The Great LonelyGirl15 Heist Rolls On

Authored by Scott Goldberg on May 2, 2007 - 9:27am.

Who else more closely defines the term “YouTube Celebrity” than LonelyGirl15 (aka Jessica Lee Rose)? She practically invented it last fall when her entire act was revealed as a farce. The cute little girl who wasn’t actually from New Zealand was just another struggling actress trying to become a star. It put her on the map as her name and image donned major publications like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. It could be argued, in fact, that LonelyGirl15 is the Michael Jordan of YouTube. What does that mean, exactly? I have no idea. But somehow, strangely, it makes sense.

And what a career LonelyGirl now boasts. Movie roles abound, and she might even succeed in replacing her YouTube name with her real one…someday, anyway.

Now perhaps the final stamp on the LonelyGirl Phenomenon: The Webby Award for Best Actress, the largest step The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences could have taken to discrediting the whole concept of the Webbys. They produce two nice recipients for Lifetime Achievement Awards (David Bowie and eBay CEO Meg Whitman), then take a proverbial dump by attempting to hip-ify it with the finest example of User-Generated Content’s garbage heap.

Her 15 minutes of fame marches on…

Scott Goldberg

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Comments

purpose?

Submitted by OIC (not verified) on May 2, 2007 - 11:13am.

Was there any purpose to this article other than to complain about lonelygirl? Everything you said about her is awash in negative connotations. You must have been one of those poor fools who thought it was real; that would explain the bitterness. Do you also write "FAKE" in her video comments?

Why do you need a purpose?

Submitted by Jay Baage on May 2, 2007 - 12:14pm.

LonelyGirl15 aka Jessica Rose is a new media phenomenon. Just the fact that people care enough to leave comments and be engaged in her being for real or a fake this long after the fact is interesting enough. Jay Baage

Jay - Agreed.

Submitted by Scott Goldberg on May 2, 2007 - 6:35pm.

Jay - Agreed.

Hmmm...

Submitted by John (not verified) on May 3, 2007 - 12:16pm.

I agree with the first commenter. Is this supposed to be a story about LG15 winning the Webby? The approach to this story is rather weak...the writer sounds as if he's offended by LG15's fame. This writer and so many others feel that they were "duped" by LG15 and that that was the idea of this whole experience. Most folks understand that it's a new storytelling medium. In that way, it's not so much that LG15 is the Michael Jordan, but perhaps Jackie Robinson is a better sports analogy: the series is breaking ground for Internet programming. Leah Remini from King of Queens is in a new web-only series based around a YouTube-style of videomaking. Those that don't feel they are duped tend to acknowledge the fact that LG15 was not "fake" but rather first.

Only Jackie Robinson?

Submitted by Scott Goldberg on May 3, 2007 - 2:07pm.

Why stop at Jackie Robinson? I'd say she's more the Thomas Edison of the space. She's the Picasso, the Monet. Her legend will span centuries. We will be hailing LonelyGirl15 in the year 4050.