that she had privately messaged him on Instagram, asking if his co-star Joseph Quinn had a girlfriend — and if Schnapp, 17, could get Quinn to “hmu” (hit me up).
Doja Cat, 26, then freaked out, taking to Instagram Live to call the teenager “unbelievably socially unaware and whack.”
But one Hollywood publicist said the musician screwed up with the route she took.
“Why would she DM a teenager and hope for him to keep a secret? They live on social media and never keep secrets,” said the publicist. “I think it was dumb. You should always be aware of your celebrity status and not put your reputation at risk. It would have been smarter for Doja Cat to reach out to her publicist and request an introduction. It’s better to deal with people whose job it is to keep s–t secret.”
Today, though, more and more celebrities are skipping that time-tested act, instead taking matters into their own thumbs. They’re also leaving behind online evidence of their horny desires — and getting busted for it.
Even chart-topping music stars, who seemingly should have no trouble attracting women in the real world, have taken to social media to connect. Such is the case with Lil Wayne, who blatantly propositioned pop-singer/influencer Siew Pui Yi with an Instagram message less artful than his famous verses. It simply showed a black heart and four popping eyeball emoji. She replied with a smiling, smitten face, adorned with red hearts. Then the heavily tattooed rapper cut to the chase: “I want u.”
The interchange ended there. But receiving flirtatious DMs is the norm for Yi, who performs as Ms. Puiyi.
“People DM her all the time, trying to hook up. There was even an NFL Super Bowl winner,” her rep told The Post, referring to former Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks. He reached out in 2021 — the same year that he served a day in prison after pleading guilty to insider trading — and asked, “Can we get to Know Eachother [sic].”
Lil Wayne’s spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Kendricks and his attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
“It blew my mind when she forwarded me the DM from Lil Wayne,” said Pui Yi’s rep. But I think social media is just the direct way to do it.”
It’s a long way from the days of industry-arranged hookups.
“Back in the day, actors and actresses used to ask their managers to fix them up with swimsuit models, actors on the rise and the like,” said a model who’s received more than her share of unsolicited DMs. “Now they can just do it on their own. I don’t think they even ask their managers to provide introductions. They just slide into DMs on Instagram.”
Weirdly enough, Schnapp himself is no stranger to the sneaky Insta connection. Last year, he was outed for making failed online overtures to “Love Island” contestant Lucinda Strafford, who is four years older. “I think he’s like 16 and he was like, ‘I love you…’” she revealed on a radio show.
But there are plenty of times in which this online do-it-yourself approach actually works. Last year, before Bob Saget died, his wife Kelly Rizzo posted a TikTok video explaining that they fell in love after he slid into her DMs and wrote that he was “looking for a good Midwestern gal.”
Other success stories include Nick Jonas, who privately approached his now-wife Priyanka Chopra via Twitter. They texted for six months before actually meeting in person at Vanity Fair’s 2017 Oscars party. Mandy Moore chummed the water when she posted her love of the band Dawes on Instagram; frontman Taylor Goldsmith saw it, slid into her DMs, and the couple later married.
And former “Bachelorette” contestant Wells Adams Twitter-messaged “Modern Family” actress Sarah Hyland: “Next time I’m in L.A., I’m taking you out for drinks and tacos.” She was smitten, and they’re set to marry soon.
Liza Anderson, owner of Anderson Group Public Relations, thinks it’s actually better to cut out the middleman. Back in the day, “calls were made back and forth between agents and publicists and managers; it was a long chain of communications that took forever,” she recalled to The Post. “DMing is very effective. It’s fast and easy and it works.”