Eugenia Cooney
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. (October 2021) |
Eugenia Cooney | ||||||||||
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| Born | Colleen Cooney[1] July 27, 1994 Massachusetts, U.S. | |||||||||
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 2011–present | |||||||||
| YouTube information | ||||||||||
| Channels | Eugenia Cooney | |||||||||
| Subscribers | 2.1 million | |||||||||
| Total views | 257.3 million | |||||||||
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Updated: September 2, 2021 | ||||||||||
| Twitch information | ||||||||||
| Channel | ||||||||||
| Followers | 98.4 thousand | |||||||||
| Total views | 1.49 million | |||||||||
| Follower and view counts updated as of September 2, 2021. | ||||||||||
Eugenia Sullivan Cooney (born July 27, 1994) is an American YouTuber and social media influencer born in Massachusetts and based in Greenwich, Connecticut and Los Angeles, California. She initially began livestreaming on broadcasting service YouNow, eventually creating her YouTube channel in 2011, which has garnered over 2 million subscribers. Known for her emo and gothic looks, Cooney's content mainly involves clothing hauls, beauty, cosplay and vlogs of her daily life. She also regularly livestreams on Twitch, where she has amassed over 98,000 followers.
Life and career[]
Cooney was born Colleen Cooney on July 27, 1994 in Massachusetts.[2] Her first name was changed to Eugenia several weeks after her birth.[3] Throughout her childhood, Cooney was often the victim of bullying at school[4] which caused her to switch schools multiple times and eventually be homeschooled for her last three years of high school.[5][6] Eugenia Cooney pursued modeling for a brief time in New York.[7][8] After being asked to remove her presence online and feeling overcontrolled, Cooney decided to instead focus on her online career.[9]
Cooney began her online presence in 2011 by livestreaming on broadcasting service YouNow, later creating her YouTube channel that same year.[10] In 2013, she uploaded a video titled "How to Ratchetly Twerk"[11] which went viral after being shared on WorldStarHipHop.[12][13] 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.[10] She began livestreaming on Twitch in 2018,[14] where she now has over 100,000 followers.[15] She is known for her emo style, characterized by her "extraordinarily long, dark hair, gothic lace dresses, and bold, multi-coloured makeup looks."[16]
Cooney currently resides with her family in Greenwich, Connecticut,[17][18] and also has a residence in Burbank, California.
Controversy[]
Throughout Cooney's online career, viewers have speculated based on her thin appearance that she has an eating disorder,[19][20] presumably anorexia nervosa.[21][22] Her critics argue that her content encourages eating disorders among viewers, raising concern about her influence on her young fans.[23][22][24] According to some testimonies, Cooney is a popular figure in online "pro-ana" communities, where her videos and images are used as "thinspiration".[note 1][26] Beginning in 2015, viewers began expressing concern around her weight loss, and since then several conspiracy theories about her health and mortality have steadily grown. In 2016, a Change.org petition entitled "Temporarily Ban Eugenia Cooney off of YouTube" went viral and received 18,000 signatures, although it was later removed for "violating community guidelines".[19][27] In response to the petition, Cooney denied having an eating disorder and said that she does not intend to address the issue again.
In early 2019, Cooney's activity online got more dispersed, raising concern among her fans, who thought she had died.[28][29] On January 28,[29] Cooney was forced to confront rumours and announced on her Twitter account that she was taking a hiatus to focus on her health, entering into a month-long treatment program.[30][21] In July 2019, Cooney reappeared as the subject of Shane Dawson's hour-long YouTube video "The Return of Eugenia Cooney", in which she opened up about her eating disorder and supposed recovery for the first time.[30][21]
Dawson's video on Cooney was viewed over 27 million times in a month.[20] She was initially praised when she came back to YouTube, with people commending her for her return and being honest about her health. As a result, Cooney was nominated as YouTuber of the Year at the 2020 Shorty Awards.[31] The reaction to "The Return of Eugenia Cooney" video 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.[20]
Following the publication of Dawson's documentary, Cooney returned to regularly posting videos.[30] Despite being initially praised for opening up about her struggle with an eating disorder, Cooney was soon criticized again for appearing too underweight on her channel.[21] Further, allegations of grooming and predatory behavior of young people by older men on Cooney's Discord server surfaced in 2020, prompting her to delete it in September.[23] In early 2021, her viewers started a Change.org petition to age-restrict, or entirely remove, her YouTube channel and social media accounts, arguing that she promotes eating disorders through her physical appearance alone.[32]
Awards and nominations[]
| Year | Award Show | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Shorty Awards | YouTuber of the Year | Nominated |
See also[]
Footnotes[]
References[]
- ^ 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.
- ^ 5150 - Eugenia Cooney's Story, retrieved 2021-11-28
- ^ Eugenia Cooney Tells 48 Facts About Herself | YouTube July 26, 2013, retrieved 2021-11-28
- ^ How To Deal With Bullies, retrieved 2021-11-28
- ^ My Bullying Story, retrieved 2021-11-28
- ^ Getting Bullied..., retrieved 2021-11-28
- ^ REACTING TO MY OLD MODELING PICTURES, retrieved 2021-11-28
- ^