Jenna Marbles

Last updated

Jenna Marbles
RISE - Jenna Marbles 01 (cropped).jpg
Marbles in 2018
Born
Jenna Nicole Mourey

(1986-09-15) September 15, 1986 (age 37)
Rochester, New York, U.S.
Education
Occupation YouTuber
Years active2010–2020 (on hiatus)
Spouse
Julien Solomita
​
(m. 2022)​
YouTube information
Channel
Genres
Subscribers19.7 million [1]
Total views1.8 billion [1]
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg100,000 subscribers2012
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg1,000,000 subscribers2012
YouTube Diamond Play Button.svg10,000,000 subscribers2013
Last updated: September 17, 2023

Jenna Nicole Mourey (born September 15, 1986), 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.

Contents

Early life and career

Jenna Nicole Mourey [2] was born on September 15, 1986 [3] in Rochester, New York, [4] where she was also raised. Marbles attended Brighton High School in the Rochester suburb of Brighton, New York, and graduated in 2004. [5] She then moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology at Suffolk University and Master of Education in sport psychology and counseling at Boston University. [6]

In the summer of 2010, Marbles was sharing a three-bedroom apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She supported herself by bartending, working at a tanning salon, vlogging, and go-go dancing at nightclubs. [7] That year, Marbles started her career with Barstool Sports , where she wrote for their female-oriented site StoolLaLa. She left the publication in 2011. [8]

YouTube career

Among the first of Marbles' videos to gain traction on the platform, "How to Trick People into Thinking You're Good Looking", released in 2010, was viewed around 5.3 million times in its first week. [7] [9] Her video "How to Avoid Talking to People You Don't Want to Talk To" was featured in The New York Times and ABC News in August 2011. In the video, she said, "I'm sick and tired of guys thinking that just because I showed up at a club or a dance or a bar that I want to have their genitalia touching my backside." [10] [11]

Marbles adopted the pseudonym Jenna Marbles after her mother complained the search term "Mourey" resulted only in Jenna's videos on Google. Jenna's mother was unemployed when Jenna's first video went viral and was concerned that the content might put off potential employers. The name "Marbles" stems from her dog's name, Mr. Marbles. [6]

Marbles portrayed Eve in the Epic Rap Battles of History episode "Adam vs. Eve", [12] and she made appearances in Annoying Orange , Ridiculousness, [13] and Smosh: The Movie . [14] Marbles was featured in the rapper Pitbull's "Fireball" music video alongside fellow YouTubers Bart Baker and Brittany Furlan. [15]

Alongside the creators of the YouTube channel Smosh, Marbles became the first YouTube personality to have her likeness appear as a wax figure displayed at Madame Tussauds New York, which she unveiled in 2015. [16]

Controversy and indefinite hiatus

On June 25, 2020, Marbles uploaded an apology video following accusations of blackface and racism. [2] [17] In this video, she addresses offensive content in her videos posted between 2011 and 2012. This included an impersonation of Nicki Minaj, rapping anti-Asian slander while wearing traditional Asian clothing, and shaming women who had slept with multiple people, which she attributed to internalized misogyny. [18] Marbles states it was never her intent to hurt or offend anyone, acknowledging that these actions were "shameful" and "awful", wishing "it wasn't part of [her] past". [19] She followed up these remarks by announcing her indefinite hiatus from YouTube. [20] [21]

On June 26, Marbles' boyfriend, Julien Solomita, announced on Twitter that the couple's joint podcast and Twitch streams would also be put on indefinite hiatus. [22] Public reaction to Marbles' apology was largely positive; The Berkeley Beacon noted that Marbles "was not the first to use the term 'accountability' in a YouTube apology, but she may have been the first one to actually mean it". [23] [24] [17]

Other ventures

Marbles released a brand of dog toys called Kermie Worm & Mr. Marbles. The toys are modeled after her dogs' likenesses. [6] She also created items with some of her most popular phrases printed on them, including "What are this?" and "Team legs!" [25] Marbles previously hosted a weekly pop countdown on SiriusXM Hits 1 named YouTube 15. [26] In 2016, Marbles became an executive producer for Maximum Ride, a film based on James Patterson's series of novels of the same name. [27]

Personal life

In April 2021, Marbles became engaged to long-time partner, fellow YouTuber, and competitive Valorant player Julien Solomita. [28] [29] They married in November 2022. [30] [31] In January 2023, Marbles and Solomita had an incident at their home where an intruder broke in, was subdued with pepper spray, and arrested. [32]

Marbles is a vegan. [33] [34]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryResultNotesRef.
2014 Young Hollywood Award Viral SuperstarWon [35]
2015 Streamy Award Best Comedy SeriesNominated [36]
2017Streamy AwardBest First-Person SeriesNominated [37]
Audience Choice Creator of the YearNominated
Shorty Award YouTube EnsembleWonWith Julien Solomita [38]
2018Shorty AwardCreator of the DecadeNominated [39]

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  34. ↑ "Jenna Marbles is a vegan YouTube Vlogger". HappyCow. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
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