Jenna Marbles
Jenna Nicole Mourey (born September 15, 1986[1][2]), better known by her pseudonym Jenna Marbles, is an American YouTube personality, vlogger, comedian, and actress. As of September 2019, her channel has approximately 3.3 billion video views and 20 million subscribers.[3] As of Nov 2020 it is the 177th most subscribed channel on YouTube.[4] Mourey is the first social media star to have a wax figure displayed at Madame Tussauds Museum in New York City.[5]
Jenna Marbles | |||||||||||||
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![]() Marbles in a 2020 vlog | |||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born | Jenna Nicole Mourey September 15, 1986 Rochester, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||
Education | Suffolk University (BS) Boston University (MEd) | ||||||||||||
Occupation |
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Height | 5'7 | ||||||||||||
Partner(s) | Julien Solomita (2013–present) | ||||||||||||
Website | jennamarblesblog | ||||||||||||
YouTube information | |||||||||||||
Channel | |||||||||||||
Years active | 2010–2020 (on indefinite hiatus) | ||||||||||||
Genre |
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Subscribers | 20.2 million | ||||||||||||
Total views | 1.6 billion | ||||||||||||
Associated acts |
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Updated: 5 July 2020 |
Early life
Mourey was born and raised in Rochester, New York, where she graduated from Brighton High School in 2004. Her father is a chemist who holds several patents, and she has one older brother.[6] She then moved to Boston, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology at Suffolk University and Master of Education in sport psychology and counseling at Boston University.[7]
Career
In the summer of 2010, Mourey was sharing a three-bedroom apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She paid $800 rent by working various jobs, including bartending, working at a tanning salon, blogging, and go-go dancing at nightclubs.[8] That year, Marbles started her career with Barstool Sports, where she wrote for their female-oriented site StoolLaLa. She left the publication in 2011.[9]
YouTube
Mourey uploads a new video to her YouTube channel every Wednesday or Thursday. One video, released in 2010 and titled, "How To Trick People Into Thinking You're Good Looking", was viewed over 5.3 million times in its first week.[10][11] 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";[12][13] the video had approximately 36.2 million views as of March 2018.[14]
The pseudonym "Jenna Marbles" comes from her mother's complaint that "Mourey", their legal surname, pulled up only 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.[7] The name "Marbles" comes from her dog "Mr. Marbles". As of January 2019, Marbles's YouTube channel had about 19 million subscribers and 2.9 billion video views.[15][16]
Mourey appeared as Eve in Epic Rap Battles of History, season 2 episode 13, "Adam vs. Eve".[17] She played a banana in The Annoying Orange episode "Fake n' Bacon". She played Miley Cyrus in a "Wrecking Ball"-inspired segment of YouTube Rewind 2013. On January 30, 2014, she appeared in season four of Ridiculousness.
Mourey appeared as herself in Smosh: The Movie.[18] In 2015, Mourey unveiled a wax figure of herself at Madame Tussauds New York. She was the first ever YouTube star to be immortalized there, where hers is the first selfie-taking wax figure.[19]
Mourey produced a weekly podcast with her boyfriend Julien Solomita, The Jenna Julien Podcast (formerly The Jenna and Julien Podcast). Topics include stories of growing up, conspiracy theories, and YouTubers. They sometimes feature friends, family members and other YouTubers as guests.[20] The podcast was halted in August 2020 shortly after Marbles announced her hiatus, with Solomita filming solo podcasts in the interim prior to the end of the podcast.
On June 25, 2020, Mourey uploaded a YouTube video, in which she apologized for past offensive comments and blackface, and stated that she would be taking an indefinite hiatus from her YouTube channel.[21][22] On June 26, 2020, Mourey's boyfriend Julien Solomita confirmed via Twitter that he would be taking a break from his own channel, and that the couple's joint podcast and Twitch streams would be put on indefinite hiatus.[23]
Other ventures
![](../I/Jenna_Marbles_by_Gage_Skidmore_2.jpg.webp)
Mourey released a brand of dog toys called Kermie Worm & Mr. Marbles. The toys' appearances are based upon her dogs.[7] She has also created items with some of her most memorable quotes printed on them, including "What are this?" and "Team legs!".[24]
Mourey previously hosted a weekly pop countdown on SiriusXM Hits 1, "YouTube 15".[25][26]
In 2016, Mourey became an executive producer for Maximum Ride, a film based on James Patterson's series of novels of the same name.[27]
Personal life
Mourey has been in a relationship with YouTube creator Julien Solomita since 2013.[28]
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. | Notes |
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2014 | Young Hollywood Award | Viral Superstar | Won | [31] | |
2015 | Streamy Award | Best Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
2017 | Best First-Person Series | Nominated | |||
Audience Choice Creator of the Year | Nominated | ||||
Shorty Awards | YouTube Ensemble | Won | [32] | With Julien Solomita | |
2018 | Shorty Awards | Creator of the Decade | Nominated | [33] |
References
- @Jenna_Marbles (September 15, 2015). "Today is my birthday..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- JennaMarbles (August 27, 2015). "Things I Get Excited About As An Adult". YouTube.
- "JennaMarbles". YouTube.
- "Socialblade". Social Blade. October 15, 2020. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
- Stark, Chelsea. "Jenna Marbles, Smosh are first YouTube stars with their own wax figures". Mashable. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
- JennaMarbles (March 28, 2013). "Draw My Life". YouTube. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- Spangler, Todd (July 18, 2013). "YouTube Star Jenna Marbles: 5 Facts About Her Rise to Internet Fame". Variety. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
- "The Woman With 1 Billion Clicks: Jenna Marbles". The New York Times. April 14, 2013.
- "The Man Behind the 'Bible of Bro Culture'". NBC News. December 13, 2013.
- O’Leary, Amy (April 12, 2013). "The Woman With 1 Billion Clicks: Jenna Marbles". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
- Klima, Jeff (April 22, 2013). "Jenna Marbles on 1 Billion Views, Set to Overtake Ray William Johnson?". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
- "Rendering Grinders Toothless". The New York Times. August 12, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
- "'Jenna Marbles' Anti-Dirty Dance': Teens Say No to Grinding". ABC News. August 16, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
- "jennamarbles Most Viewed YouTube Videos". Socialblade.com. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- "JennaMarbles YouTube Channel Stats, Subscriber Statistics, Ranking". vidstatsx.com. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
- "jennamarbles YouTube Stats, Channel Statistics". Socialblade.com. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
- Gutelle, Sam (February 11, 2013). "Epic Rap Battles of History Pits Man Against Woman With Jenna Marbles". Tubefilter. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
- Bloom, David (April 15, 2015). "'SMOSH: The Movie' Premiere Set For July 23 Next To VidCon". Deadline. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- "JENNA MARBLES' FIGURE IS FINALLY HERE!". Madame Tussauds. New York.
- Jenna Julien. YouTube. Retrieved May 13, 2017.
- Haring, Bruce (June 25, 2020). "YouTube Star Jenna Marbles Leaving Her Channel, Apologizes For Blackface Video". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
- Spangler, Todd (June 25, 2020). "Jenna Marbles Leaving YouTube 'For Now,' Tearfully Apologizes for Past Racist and Other Offensive Videos". Variety. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
- Tenbarge, Kat. "Jenna Marbles' boyfriend says he's suspending his YouTube channel, podcast, and Twitch stream". Insider. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
- "How YouTube turned 13 ordinary people (and 1 cat) into superstars". CBC. April 23, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
- SiriusXM Hits 1
- "jenna marbles – SiriusXM Blog". siriusxm.com.
- Scheck, Frank (September 30, 2016). "'Maximum Ride': Film Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- JennaMarbles (May 16, 2018). "We Bought A House". YouTube. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
- "Jenna Marbles". Happy Cow. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- Murray-Ragg, Ragg (November 6, 2017). "JENNA MARBLES' TOP 6 VEGAN RECIPES (FEATURING CUTE DOGS)". Live Kindly. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
- "Jenna Marbles - Awards - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
- "Jenna & Julien: Winner in Youtube Ensemble". shortyawards.com. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
- "Jenna Marbles - The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com. Retrieved February 9, 2020.