Eugenia Cooney


Eugenia Sullivan Cooney is an American YouTube personality and Twitch broadcaster based in California. Cooney began her YouTube channel on June 17, 2011 and has over 2 million subscribers. Cooney uploads vlogs, makeup tutorials, and similar content to her channel. She also makes posts regarding mental health. Cooney regularly streams on Twitch where she has over 45,000 followers. Shane Dawson featured Cooney in his podcast, Shane and Friends.
Cooney's online content has been a subject of much public controversy. In October 2016, petitions were made to ban Cooney from YouTube due to her severely underweight appearance. Around that time, Cooney stated that she did not have an eating disorder and refrained from discussing her weight and eating habits.
In February 2019, Cooney announced that she would be taking a break from social media. Following this announcement, Cooney left social media entirely until she appeared in a video published by YouTuber Shane Dawson in July 2019 after a five-month break. She has since returned to uploading videos at her regular frequency.

YouTube career

Cooney started her YouTube channel in June 2011 and mainly creates videos about fashion. These mostly consist of makeup and clothing styles and routines. Cooney also often uploads other types of videos, mostly vlogs and shopping videos, many of which feature her mother. Cooney uploads videos to her channel approximately once every week with the exception of a five-month hiatus from February to July 2019.

Eating disorder controversy

Beginning in mid-to-late 2015, Cooney began receiving comments on her videos regarding her weight. These comments pointed out that her appearance showed signs of an eating disorder, possibly anorexia. Comments about her appearance gradually increased in number over time, and in late 2015 Cooney's videos began to regularly receive more dislikes than likes. Comments and speculation around her health further increased, with a number of viewers expressing concern in YouTube videos and in Cooney's livestreams.

Change.org petitions

Due to Cooney's underweight appearance, petitions were made by viewers on Change.org to ban her from posting on YouTube. Of these, the most popular garnered over 20,000 signatures; however, Cooney always refrained from publicly addressing the issue of her weight and, when asked about it by viewers during her livestreams, would gloss over them and quickly move on. The petitions were eventually taken down by Change.org for violation of community standards.

Hiatus and return

On February 10, 2019, Cooney announced via Twitter that she would be taking a break from social media and "working on this with doctor privately", without mentioning anything specific. For the next five months, there was no activity from Cooney's YouTube channel or any of her social media accounts. On May 31, 2019, Cooney's hairstylist posted a photo of Cooney on Instagram in which she appeared to be in much better condition.
On July 19, 2019, YouTuber Shane Dawson published a video on YouTube titled "The Return of Eugenia Cooney" which features Dawson interviewing Cooney about her activities during her social media break and her experience with her eating disorder. This video marked Cooney's first video appearance on social media since her Twitter announcement five months prior. The same day, Cooney herself uploaded a video to her own channel titled "I'm Back" announcing her return to social media and having worked with her doctor during the break. Cooney gained over 250,000 subscribers within the first 24 hours of the publishing of Dawson's video.

Reaction

Dawson and Cooney's videos were both well received on YouTube, initially trending #1 and #2, respectively. Many were glad that Cooney was back and would be making videos again; however, there were mixed reactions outside of YouTube, with several members of the public criticizing Dawson's video for ignoring the details of Cooney's eating disorder and failing to fully address the situation.

Jaclyn Glenn

The same day Dawson and Cooney published their respective videos, YouTuber Jaclyn Glenn, a former friend of Cooney's, published a video on her channel featuring herself as well as YouTubers David Michael Frank and Evangeline DeMuro. In it the trio claim that Dawson's video ignores many important details about Cooney's recovery. They also claim that each of them has attempted to discuss Cooney's health with her in the past, but Cooney would always say that she is fine and that there is no problem. The three further explain that prior to Cooney's social media break, the three of them staged an intervention by inviting both Cooney and the Los Angeles Psychiatric Evaluation Team to Glenn's residence where the PET could interview Cooney.
After the PET met with Cooney, the team placed a 5150 hold on Cooney under the Lanterman–Petris–Short Act and took her into rehab. Glenn goes on to claim that following this decision, Cooney's mother screamed and swore at Glenn over the phone and called the police in an attempt to have Glenn arrested for kidnapping. Following all of this, Glenn has stated that she believes Cooney is still in danger and at very high risk of relapse since Cooney is back with her mother.
Glenn's video was met with mixed reactions, with some thanking her for exposing the truth and others criticizing her for divulging personal information and spreading negativity. Neither Dawson nor Cooney have publicly commented on Glenn's video directly. Cooney has commented on her experience with being placed under a 5150 hold, describing it as a frightening experience.

Filmography