Sweet grandma stunned as granddaughter surprises her with $1000 she made from viral video success

Every year, Christmas brings enormous joy to people’s lives, offering a break from the hustle of daily routines. Many people use the holidays to surprise their loved ones with a prank or two. One grandma found herself at the center of such a surprise, as her family hilariously exchanged items taken from her house as gifts, all while keeping it a secret. The family’s mock white elephant gift exchange became an instant hit on TikTok, shared by the lady’s granddaughter, Kaylee Marina (@kaylee.marina). It gained such popularity that it earned the content creator a significant profit, which she decided to share with the one responsible for it.

A widely circulating video showed Kaylee relaxing with her grandma after their sudden rise to fame on social media. The elderly lady was surrounded by all the children in the family, days after the hectic holiday season. As they chatted, Kaylee brought her purse to the table and announced her grandma’s year-end earnings. “That’s the money you made from the video,” Kaylee said, handing over a couple of $100 bills to her grandma. The Boomer grandma, surprised and unaware of the perks of internet fame, responded, "I didn’t make any money." Her disbelief grew as Kaylee continued pulling out more $100 bills from her fancy leather purse.

“Yes, you did!” the content creator insisted, clarifying that the money was indeed hers. The grandma then remembered a recent conversation she had with Kaylee about the earnings from their viral white elephant gift exchange video. The footage, aimed at showing the Christmas tradition in the funniest way possible, has racked up over 26 million views so far. “We talked about this yesterday—you said if you made any money, they wouldn’t send it to you for a few days, right?” the grandma recalled. With a smile, Kaylee pulled out more $100 bills, bringing the total to $500. “You got $500—sorry, $600,” she corrected herself, continuing to pull out more bills from her purse. For the Boomer grandma, it was like witnessing magic—she had never imagined such a way of earning money.

She shouted Kaylee’s name twice, urging her to stop adding more bills. “Okay? Last one, $800,” her granddaughter replied. Still unfamiliar with how social media creators earned money, the grandmother asked, “That isn’t for real?” Kaylee reassured her that the money was indeed sent from the platform. “Oh wait! Sorry… We’ll just make it an even $1000,” the content creator added.

Despite the growing pile of money, the grandma remained humble, insisting she hadn’t contributed to it. "I just don’t feel like I earned or did anything for that," the elderly woman said in the nearly three-minute video. “You did, because you’re so precious and everybody loves you,” Kaylee responded, wrapping up the moment and earning reactions from her 154.2K followers. “Commenting to get granny paid again,” @cailyn_autumn jokingly remarked. “The white elephant video was such an original idea - for big business, $1000 is small to pay for content driving views - hoping she enjoys it,” @lynnie9292 added.

You can follow Kaylee Marina (@kaylee.marina) on TikTok fore lifestyle and wholesome content.