GloZell Lynette Green (born July 30, 1972), better known
mononym
A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person.
A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...
ously as GloZell,
is an American
YouTube personality.
GloZell established her YouTube channel in 2008, with video interviews, comedy about her life and song parodies. By 2015, the channel had accumulated more than four million subscribers and more than 700 million total views.
["Glozell Green: About"](_blank)
, YouTube, accessed August 27, 2014 Her most popular videos include her
cinnamon challenge video, which has accumulated more than 60 million views, and "My Push up Bra will help me get my man" video, with more than 25 million views.
[Green, Glozell]
Most popular videos on the Glozell Green YouTube channel
, YouTube, accessed January 30, 2018 She gained wide notice when her blog about meeting
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. Wood made his film debut with a minor part in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) at the age of eight and achieved recognition in the early 1990s as a child acto ...
was mentioned by the actor during a 2011 interview on ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...
''. In 2012, she appeared in the web series ''Dr. Fubalous''.
In 2015, GloZell interviewed President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
in a YouTube livestream hosted at the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
.
[ In 2018, Green had a small role as Little Debbie in '']Ralph Breaks the Internet
''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' is a 2018 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It is the sequel to the 2012 film ''Wreck-It Ralph''. The film was directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Joh ...
''.
In December 2020, it was announced that Green would be hosting "The GloZell Show" with Million Stories Media.
Early life
GloZell was born to Gloria and Ozell Green, her name being a portmanteau
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. of the names of her parents. She has one sister, DeOnzell, who is an opera singer. In 1997, GloZell graduated from the University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...
with a BFA degree in musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...
.
Career
In 2003, GloZell moved to Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
, California, to pursue a career in acting and comedy. She joined The Groundlings and studied her favorite comedian, Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...
, by attending 600 consecutive tapings of ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...
''. She began a blog that included a series of interviews with other audience members at Leno's show, but she soon began using YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
as a video host for the interviews.[Schawbel, Dan]
"GloZell Green: How She Built Her YouTube Career by Accident"
, ''Forbes'' magazine, June 7, 2016 She began to create and post original comedy videos when people she met at ''Leno'' tapings told her that she was funny on her own. Her first viral YouTube video, in 2008, was "My Push up Bra will help me get my man"; by 2013, it had gained over 20 million views. She began to make more frequent YouTube comedy videos focusing on her daily life, celebrity impersonations, song parodies, and Internet fads. Some of her most popular early videos were her "translations" of pop songs, such as Kesha
Kesha Rose Sebert (born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. Her first major success came in 2009 when she was featured on rapper Flo Rida's number-one single, "Right Round".
Kesha's music and ima ...
's " Tik Tok" and Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
's " Rude Boy".
In 2011, GloZell gained wider notice when her vlog about meeting Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. Wood made his film debut with a minor part in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) at the age of eight and achieved recognition in the early 1990s as a child acto ...
was mentioned by the actor during an interview on ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...
''. Her 2012 cinnamon challenge video became quickly popular and was ranked fourth on ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
s "Viral Video Chart" in February 2012. As of 2016, it had amassed more than 48 million views.[ In June 2012, she was featured in the video ''Beauty and the Beat'' by ]Todrick Hall
Todrick Hall (born April 4, 1985) is an American singer, rapper, choreographer, and YouTuber. He gained national attention on the ninth season of the televised singing competition ''American Idol''. Following this, he amassed a following on Yo ...
, which reimagines the opening of '' Disney's Beauty and the Beast'', in which Belle lives in an urban African-American neighborhood
African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American ...
. Also 2012, GloZell was featured alongside Danny Trejo
Danny Trejo (, ; born May 16, 1944) is an American actor. Known for his Danny Trejo filmography, large body of work as a character actor, films in which he has appeared in have grossed over $3.7 billion worldwide.
A native of Los Angeles, Tr ...
and Flavor Flav
William Jonathan Drayton Jr. (born March 16, 1959), known by his stage name Flavor Flav ( ), is an American rapper and television personality. Known for his catchphrase "Yeah, boyeeeeee!" when performing, he is a founding member alongside Chuck ...
and fellow YouTube personalities Antoine Dodson
Kevin Antoine Dodson (born June 27, 1986) is an American Internet celebrity, singer, and actor. In 2010, while a resident of the Lincoln Park housing project in Huntsville, Alabama, he gave an interview on local television news prompted by the re ...
and Colleen Ballinger in the musical web series
A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...
''Dr. Fubalous'', where GloZell played the titular doctor's "ranch dressing
Ranch dressing is a savory, creamy American salad dressing usually made from buttermilk, salt, garlic, onion, black pepper, and herbs (commonly chives, parsley and dill), mixed into a sauce based on mayonnaise or another oil emulsion. Sour cre ...
-loving secretary", Maude "Ma" Cakes.
GloZell has performed her stand-up act at such comedy venues as The Comedy Store
The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California.
History
The Comedy ...
, The Improv
The Improv is a comedy club franchise. It was founded as a single venue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City in 1963, and expanded into a chain of venues in the late 1970s.
History
Originally, it was a 50-seat single venue (whic ...
, the Laugh Factory
Laugh Factory is a chain of comedy clubs in the United States. The chain is owned by Laugh Factory Inc., and the founder and current chief executive is Jamie Masada.
Endurance record
The Laugh Factory keeps track of an endurance record for ...
, Showtime at the Apollo
''Showtime at the Apollo'' (formerly ''It's Showtime at the Apollo'' and ''Apollo Live'') is an American variety show that first aired in syndication from September 12, 1987, to May 24, 2008. In 2018, the series returned on Fox with Steve Harve ...
, Steve Harvey Talent Show, and the J. Anthony Brown's J Spot Comedy Club. She has appeared on '' The Dr. Oz Show'', '' 20/20'', ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to:
* ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
* ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company
ABC News may a ...
and MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
and has been featured in ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', '' U.S. News & World Report'', ''Ebony
Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...
, Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Internationalism
* World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship
* Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community
* Cosmopolitan ...
, People
The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
'' and ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' magazines, among other media.[ Each year since 2013, GloZell has hosted a free live variety show called GloZell Fest, with celebrity and YouTube guests including Sisaundra Lewis, Meghan Tonjes, ]Frankie Grande
Frank James Michael Grande Marchione (born January 24, 1983)Murphy, T. Michelle"10 Facts you won't learn about Frankie Grande on ''Big Brother 16''" Metro.us, September 22, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014 is an American actor, singer, dancer ...
, Miranda Sings and Far Young. She has also published a book of inspirational poems called ''Wait! Let Me Tell You''.
In May 2013, GloZell released her first single, titled "Pick Up After Your Dog", on the iTunes Store, and the music video was soon released on YouTube. She released her second single, "Glozell's Cinnamon Challenge", later in May. By 2013, GloZell's YouTube channel had received more than 400 million total views, with 2.7 million subscribers, and was ranked the 25th most viewed comedy channel on YouTube. By 2015, the channel had accumulated more than 4 million subscribers and more than 700 million views.
On January 22, 2015 GloZell interviewed Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
in a YouTube livestream hosted at The White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 whe ...
.[Kelly, Amita]
"5 Surprises From President Obama's YouTube Interviews"
, NPR, January 23, 2015 She talked to him about, among other issues, racial profiling and officer-involved shootings, relations with Cuba and cybersecurity. At the end of the interview she handed Obama green lipstick to give to the first lady and their children, but misspoke saying, "One for your first wife…" resulting in some laughs from the audience in the room. GloZell made a guest appearance in the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
sitcom '' Game Shakers'' and played a role in the 2015 film '' The Wedding Ringer''.[Nolfi, Joey]
"YouTube star GloZell: My new book is 'making reading great again!'"
, EW.com, June 7, 2016 She plays the voice role of Grandma Rosiepuff in DreamWorks' animated film ''Trolls
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...
''. She also has a docuseries, ''Glo All In'', about her and her husband's quest to have a child, ultimately with a surrogate mother.[; and ]
In June 2016, GloZell released an autobiography, ''Is You Okay?'', written in collaboration with Nils Parker.[ In 2016, GloZell had a lead role as the Jazz Singer in the ]YouTube Red
YouTube Premium (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red) is a subscription service offered by the American video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals ...
(now YouTube Premium) original series '' Escape the Night''. The cast of the show, including her, Shane Dawson, Joey Graceffa, Lele Pons and Sierra Furtado, won the Streamy Award for best ensemble cast. In 2017, Green launched a new channel for preschoolers called ''GloBugz!'', the series was produced by Bunim/Murray Productions.
In 2018, Green had a small role as Little Debbie in ''Ralph Breaks the Internet
''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' is a 2018 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It is the sequel to the 2012 film ''Wreck-It Ralph''. The film was directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Joh ...
''.
Personal life
On August 9, 2013, GloZell married her manager, Kevin Simon. On August 4, 2016, they had a daughter, O'Zell Gloriana De Green Simon, via surrogacy. In 2020, GloZell announced that she had divorced Simon.[https://www.facebook.com/glozell/posts/i-talk-about-my-divorce-single-motherhood-financial-difficulties-with-josh-skinn/3650151998336209/ ]
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
21st-century American comedians
1972 births
Actresses from Orlando, Florida
African-American female comedians
African-American comedians
American bloggers
American women bloggers
American women comedians
American comedy YouTubers
Lifestyle YouTubers
Living people
University of Florida alumni
American YouTube vloggers
21st-century African-American women writers
21st-century American women writers
21st-century African-American writers
20th-century African-American people
20th-century African-American women
YouTubers from Orlando, Florida
Comedians from Orlando, Florida
American stand-up comedians