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Eugenia Cooney

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Eugenia Cooney
Cooney in 2017
Born
Colleen Cooney

(1994-07-27) July 27, 1994 (age 30)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
EducationConnections Academy
Occupations
Years active2011-present
YouTube information
Channel
Subscribers2.14 million[1]
Total views270.5 million[1]
100,000 subscribers2015
1,000,000 subscribers2016
Twitch information
Channel
Followers437,000
Last updated: November 11, 2023

Eugenia Sullivan Cooney (born Colleen Cooney;[2] July 27, 1994) is an American YouTuber, Twitch streamer and Internet personality. She initially began livestreaming on broadcasting service YouNow and eventually created a YouTube channel in 2011, which has more than 2 million subscribers. Cooney's content mainly involves clothing hauls, beauty, cosplay, emo, gothic looks and vlogs of her daily life.

Life and career

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Cooney was born Colleen Cooney on July 27, 1994, in Boston, Massachusetts.[3][4] Her first name was changed to Eugenia several months after her birth.[5] Throughout her childhood, Cooney didn't have many friends and was often the victim of bullying at school,[6][7] which caused her to switch schools multiple times and begin attending an online school after her first year of high school.[8][9] She transferred to Connections Academy and graduated in 2012.[10][11] Eugenia Cooney pursued modeling for a brief time in New York.[12][13] After being asked to remove her online presence and feeling overcontrolled, Cooney decided to instead focus on her online career.[14]

Cooney began her online presence on June 17, 2011, by livestreaming on broadcasting service YouNow, later creating her YouTube channel that same year.[15] Her first three videos amassed over 7.5 million views. Cooney's YouTube content mainly consists of clothing hauls, vlogs about her daily life, cosplay outfits, and makeup tutorials.[15] She began livestreaming on Twitch in March 2, 2018,[16] where she has over 400,000 followers as of August 1, 2022.[17] She is known for her emo style, characterized by her "extraordinarily long, dark hair, gothic lace dresses, and bold, multi-colored makeup looks."[18]

In November 16, 2018, Cooney starred in the music video for Niki DeMar's song "Anthem for the Judged".[19] Cooney was nominated and a finalist for "YouTuber of the Year" for the 12th annual Shorty Awards in 2020.[20]

Cooney resides with her family in Greenwich, Connecticut,[21][22] and also had a residence in Los Angeles, California.[23]

Controversy

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Critics argue that Cooney's content encourages eating disorders among viewers, raising concern about her influence on her young fans.[24][25][26] Cooney is a popular figure in online "pro-ana" communities, where her videos and images are used as "thinspiration".[note 1][28] Beginning in 2015, viewers began expressing concern around her weight loss, and since then several theories about her health, mental state, and home life have steadily grown. In 2016, a Change.org petition titled "Temporarily Ban Eugenia Cooney off of YouTube" went viral and received 18,000 signatures, although it was later removed for "violating community guidelines".[29][30] In response to the petition, Cooney denied having a problem and said that she did not intend to be a bad influence.[6]

In July 2019, Cooney appeared as the subject of a hour-long YouTube video by Shane Dawson titled "The Return of Eugenia Cooney", in which she confirmed that she had an eating disorder and detailed her recovery process for the first time.[31][32] Dawson's video on Cooney was viewed over 27 million times in a month.[33] The reaction to "The Return of Eugenia Cooney" was mixed, with some viewers and mental health experts raising concerns about the future of her treatment, as well as the possible impact on Dawson's mostly young, female audience.[33]

Following the publication of Dawson's documentary, Cooney returned to posting videos.[31] She was initially praised when she returned to YouTube, with people commending her for her return and being honest about her health. As a result, Cooney was nominated for YouTuber of the Year at the 2020 Shorty Awards.[34] Despite being initially praised for opening up about her struggle with an eating disorder, Cooney was soon criticized again for appearing to relapse.[32]

In early 2021, another petition was started on Change.org to age-restrict, or entirely remove, Cooney's YouTube channel and social media accounts, claiming that she promotes eating disorders.[35]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award show Category Result Ref.
2020 Shorty Awards YouTuber of the Year Nominated
[34]

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ In online pro-eating disorder communities, "thinspiration or "thinspo" are images of underweight people as an incentive to lose weight.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b "About Eugenia Cooney". YouTube.
  2. ^ Cooney, Eugenia [@Eugenia_Cooney] (September 10, 2014). "how many of you know my name was originally colleen and then it got changed a few weeks later now you all know congrats" (Tweet). Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ "Eugenia Cooney Draw My Life". YouTube. April 29, 2018.
  4. ^ Where was Eugenia Cooney Born?. lilg54g. May 24, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ Eugenia Cooney Tells 48 Facts About Herself | YouTube July 26, 2013. Love Eugenia Cooney. December 17, 2020. Archived from the original on November 21, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ a b I'm Sorry. Eugenia Cooney. October 14, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ How To Deal With Bullies. Eugenia Cooney. August 31, 2017. Archived from the original on March 16, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ My Bullying Story. Eugenia Cooney. September 11, 2019. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ Getting Bullied... Eugenia Cooney. August 31, 2015. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ What school did Eugenia Cooney go to?. lilg54g. May 24, 2022. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "Eugenia Cooney on Linkedin".
  12. ^ REACTING TO MY OLD MODELING PICTURES. Eugenia Cooney. September 16, 2017. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ 🗃️ Eugenia Cooney' Life: Deleted Video ( ARCHIVED ). LIVE ARCHIVE. April 30, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ Eugenia Cooney On Photographer Who Wanted To Push Her Beyond Her Limits | Twitch August 7, 2021. Love Eugenia Cooney. August 8, 2021. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ a b Dodgson, Lindsay (February 6, 2021). "YouTubers are campaigning to deplatform an influencer over eating disorder concerns. Experts say that won't fix the problem". Insider. Insider Inc. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  16. ^ First Hour Of Eugenia Cooney's VERY FIRST Twitch Stream | Twitch March 2, 2018. Love Eugenia Cooney. November 21, 2020. Archived from the original on November 21, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  17. ^ eugeniacooney - Twitch, retrieved August 1, 2022
  18. ^ "The 10-year journey that led YouTube star Eugenia Cooney become one of the most polarizing figures on the internet". Times News Express. July 17, 2021. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  19. ^ Anthem for the Judged- Niki DeMar [Official Music Video]. NIKI DEMAR. November 16, 2018. Archived from the original on June 5, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ "Eugenia Cooney - The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  21. ^ Dellinger, Hannah; Marchant, Robert (February 11, 2019). "Greenwich therapists: Social media contributes to eating disorders, body dysmorphia". GreenwichTime. Hearst. Archived from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  22. ^ "Eugeniacooney • Instagram". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  23. ^ 5150 - Eugenia Cooney's Story. Kati Morton. January 6, 2020. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Dodgson, Lindsay (March 25, 2021). "Sexual predators target pro-eating-disorder communities to find young people to groom". Insider. Insider Inc. Retrieved August 21, 2021.[better source needed]
  25. ^ Montoya García, Jonathan (January 19, 2018). "Youtubers que hacen locuras por likes". El Colombiano (in Spanish). Archived from the original on February 18, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  26. ^ Henríquez, Azucena (November 2, 2017). "Seguidores piden cerrar canal de famosa Youtober por inducir a anorexia". El Mundo (in Spanish). El Salvador. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  27. ^ Heffernan, Virginia (May 25, 2008). "Narrow Minded". New York Times. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  28. ^ Dodgson, Lindsay (May 15, 2019). "An extremely thin YouTube star disappeared from the internet, but people with eating disorders are still getting 'thinspiration' from her videos". Insider. Insider Inc. Retrieved September 1, 2021.[better source needed]
  29. ^ Tait, Amelia (February 20, 2019). "The story of Eugenia Cooney, the emaciated YouTuber the internet thought was dead". New Statesman. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  30. ^ Gupta, Sonal (November 2, 2016). "This US Fashion Vlogger Was Slammed For Being 'Too Thin'". The Quint. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  31. ^ a b Song, Sandra (August 20, 2019). "Eugenia Cooney on Cyberbullying, Recovery and Her Return". Paper. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  32. ^ a b Estévez, María (April 2, 2021). "Eugenia Cooney, la 'influencer' que promueve la anorexia". ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  33. ^ a b Tenbarge, Kat (August 3, 2019). "One of YouTube's biggest stars made a viral 'documentary' about another YouTuber's eating disorder. Experts say it could be harmful for its subject and audience". Insider. Insider Inc. Retrieved August 25, 2021. [better source needed]
  34. ^ a b "Eugenia Cooney - YouTuber". Shorty Awards. 2020. Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  35. ^ Dodgson, Lindsay (February 6, 2021). "YouTubers are campaigning to deplatform an influencer over eating disorder concerns. Experts say that won't fix the problem". Business Insider. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
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