Nicole Arbour

Last updated

Nicole Arbour
Nicole Arbour.jpg
Arbour at the 2014 Hamilton Festival of Friends
Born1982or1983(age 40–41) [1]
Alma mater Humber College
Occupations
Known for YouTube, music

Nicole Arbour Born: June 26, 1985, is a Canadian comedian, choreographer, singer, actress, and YouTuber.

Contents

Career

Arbour is a former cheerleader for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association. [2] While studying at Humber College, she started her cheerleading career and led the Humber Hype dance team which won two national championships. [3]

Acting

As an actress, she appeared in Howie Do It , [4] and Silent But Deadly . [2] Arbour's single "Bang Bang" was released on April 30, 2013. [2] On June 18, 2015, her single and music video to "Fun Revolution" was released and was the first Periscope music video to debut. [5] [6] In April 2015, Arbour was nominated as a finalist for "Best Comedian" for the Shorty Awards, won by Hannibal Buress. [7] [8] Arbour released a single and self-directed music video to "Show Me How You Werk" on December 4, 2017. [9]

Choreographer and hosting work

She has worked as a choreographer for professional cheerleading teams, award shows, and recording artists including Omi's "Cheerleader" performance in 2015 Much Music Video Awards, 2013 Much Music Video Awards and CFL Argos Cheerleaders.

Arbour has been the host of a number of major events and tours including Style New York Fashion Week at Madison Square Garden, [10] Virgin Mobile "National Fearless Day" with Richard Branson, [11] City Fest Toronto [12] and LG National Texting Championships 2008–2009. [13] She also worked for brands on their marketing campaigns including Virgin Mobile, Axe and Molson Canadian's "Guy Code Campaign". Arbour was featured in Adweek magazine in April 2017 for her work in an advertisement of PMD's Lip Plumping Device. [14]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2008 The Rocker Trashy Groupie
2009 You Might as Well Live Regina Manitoba
2011 Silent But Deadly Jackie

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2006-2009 Video on Trial HerselfSeries regular
2007 Winnipeg Comedy Festival HerselfStandup Comedian [15]
2009 Howie Do It Beautiful Assistant / SpokesmodelSeries regular; 7 episodes
2014–2015Too Much InformationHerself [16] Series regular
2015CMT's HottestHerselfSeries regular
2015CMT's HottestHerselfSeries regular

Awards and recognition

YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2009IAB Mixx AwardsBranded ContentNominated [17]
2015 Shorty Awards Best ComedianNominated [18] [19]
2016The Producers Choice HonorsHonorary Star on the Hollywood Walk of FameWon [20] [21]
2017International Pain Foundation Hero of Hope AwardsNerve To Be HeardWon [22]

Controversies

"Dear Fat People" video

In September 2015, Arbour became the subject of controversy when she posted a viral video on her YouTube channel titled "Dear Fat People". [23] Critics argued that the video endorses fat shaming. [24] The video was temporarily unavailable on YouTube, [25] over claims that it violated the YouTube terms of service, but was later restored. [26]

Arbour was the subject of both public and celebrity criticism, with plus-size model Ashley Graham labelling her comments as "disgusting". [27]

Soon after the video was released, Canadian director Pat Mills stated publicly that he had considered hiring Arbour as a choreographer for his then-upcoming film Don't Talk to Irene after meeting with her, but that he then saw "Dear Fat People" and it "made me never want to see her again". [28] This was reported as Arbour having been "fired" from the film, but in fact no job offer had been extended. [28] [29] [30]

On September 16, 2015, Arbour appeared on The View to defend the "Dear Fat People" video, stating that "that video wasn't made to offend people...it's just satire," that she wasn't targeting those with medical conditions, and that the video wasn't supposed to be taken seriously. [31] Time magazine stated, "Arbour doesn't see her comments as bullying, but rather an intense form of truth-telling". [32] Arbour was quoted in the Time article saying:

I find seeing someone's head being blown off offensive ... I find children starving in a country with more than enough food offensive. I find women's bodies being mutilated for religious purposes, that is offensive to me. But words and satire I don't find offensive. [32]

Arbour has put out other similarly named satirical videos, including "Dear Black People", "Dear Feminists", "Dear Sluts" [33] and "Dear Refugees".

Domestic abuse allegations

On January 11, 2016, YouTube personality Matthew Santoro posted "My Abuse Story", a video in which he claimed he had been in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship. In the video, he did not name who his abuser was but people eventually figured out that he was referring to Arbour. The video was originally set to private after Santoro ended the relationship but was accidentally made public. [34] Santoro claimed he was manipulated into isolating himself from his friends and family because of Arbour's jealousy, and was later even slapped in the face by Arbour. [35] Arbour denied the allegations in a YouTube video. [34] Santoro has since removed his original video.

Political statements

Arbour said she once identified with the Liberal Party of Canada, but in 2020 said she no longer did. [36]

In a YouTube video in 2018 Arbour said that some people overreact when dealing with racial and gender issues, and that less focus should be spent on the institution of slavery which ended in the 19th century, and more focus should be spent on current issues stemming from it such as the racial wealth gap, marijuana legalization, police reform, and reforming the way media covers crime and arrests. [37] Several of her social media posts received widespread criticism in 2018 for their perceived cultural appropriation and lack of empathy. [38]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Roberts</span> American television presenter (born 1981)

Ashley Allyn Roberts is an American television presenter and singer. She is a former member of the pop group The Pussycat Dolls. Roberts has presented various television shows, including Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway (2013–2016), the Emmy-nominated 1st Look (2016–2018), The Real Dirty Dancing UK (2022), and Dance Monsters (2022–present). She also had a brief career as a solo singer when she released the album Butterfly Effect (2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicole Scherzinger</span> American singer (born 1978)

Nicole Scherzinger is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is a former member of the pop group and dance ensemble The Pussycat Dolls. With over 55 million records sold worldwide, The Pussycat Dolls are one of the world's best-selling female groups of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Higa</span> American YouTuber and streamer

Ryan Higa, also known as nigahiga, is an American internet personality. Best known for his comedy videos on YouTube, Higa began making YouTube videos in 2006 and was one of the most popular creators on the platform in its early years. His main YouTube channel, nigahiga, was the most subscribed channel on YouTube for 677 consecutive days from 2009 to 2011, an achievement that has only been surpassed by PewDiePie and T-Series. Higa was the first person to reach the milestones of 2 million and 3 million subscribers on YouTube. Higa launched a podcast in 2018 called Off the Pill, which has featured YouTubers and celebrities such as KevJumba, Andrew Yang, and Jeremy Lin. In 2020, Higa started streaming on Twitch, where he reacts to his past videos and broadcasts video game content, most notably in Valorant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenna Marbles</span> American YouTube personality (born 1986)

Jenna Nicole Mourey, better known as Jenna Marbles, is an American YouTuber. Over the span of ten years, her YouTube channel has accumulated approximately 1.8 billion video views and, at its peak, over 20 million subscribers. After apologizing for a series of accusations involving offensive content in her older videos, Marbles announced her indefinite hiatus from the platform in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannah Hart</span> American internet personality, comedian, author, and actress

Hannah Maud Hart is an American internet personality, comedian, author, and actress. She is known for starring in My Drunk Kitchen, a weekly series on YouTube in which she cooks something while intoxicated. She also runs a second channel where she talks about life in general and gives her opinions on various topics. She co-produced and starred in the independent comedy film Camp Takota, released in 2014. She wrote a parody cookbook which was a New York Times bestseller for five weeks in August–September 2014. She is a 2017 recipient of the Alex Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maddie Ziegler</span> American actress and dancer (born 2002)

Madison Nicole Ziegler is an American actress and dancer. She appeared in Lifetime's reality show Dance Moms, from 2011 until 2016, and starred in a series of music videos by Sia, beginning with "Chandelier" and "Elastic Heart", which have in total attracted more than 6 billion views on YouTube. Ziegler has appeared in films, television shows, concerts, advertisements and on magazine covers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassey Ho</span> American social media fitness entrepreneur

Cassey HoVinh is an American social media fitness entrepreneur with a YouTube channel and a website that sells fitness apparel. In 2013, she received a Shorty Award in the category of social fitness, and was listed in Time's third annual list of "The 25 Most Influential People on the Internet" in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilly Singh</span> Canadian YouTuber, actress and comedian (born 1988)

Lilly Saini Singh is a Canadian YouTuber, television host, comedian, actress and writer. Singh began making YouTube videos in 2010. She originally appeared under the pseudonym Superwoman, her YouTube username until 2019. In 2016, she was included in Forbes list of world's highest paid YouTubers ranking third and earning a reported $7.5 million. By 2017, she was ranked tenth on the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid YouTube stars, earning a reported $10.5 million; as of February 2022 she has 14.7 million subscribers and over three billion video views. Forbes named her one of the 40 most powerful people in comedy in 2019. She has received an MTV Fandom Award, four Streamy Awards, two Teen Choice Awards and a People's Choice Award. In addition, Singh has received nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award and two Canadian Screen Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenn McAllister</span> American YouTuber and actress (born 1996)

Jennifer Ann McAllister, also known by her former pseudonym and YouTube username jennxpenn, is an American internet personality, actress and comedian. She is known for her work on YouTube, for which she has been nominated for a Shorty Award and four Teen Choice Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katya Zamolodchikova</span> American drag queen (born 1982)

Brian Joseph McCook, known by his drag persona Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova, or mononymously as Katya, is an American drag queen, actor, author, recording artist, and comedian. Katya is best known for placing fifth on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race and placing as a runner-up on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, as well as for appearing in the World of Wonder web series UNHhhh and the Viceland series The Trixie & Katya Show with co-host and fellow season 7 alum Trixie Mattel. Trixie and Katya often appear together as a popular comedy duo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sofie Hagen</span> Danish comedian

Sofie Hagen is a London-based Danish comedian, author, podcaster, fashion designer, and fat acceptance campaigner. She has toured with comedy shows, released a book and hosted and co-hosted a number of podcasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Santoro</span> Canadian YouTuber (born 1985)

Matthew Santoro is a Canadian Twitch streamer, YouTuber, and social media influencer. He compiles top ten lists and "50 Amazing Facts" videos on his main channel. Other channels he owned, for vlogging and gaming, are no longer available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doctor Mike</span> Soviet-born American celebrity doctor (born 1989)

Mikhail "Mike" Varshavski, known professionally as Doctor Mike, is a Russian-American internet personality, family physician, philanthropist, and amateur boxer. His Instagram account went viral after he was featured in BuzzFeed and People magazine named him The Sexiest Doctor Alive in 2015. He has a YouTube channel on which he posts medically themed entertainment videos and debunks false medical claims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liza Koshy</span> American actress

Elizabeth Shaila "Liza" Koshy is an American media personality and actress. Her main YouTube channel has amassed more than 17 million subscribers, and her two channels have a combined total of over 3 billion views. She has received four Streamy Awards, four Teen Choice Awards, and a Kids' Choice Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eugenia Cooney</span> American internet personality (born 1994)

Eugenia Sullivan Cooney is an American YouTuber and Internet personality. She was born in Massachusetts and is based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Los Angeles, California. She initially began livestreaming on broadcasting service YouNow and eventually created a YouTube channel in 2011, which has more than 2 million subscribers. Known for her emo and gothic looks, as well as her eating disorder, Cooney's content mainly involves clothing hauls, beauty, cosplay, and vlogs of her daily life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bree Essrig</span> American actress and internet personality

Breeana Danielle "Bree" Essrig is an American actress, writer, host, internet personality, and pornographic model known for her comedic writing and appearances on the news and current events series SourceFed. Essrig joined SourceFed as a host in 2015, and in 2017 was brought on to star in the daily Twitter series #whatshappening.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabbie Hanna</span> American Internet personality and musician (born 1991)

Gabrielle Jeannette Hanna is an American Internet personality and singer-songwriter. She rose to prominence on the video platforms Vine and YouTube before releasing her debut single, "Out Loud", in 2017. Her debut extended play, 2WayMirror, was released on May 31, 2019, and her second EP, Bad Karma, was released on May 15, 2020. Her debut album, Trauma Queen, was released on July 22, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Chamberlain</span> American internet personality (born 2001)

Emma Frances Chamberlain is an American social media personality, YouTuber, podcaster, businesswoman and model. She won the 2018 Streamy Award for Breakout Creator. In 2019, Time magazine included her on its Time 100 Next list, and its list of The 25 Most Influential People On The Internet, writing that "Chamberlain pioneered an approach to vlogging that shook up YouTube's unofficial style guide."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloe Fineman</span> American actress and comedian (born 1988)

Chloe Fineman is an American actress and comedian. Fineman became a featured player on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live starting in its 45th season in September 2019, and was promoted to repertory status in 2021 at the beginning of season 47.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Rogers (YouTuber)</span> American sketch comedian, actor, and writer

Brandon George Rogers is an American YouTuber, actor, and comedian. He plays many characters in his eponymous YouTube channel and co-wrote the adult animated web series Helluva Boss, in which he voices the main character Blitzo, as well as voicing reporter Katie Killjoy in Hazbin Hotel.

References

  1. Oswald, Brad (April 12, 2012). "Hey! What are you staring at? Her comedy's up here, buddy!". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Strobel, Mike (April 18, 2013). "'World's Sexiest Comedian' on comeback as a rapper after accident". Toronto Sun . Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  3. "Unbeatable Arbour pumps it up". Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  4. "Nicole Arbour". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2015. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  5. Murray, Joshua (July 16, 2015). "Nicole Arbour presents the Fun Revolution: Artist Q&A". The Reviews Are In. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  6. Cullen, Clare (June 20, 2015). "First ever music video debuts on Periscope - Independent.ie". www.independent.ie. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  7. Lee, Ashley (March 2, 2015). "Shorty Awards 2015: Nominees Include Shonda Rhimes, Chris Pratt, Laverne Cox (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  8. "Best Comedian in Social Media - The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  9. "Pineapple Pages Episode 1: Show Me How You Werk". Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  10. "Style New York Fashion Week at Madison Square Garden". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  11. "Sir Richard Branson & Glee's Cory Monteith to Choose Canada's Most Fearless" . Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  12. "Cityfest at CityPlace: Toronto's Newest Festival This Saturday". August 14, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  13. "LG Creates Game Show Atmosphere for Canadian Texting Championships". August 28, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  14. "Natural Beauty Is Great. But So Is Natural-ish Beauty, Says This Crazy Ad for a Lip Plumper". Adweek. April 26, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  15. "Performers Winnipeg Comedy Festival". Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  16. "Too Much Information features cavalcade of comedians". November 17, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  17. "MIXX Awards Finalists Announced". September 14, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  18. "Shorty Awards 2015: Nominees Include Shonda Rhimes, Chris Pratt, Laverne Cox (Exclusive)". Hollywood Reporter. February 3, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  19. "Comedian in Social Media - Shorty Awards" . Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  20. "Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles" . Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  21. "2016 The Producers Choice Honors" . Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  22. "2017 Hero of Hope Award Winners" . Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  23. Rodriguez, Karen (September 7, 2015). "'Dear Fat People' Video Sparks 'Fat-Shaming' Backlash". Newsy. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  24. Hetter, Katia (September 7, 2015). "Celebrities battle it out over fat-shaming". CNN . Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  25. Castillo, Stephanie (September 6, 2015). "YouTube Video Censorship: Nicole Arbour's Account Gets Suspended After Shaming 'Fat People'". Medical Daily . Retrieved July 10, 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  26. Hetter, Katia (September 8, 2015). "Fat-shaming: Celebrities battle it out". cnn.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  27. Harrison, Lily (September 10, 2015). "YouTube Star Nicole Arbour Fired From Movie Role for 'Cruel Fat-Shaming Video'". E! Online. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  28. 1 2 Heigl, Alex (September 11, 2015). "Nicole Arbour Responds to Claim She Was Fired from Film Job in Wake of 'Dear Fat People' Backlash". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  29. Webber, Stephanie (September 11, 2015). "YouTube Star Nicole Arbour Fired From Movie After Fat-Shaming Video - Us Weekly". US Weekly. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  30. Willis, Jackie (September 11, 2015). "YouTube Star Nicole Arbour Fired From Film After 'Dear Fat People' Backlash". ET. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  31. Olya, Gabrielle (September 16, 2015). "Nicole Arbour Refuses to Apologize for 'Dear Fat People' YouTube Video on The View". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  32. 1 2 Ross, Ashley (September 10, 2015). "'Dear Fat People' Comedian Nicole Arbour: 'I'm Not Apologizing'". TIME.com. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  33. Arbour, Nicole. "Dear Sluts". youtube.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2018.
  34. 1 2 Votta, Rae (January 12, 2016). "YouTube celebrity Matthew Santoro says ex Nicole Arbour abused him". The Daily Dot. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  35. Kasparian, Ana (January 14, 2016). "Nicole Arbour's disgusting response to Matthew Santoro's allegation of abuse". www.rawstory.com. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  36. Nicole Arbour [@NicoleArbour] (May 15, 2020). "I'm no longer a liberal. That's it, I'm out. I was once jr prime minister of Canada as a liberal. I voted liberal. I've worked full time for the liberal party. This is insulting to the people bullsh*t and I'm out" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 15, 2020 via Twitter.
  37. Arbour, Nicole (May 31, 2018). "The Truth About "Racism"". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  38. Herron, Rachel (May 16, 2018). "White Woman Who Appropriated 'This Is America' Video Said 'I'm Sick Of People Mad At Slavery'". BET.