Gorilla Glue Girl

Submission 29,694

About

Gorilla Glue Girl refers to a viral video of social media influencer Tessica Brown applying spray-on Gorilla Glue to her hair after running out of her regular hairspray. Following the incident, Brown required medical attention to remove her hair from her scalp, and reportedly filed a lawsuit against Gorilla Glue.

Origin

On February 3rd, 2021, Tessica Brown uploaded a video to Instagram^[1] and TikTok ^[2] in which she describes how her hair has been glued to her scalp for about a month because she ran out of her regular got2b Glued hairspray and chose to use Gorilla Glue spray in its place, admitting it was a bad idea (shown below). She rubs her head to show how it doesn't move and explains how she's washed it 15 times at least to no avail and warns viewers not to use Gorilla Glue for their hair. The video gained over 2.8 million views on Instagram and over 20.8 million on TikTok in 6 days.

On the same day, Brown uploaded a video of herself shampooing her hair to show it won't move and that the glue won't come out, garnering over 7.1 million views on TikTok^[3] and 3 million views on Instagram^[4] in the same span of time (shown below).

Many commenters offered potential solutions for Brown's hair. On February 4th, Brown posted a message to Instagram^[7] where she thanks her followers for their encouragement and potential solutions and said she'd try something that day (shown below, left).

Later that day she posted^[8] saying she had put coconut and tea tree oil in her hair and would leave it in overnight to see what happens (shown below, right). She posted the latter update to TikTok^[11] as well, garnering over 4.7 million views in 3 days.

On February 5th, Brown posted an update to Instagram^[9] informing her followers that the tea tree and coconut oil did not work. On the same day, a dermatologist posted a video on TikTok^[10] offering possible solutions, ultimately recommending she goes to the doctor (shown below).

Spread

On February 5th Brown was set to appear live on the H3 Podcast^[22] to talk about the incident but canceled her appearance to go to the ER as she was in too much pain.

On February 6th, Brown posted a photo of the front of a hospital to Instagram,^[12] garnering over 52,000 likes in 2 days. On February 6th, WBRZ^[13] published a story confirming Brown went to St. Bernard Parish hospital in Louisiana to seek treatment for her hair, followed by TMZ.^[17] On the same day, Chance The Rapper tweeted^[18] his support for Brown, garnering over 34,000 likes and 2,500 retweets in 3 days (shown below).

On February 7th, Brown posted a video to TikTok^[14] and Instagram^[15] consisting of a shot of the hospital, an image of a doctor looking at her hair, and a video of her sister applying some sort of solution given to her by the doctors to Brown's hair while she appears to be crying (shown below). The video gained over 4.8 million views on TikTok and 2.8 million on Instagram in 2 days.

Brown posted a longer version of the video to her YouTube^[16] channel that day which includes audio of her sister applying the solution to Brown's hair (shown below). The video gained over 1.6 million views in 2 days.

That day, Brown posted a photo of the solution to Instagram^[19] (shown below).

Lawsuit

On February 8th, 2021, Gorilla Glue responded to the situation on Twitter,^[6] in which they wish her the best and remind readers not to use Gorilla Glue on your hair or body, garnering over 28,000 likes and 5,600 retweets in a day (shown below).

On the same day, Brown created a GoFundMe^[5] to cover her medical bills. The page far surpassed its goal of $1,500 in a day, with over $13,000 in donations in one day. The New York Post^[19] published an article claiming a plastic surgeon offered to help remove the Gorilla Glue.

That day, Brown had her first interview with radio station KiSS 92.5,^[23] where she describes the situation and her trip to the doctor's in detail. During the interview she describes how the doctor said they could probably remove the glue with a particular saline solution but it would take about 20 hours and burn. They gave her the solution to use at home because of this, which she can be seen applying in her February 7th YouTube video. She also mentions how she is trying to avoid shaving her head.

Later that day, TMZ^[20] reported that a source close to Gorilla Glue Girl informed them she was planning on suing Gorilla Glue as it mentions on the label that you can't use it on eyes, skin, or clothing, but not explicitly your hair. As news of the lawsuit spread, followers of the story became split, with some continuing to support her and others seeing her suing and her opening of a GoFundMe as taking advantage of the situation (examples shown below).^[24]^[27]

That same day, @vloids tweeted,^[21] "I'm on gorilla glue girl's side idc" in response to people criticizing Brown, garnering over 100,000 likes and 6,600 retweets in a day (shown below).

Surgical Procedure, Denial Of Lawsuit

On February 9th at 12:07 P.M., TMZ^[30] reported that Brown had her ponytail off (video and shown below) and was going to fly to Beverly Hills to seek treatment for her scalp in a procedure that usually costs around $12,000 according to the Toronto Sun, but was offered to her for free by Dr. Michael Obeng after he saw her situation.^[31] A video of her getting the ponytail cut off is included in the report, as well as an interview between Brown and TMZ.

On February 10th, Brown denied claims that she was going to file a lawsuit.^[32]

On February 11th, TMZ^[33] posted a video of Dr. Obeng describing how he discovered a solution that will remove the glue by recreating Brown's situation using a wig covered in Gorilla Glue spray (shown below).

On the same day, Brown underwent the surgical procedure (video shown below, left).^[34] She was put under anesthesia to deal with the pain. The surgery took around 4 hours to complete according to TMZ.^[35] Later that day TMZ posted a video of Brown running her hands through her hair for the first time after the procedure (shown below, right).

Aftermath

On February 12th, Tessica Brown launched her Gorilla Glue Girl merch store, featuring a variety of shirts, sweaters, and sweatpants that read "Bonded For Life."^[37]

On February 13th, TMZ^[36] posted a video of Brown in the airport on her way home, asking what she plans on doing on Valentine's day (shown below).

Brown gained a significant following on social media following the Gorilla Glue incident, with over 800,000 followers on Instagram and 1.1 million on TikTok as of February 13th, 2021.

On February 13th, Brown posted a photograph with Dr. Obeng to Instagram, thanking him in the caption for helping her (shown below).^[38]

Gorilla Glue Challenge

On February 11th, reports that a Louisiana man named Len Martin got a cup glued to his lip after covering it in Gorilla Glue and raising it to his face as if drinking from it (shown below).^[39] He was attempting to prove Tessica's video fake. Doctors managed to peel the cup off of his lip, and told him to cover it while it heals.

Memes

Gorilla Glue Girl's situation became the subject of memes shortly after going viral. On February 5th, 2021, @MinaLioness posted an image macro featuring Homer Simpson referring to the situation to Twitter,^[25] garnering over 249,000 likes and 35,000 retweets in 4 days (shown below, left). On the same day, @jasebyjason made a joke on Twitter^[26] about the situation, garnering over 1,500 likes in the same span of time (shown below, right).

The situation received significant attention on TikTok, with many users making comedy videos referencing it (examples shown below).^[28]^[29]

Personal Life

Tessica Brown is a Louisiana resident and mother of five. As of February 9th, 2021, she has over 757,000 followers on TikTok and 674,000 on Instagram.