Jenna Nicole Mourey, more commonly known as Jenna Marbles, was one of YouTube’s most recognized creators; at one point in your life, if you were on YouTube, you saw a Jenna Marbles video. Jenna was the embodiment of a creator. She was consistent with her uploads, unique and avoided recycling trends, but also made wholesome content that centred around her and her family. She was not a family vlogger in the traditional sense— the documentation of the creator’s personal life and children that include detailed depictions of their day-to-day, but she did exploit her dogs with the help of her now husband Julien Solomita. Some of her more significant videos feature her dogs at the forefront.
Jenna never made content for anyone but herself, finding a way to masterfully blend a performance closer to self than manufactured and combine that with the importance of entertainment value.
Born September 15, 1986, in Rochester, New York, Jenna graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Suffolk University and a Master of Education from Boston University. By 2010, Jenna had tossed those degrees out for a career in bartending, working in a tanning salon, go-go dancing at a night club, and a writer for Barstool Sports (writing for their female-oriented site StoolLALA—which she later left in 2011. Oh, and vlogging—definition from presentation. This same year, Jenna published her first viral video, How to trick people into thinking you’re good looking. In the first week of the upload, it was watched 5.3 million times; it now has accumulated 72 million views.
This video began the 10-year internet career people could only dream about.
Jenna’s content gradually became more of a “highly curated version of [herself].” (Mendleson and Papacharissi, 2010), and her desires over the skit-based mocks of society she was initially making. In the last three years of her online career, the representation of her became more apparent. She was creating works that fit into Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson’s definition of automediality—content about the creator or the process of mediating self.
With videos like DIY Wedding Gift, where she crafts a quick collage of photos and money for her friend’s wedding. A task she already had to do but filmed it so that her video for the week would still go up. Her ‘two birds, one stone’ attitude upheld the authentic nature of her content. Jenna’s series of videos with the ‘for me’ concept started a new craze, a desire for reality. It is not a reality filled with natural appearances and one-on-one emotional chats and breakdowns. But a reality where we address what we want and what we enjoy.
While Jenna does not rely on collaborations with outside creators—people who aren’t Julien. She creates with her own ambitions in mind; she does sometimes take inspiration from friends and viewers, creating a co-authorship to her video diary that she has made on her channel. Videos like Corn on the Cob But Instead of the Corn Bone It’s A Hotdog is because of her friends’ outlandish thought. We all have ideas that should remain thoughts; this is the example of taking our friend’s questionable moments and pasting them all over the internet.
Similarly, What’s The Best Mascara To Cry In is rooted in a fan comment. Most creators take fan suggestions and just create the request; Jenna took the suggestion and reworked it into something she thought. This is why Jenna remains a unique and inventive creator.
After an illustrious career on YouTube, Jenna Marbles has set aside her internet/online persona to pursue her life. A life outside of the world of likes, comments, and subscriptions. Jenna’s intentions to leave the internet was not a choice she made lightly; on June 25, 2020, Jenna uploaded an apology video following the accusations of blackface and racism. Addressing the offensive content from the videos posted in 2011 and 2012—an impression of Nicki Minaj rapping anti-Asian slander while in traditional Asian clothing, shaming women who slept with multiple people, attributing to internalized misogyny.
Jenna stated she “[had intentions] to hurt or offend anyone, acknowledge that these actions were shameful”; she wished “it wasn’t part of [her] past.” Anyone subscribed to Jenna knows how her apology was genuine and deeply impactful on her life. On November 17, 2017, Jenna released her first apology video. A 43-minute apology regarding her fish and her ‘mistreatment’ of the fish.
I’ve made a mistake. And it was my fault
Jenna Marbles, 2017
Jenna is not the first to face the wrath of cancel culture— “a movement to remove celebrity status or esteem from a person, place, or thing based on offensive behaviour or transgression.” (Vogels, 2021) Many influencers and content creators have done things in the past that they are ‘ashamed’ of and have made their fair share of apology videos. What sets Jenna Marbles apart is her ability to hold herself accountable—by following what she preached in her apology video (which has since been deleted). This was Jenna Marbles’ last video to be published. After addressing her accusations, Jenna decided to step away on an indefinite hiatus from all forms of social media.
Unfortunately, even with removing her online persona, Jenna and her now husband Julien face the qualms that come with social societies. Livelihood is being discussed and written about, even being the target of those who still ‘idol’ her. January 2, 2023, a ‘perpetrated stalker’ broke into their home; no one was harmed. Julien is still active on his social platforms and posted this to his Instagram Story, addressing the situation.
Julien still does Jenna’s fans a service by addressing little updates, typically in his Twitch streams, while the likelihood of a Jenna Marbles resurgence is near impossible and a damper on our Wednesdays: Jenna has done the one thing all social media influencers claim to do, but never follow through on. She took care of herself and stepped away from a world that strives for the destruction of others for personal gain. And is enjoying early retirement as a Greyhound foster parent—the life we all wish we had
Works Cited
Marbles, Jenna, director. Corn on the Cob But Instead of the Corn Bone It’s A Hotdog. YouTube, YouTube, 26 June 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VosRKPBGE8&t=14s Accessed 4 Nov. 2023.
Marbles, Jenna, director. How to Trick People into Thinking You’re Really Good Looking. YouTube, YouTube, 9 July 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYpwAtnywTk&pp=ygU0amVubmEgbWFyYmxlcyB0cmljayBwZW9wbGUgaW50byB0aGlua2luZyB5b3UncmUgZ29vZA%3D%3D Accessed 4 Nov. 2023.
Marbles, Jenna, director. What Happened To My Fishies Video . YouTube, YouTube, 17 Nov. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFwMTG6T_PI&t=158s&ab_channel=JennaMarbles Accessed 4 Nov. 2023.
Marbles, Jenna. “Jennamarbles.” YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/@JennaMarbles/videos Accessed 4 Nov. 2023.
Marbles, Jenna. What’s The Best Mascara To Cry In. YouTube, YouTube, 2 Aug. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lteC_JdTObE&ab_channel=JennaMarbles Accessed 4 Nov. 2023.
Mendelson A and Papacharissi Z (2010) Look at Us: Collective Narcissism in College Student Facebook Photo Galleries. In: Papacharissi Z (ed) The Networked Self: Identity, Community and Culture on Social Network Sites. Routledge.
Schwartz, Raz, and Germaine R Halegoua. “The spatial self: Location-based identity performance on social media.” New Media & Society, vol. 17, no. 10, 2014, pp. 1643–1660. Dr. Eleanor Ty ES420 Notes, https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814531364.
Smith, Sidonie, and Julia Watson. “6. Virtually Me: A Toolbox About Online Self-Presentation (2014).” Life Writing in the Long Run, Michigan Publishing, 2016, pp. 225-258.
Vasconcelos, Sandra Vieira, and Ana Balula. “Pitch this.” Handbook of Research on Contemporary Storytelling Methods Across New Media and Disciplines, 2021, pp. 100–115, https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-6605-3.ch006
Vogels, Emily A. “Americans and ‘Cancel Culture’: Where Some See Calls for Accountability, Others See Censorship, Punishment.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 19 May 2021, www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/05/19/americans-and-cancel-culture-where-some-see-calls-for-accountability-others-see-censorship-punishment/
Ümit Kennedy (2021) Arriving on YouTube: Vlogs, Automedia and Autoethnography, Life Writing, 18:4, 563578, DOI: 10.1080/14484528.2021.1927485
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