[SOLVED] Splitting emoji, safely

I'm attempting to split a string into single words/chars, but I'm having trouble when it comes to emoji.

First of all, I can't simply split the string using an empty character because emojis are generally have length >= 2.

console.log("😎".split(""))
// Output: ["�", "�"]

I found an emoji regex that mostly works, but now I am seeing some strange flesh-colored blocks. I even see them show up on twitter in some cases.

Here's a pen that illustrates the problem with the fleshy blocks

// https://github.com/mathiasbynens/emoji-regex
var emojiRegex =  /(?:0\u20E3|1\u20E3|2\u20E3|3\u20E3|4\u20E3|5\u20E3|6\u20E3|7\u20E3|8\u20E3|9\u20E3|#\u20E3|\*\u20E3|\uD83C(?:\uDDE6\uD83C(?:\uDDE8|\uDDE9|\uDDEA|\uDDEB|\uDDEC|\uDDEE|\uDDF1|\uDDF2|\uDDF4|\uDDF6|\uDDF7|\uDDF8|\uDDF9|\uDDFA|\uDDFC|\uDDFD|\uDDFF)|\uDDE7\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDE7|\uDDE9|\uDDEA|\uDDEB|\uDDEC|\uDDED|\uDDEE|\uDDEF|\uDDF1|\uDDF2|\uDDF3|\uDDF4|\uDDF6|\uDDF7|\uDDF8|\uDDF9|\uDDFB|\uDDFC|\uDDFE|\uDDFF)|\uDDE8\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDE8|\uDDE9|\uDDEB|\uDDEC|\uDDED|\uDDEE|\uDDF0|\uDDF1|\uDDF2|\uDDF3|\uDDF4|\uDDF5|\uDDF7|\uDDFA|\uDDFB|\uDDFC|\uDDFD|\uDDFE|\uDDFF)|\uDDE9\uD83C(?:\uDDEA|\uDDEC|\uDDEF|\uDDF0|\uDDF2|\uDDF4|\uDDFF)|\uDDEA\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDE8|\uDDEA|\uDDEC|\uDDED|\uDDF7|\uDDF8|\uDDF9|\uDDFA)|\uDDEB\uD83C(?:\uDDEE|\uDDEF|\uDDF0|\uDDF2|\uDDF4|\uDDF7)|\uDDEC\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDE7|\uDDE9|\uDDEA|\uDDEB|\uDDEC|\uDDED|\uDDEE|\uDDF1|\uDDF2|\uDDF3|\uDDF5|\uDDF6|\uDDF7|\uDDF8|\uDDF9|\uDDFA|\uDDFC|\uDDFE)|\uDDED\uD83C(?:\uDDF0|\uDDF2|\uDDF3|\uDDF7|\uDDF9|\uDDFA)|\uDDEE\uD83C(?:\uDDE8|\uDDE9|\uDDEA|\uDDF1|\uDDF2|\uDDF3|\uDDF4|\uDDF6|\uDDF7|\uDDF8|\uDDF9)|\uDDEF\uD83C(?:\uDDEA|\uDDF2|\uDDF4|\uDDF5)|\uDDF0\uD83C(?:\uDDEA|\uDDEC|\uDDED|\uDDEE|\uDDF2|\uDDF3|\uDDF5|\uDDF7|\uDDFC|\uDDFE|\uDDFF)|\uDDF1\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDE7|\uDDE8|\uDDEE|\uDDF0|\uDDF7|\uDDF8|\uDDF9|\uDDFA|\uDDFB|\uDDFE)|\uDDF2\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDE8|\uDDE9|\uDDEA|\uDDEB|\uDDEC|\uDDED|\uDDF0|\uDDF1|\uDDF2|\uDDF3|\uDDF4|\uDDF5|\uDDF6|\uDDF7|\uDDF8|\uDDF9|\uDDFA|\uDDFB|\uDDFC|\uDDFD|\uDDFE|\uDDFF)|\uDDF3\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDE8|\uDDEA|\uDDEB|\uDDEC|\uDDEE|\uDDF1|\uDDF4|\uDDF5|\uDDF7|\uDDFA|\uDDFF)|\uDDF4\uD83C\uDDF2|\uDDF5\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDEA|\uDDEB|\uDDEC|\uDDED|\uDDF0|\uDDF1|\uDDF2|\uDDF3|\uDDF7|\uDDF8|\uDDF9|\uDDFC|\uDDFE)|\uDDF6\uD83C\uDDE6|\uDDF7\uD83C(?:\uDDEA|\uDDF4|\uDDF8|\uDDFA|\uDDFC)|\uDDF8\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDE7|\uDDE8|\uDDE9|\uDDEA|\uDDEC|\uDDED|\uDDEE|\uDDEF|\uDDF0|\uDDF1|\uDDF2|\uDDF3|\uDDF4|\uDDF7|\uDDF8|\uDDF9|\uDDFB|\uDDFD|\uDDFE|\uDDFF)|\uDDF9\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDE8|\uDDE9|\uDDEB|\uDDEC|\uDDED|\uDDEF|\uDDF0|\uDDF1|\uDDF2|\uDDF3|\uDDF4|\uDDF7|\uDDF9|\uDDFB|\uDDFC|\uDDFF)|\uDDFA\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDEC|\uDDF2|\uDDF8|\uDDFE|\uDDFF)|\uDDFB\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDE8|\uDDEA|\uDDEC|\uDDEE|\uDDF3|\uDDFA)|\uDDFC\uD83C(?:\uDDEB|\uDDF8)|\uDDFD\uD83C\uDDF0|\uDDFE\uD83C(?:\uDDEA|\uDDF9)|\uDDFF\uD83C(?:\uDDE6|\uDDF2|\uDDFC)))|[\xA9\xAE\u203C\u2049\u2122\u2139\u2194-\u2199\u21A9\u21AA\u231A\u231B\u2328\u23CF\u23E9-\u23F3\u23F8-\u23FA\u24C2\u25AA\u25AB\u25B6\u25C0\u25FB-\u25FE\u2600-\u2604\u260E\u2611\u2614\u2615\u2618\u261D\u2620\u2622\u2623\u2626\u262A\u262E\u262F\u2638-\u263A\u2648-\u2653\u2660\u2663\u2665\u2666\u2668\u267B\u267F\u2692-\u2694\u2696\u2697\u2699\u269B\u269C\u26A0\u26A1\u26AA\u26AB\u26B0\u26B1\u26BD\u26BE\u26C4\u26C5\u26C8\u26CE\u26CF\u26D1\u26D3\u26D4\u26E9\u26EA\u26F0-\u26F5\u26F7-\u26FA\u26FD\u2702\u2705\u2708-\u270D\u270F\u2712\u2714\u2716\u271D\u2721\u2728\u2733\u2734\u2744\u2747\u274C\u274E\u2753-\u2755\u2757\u2763\u2764\u2795-\u2797\u27A1\u27B0\u27BF\u2934\u2935\u2B05-\u2B07\u2B1B\u2B1C\u2B50\u2B55\u3030\u303D\u3297\u3299]|\uD83C[\uDC04\uDCCF\uDD70\uDD71\uDD7E\uDD7F\uDD8E\uDD91-\uDD9A\uDE01\uDE02\uDE1A\uDE2F\uDE32-\uDE3A\uDE50\uDE51\uDF00-\uDF21\uDF24-\uDF93\uDF96\uDF97\uDF99-\uDF9B\uDF9E-\uDFF0\uDFF3-\uDFF5\uDFF7-\uDFFF]|\uD83D[\uDC00-\uDCFD\uDCFF-\uDD3D\uDD49-\uDD4E\uDD50-\uDD67\uDD6F\uDD70\uDD73-\uDD79\uDD87\uDD8A-\uDD8D\uDD90\uDD95\uDD96\uDDA5\uDDA8\uDDB1\uDDB2\uDDBC\uDDC2-\uDDC4\uDDD1-\uDDD3\uDDDC-\uDDDE\uDDE1\uDDE3\uDDEF\uDDF3\uDDFA-\uDE4F\uDE80-\uDEC5\uDECB-\uDED0\uDEE0-\uDEE5\uDEE9\uDEEB\uDEEC\uDEF0\uDEF3]|\uD83E[\uDD10-\uDD18\uDD80-\uDD84\uDDC0]/g;

var string = "Team JAKED 🇮🇹👊🏼💪🏼🎉 @FScozzoli @mafaldina88 @bomber_orsi @JAKEDITALIA #RoadToRio";
console.log(string);
var $before = $('<div>').html(string).appendTo(document.body);

var elementWrap = function(string, elementName){
  return '<' + elementName + '>' + string + '</' + elementName + '>';
}

var splitText = function(string){
  var $div = $('<div>');
  var emojiSplit = string.replace(emojiRegex, function(emoji, index){
    return elementWrap(emoji, 'span');
  });
  $div.html(emojiSplit);
  return $div.html();
};

var splitTexted = splitText(string);
var $after = $('<div>').html(splitTexted).appendTo(document.body);

console.log($after.html());

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.7.1/jquery.min.js"></script>

Update

Trying out spliddit, and I'm still seeing the issue with the skin tone characters. Is there some way to glue them back together?

var string = "Team JAKED 🇮🇹👊🏼💪🏼🎉 @FScozzoli @mafaldina88 @bomber_orsi @JAKEDITALIA #RoadToRio";
console.log(string);
var $before = $('<div>').html(string).appendTo(document.body);

var elementWrap = function(string, elementName){
  return '<' + elementName + '>' + string + '</' + elementName + '>';
}

var splitText = function(string){
  var $div = $('<div>');
  var emojiSplit = spliddit(string).map(function(str){
    return elementWrap(str, 'span');
  });
  $div.html(emojiSplit);
  return $div.html();
};

var splitTexted = splitText(string);
var $after = $('<div>').html(splitTexted).appendTo(document.body);

console.log($after.html());

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.7.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://positlabs.github.io/sandbox/js/spliddit.js"></script>