Gigi Loren Lazzarato Getty (born Gregory Allan Lazzarato; April 20, 1992), known professionally as Gigi Gorgeous Getty, is a Canadian

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influe ...

, socialite, actress, and model. In 2008, Lazzarato began uploading

video blog A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...

s onto streaming platform YouTube as Gregory Gorgeous. Her videos achieved popularity and established an online following. During the following years, Lazzarato uploaded regularly to the channel along with creating and starring in the reality program ''

The Avenue The Avenue was a rugby union stadium and training pitches in Sunbury-on-Thames that belonged to the English club London Irish since 1931 when the team bought its . The team moved one season to the Stoop Memorial Ground thereafter to Madjeski ...

'' (2011–2013). Following a brief hiatus, she gained media attention after

coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as a

transgender woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

in 2013, and began going by Gigi Gorgeous. During 2014, Lazzarato personally documented her gender transition through social media profiles, notably through videos revolving around cosmetic procedures, which obtained viral status. In 2016, an incident involving Lazzarato being deported from

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

due to her status as a transgender woman, resulted in widespread media coverage. Lazzarato was the subject of ''This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous'' (2017), a

Barbara Kopple Barbara Kopple (born July 30, 1946) is an American film director known primarily for her documentary work. She has won two Academy Awards, the first in 1977 for '' Harlan County, USA'', about a Kentucky miners' strike, /sup> and the second in ...

-directed documentary that followed life going through gender transition. The film premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

and went on to have a limited theatrical release and several accolades including a Streamy. Besides personality work, Lazzarato has dabbled in acting and

modeling A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

work. Her performance credits include starring in fellow YouTuber

Shane Dawson Shane Lee Yaw (born July 19, 1988), better known as Shane Dawson, is an American YouTuber, actor, fimmaker, writer, and musician. One of the first people to rise to fame on YouTube, he began making videos in 2008 at the age of 19 and garnered ...

's short film ''I Hate Myselfie'' (2015) and its sequel, along with guest appearances in television series ''

Project Runway All Stars ''Project Runway All Stars'' is a spin-off of ''Project Runway'', featuring returning designers competing for grand prizes. Angela Lindvall and Carolyn Murphy have each hosted one season before Alyssa Milano became the staple host of the past fiv ...

'', ''

Me and My Grandma ''Me and My Grandma'' is a comedy series created by Eva Gutowski and Annie Stamell that premiered on March 22, 2017 on YouTube Red and Flying Bark Productions. The series stars Gutowski and Rhea Perlman and is executive produced by Stamell, Gutow ...

'', '' Good Work'', and ''Trailblazers'', amongst others. Through modeling, Lazzarato has appeared on the covers of ''

Paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distribu ...

'' and ''

Fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...

'', been featured in spreads for ''Galore'', ''Kode'', ''

Refinery29 Refinery29 (R29) is an American multinational digital media and entertainment website focused on young women. It is owned by Vice Media. History Justin Stefano, Philippe von Borries, Piera Gelardi, and Christene Barberich co-founded Refinery29 ...

'', and ''

Out Out may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 * ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander * ''Out'' (2002 film), a Japanese film ba ...

'' and served as a frequent muse of

August Getty Atelier August Getty (né Williams; born June 23, 1994) is an American fashion designer and founder of the fashion brand August Getty Atelier. Early life and family Getty is the son of Ariadne Getty, a member of the Getty family, and Justin Williams. ...

. In 2019, she authored the book ''He Said, She Said: Lessons, Stories, and Mistakes From My Transgender Journey''.

Early life

Gigi was born Gregory Allan Lazzarato, the child of Judith Lazzarato (née Belding) and David Lazzarato, a business executive who served as independent director of

The Stars Group The Stars Group Inc. (formerly known as Amaya Inc., Amaya Gaming Group Inc. and Rational Group) was a Canadian gaming and online gambling company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its shares were traded on Nasdaq and the Toronto Stoc ...

, chief executive officer of

Craig Wireless Craig Wireless Systems, Ltd. (initially Western Manitoba Broadcasters Ltd., then Craig Broadcast Systems, Inc., & next Craig Media, Inc. before its current branding) is a Canadian company which offers Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service i ...

, and chief financial officer of

Alliance Atlantis Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis and commonly shortened to simply Alliance or Atlantis and formerly traded as TSX:AAC) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operato ...

. She is of Italian, Lebanese, English and French heritage and she was raised in the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

faith. As a young adult, Gigi was a nationally ranked diving champion. Gigi's mother, Judith, died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

on February 3, 2012, at

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (previously, ''Princess Margaret Hospital'') is a scientific research centre and a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine as part of the Univ ...

, Toronto.

Career

2008–13: Beginnings on YouTube

Gigi operated a makeup tutorial YouTube channel that began in 2008 while in the eleventh grade, when a friend mentioned seeing a makeup video by

Michelle Phan Michelle Phan (born April 11, 1987) is an American beauty YouTuber. She is the founder and owner of the multimillion-dollar cosmetics line EM Cosmetics. Early life Michelle Phan was born on April 11, 1987, in Boston, Massachusetts. Both her par ...

on YouTube. Gigi first

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

at age 16, identifying at the time as a gay male. Since transitioning, her YouTube channel started to include more vlogs, fashion, and lifestyle videos. On January 18, 2011, Gigi announced ''

'', a YouTube-based reality series. The show premiered on March 15 of that year on YouTube with distribution by

Blip Blip may refer to: * Beta-lactamase inhibitor protein * Blip (website), a defunct web video platform * Blip.pl, a Polish social networking site * Blip, a message in the Apache Wave (formerly Google Wave) collaboration platform * Blip Festival, ...

. The show's last episode aired on April 14, 2013.

2014–16: Gender transition and appearances

Gigi was awarded the

LogoTV Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progr ...

Trailblazing Social Creator Award in 2014 for being an advocate on behalf of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

youth. She frequently attends BeautyCon conventions to meet with fans and sit in on panels about makeup techniques and the cosmetics industry. Gigi has modeled for designer ''Marco Marco'', and walked in the 2014 and 2015 Marco Marco Fashion Shows. Gigi has used

internet celebrity An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social ...

status to bring awareness to

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

issues, the

LGBT community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and so ...

, and anti-bullying. Her image was featured in a montage of transgender celebrities in the ABC ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

'' documentary about

Caitlyn Jenner Caitlyn Marie Jenner (born William Bruce Jenner; October 28, 1949) is an American media personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete. Jenner played college football for the Graceland Yellowjackets before incurring a knee in ...

's transition. In early 2015, Gigi starred in fellow YouTuber

's debut short film '' I Hate Myselfie'' as Amber. Gigi later reprised the role of Amber in ''I Hate Myselfie 2''. In June 2015, it was announced that Gigi had teamed up with singer

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

and had joined Cyrus' Happy Hippie Foundation's

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...

"#InstaPride" campaign. The campaign included a series of photos and an announcement by Cyrus that they were working on a secret project. The project later turned out to be a spread in the magazine ''

'' featuring them both. Gigi signed a partnership with 'Too Faced Cosmetics' in which Gigi starred in the cosmetic commercial film "''Better Than Sex''" which premiered on July 9, 2015. At the

2015 MTV Video Music Awards The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 30, 2015. The 32nd installment of the event was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, and hosted by Miley Cyrus. Taylor Swift led the nominations with a total of ten, follo ...

, Gigi, along with a group of

drag queens A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part ...

, introduced

for the debut performance of

Dooo It! "Dooo It!" is a song by American singer Miley Cyrus from her fifth studio album ''Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz'' (2015). It was premiered on August 30, 2015, with a live performance during the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, which Cyrus hosted, and wa ...

from Cyrus's new album '' Miley Cyrus and her Dead Petz''. She appeared on

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American first-run syndicated news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Paramount Streaming. ET also airs in Aus ...

as a special guest that same month. Gigi was featured in

Kylie Jenner Kylie Kristen Jenner (born August 10, 1997) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She starred in the E! reality television series '' Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' from 2007 to 2021 and is the founder and owner of ...

's app "Kylie" that feature several make up tip videos. On September 18, Gigi won the

Streamy Award The YouTube Streamy Awards, also known as the Streamy Awards or Streamys, are presented annually by Dick Clark Productions and Tubefilter to recognize excellence in online video, including directing, acting, producing, and writing. The formal ...

for "Best Beauty Series". It was announced on October 7 that she would star in

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Since 2009, he has sold over 3 million albums and 5 million singles worldwide. Lambert is known for his dynamic vocal performances that fuse his theatrical tra ...

's video for her song "Another Lonely Night".

2016: Dubai incident

On August 9, 2016, Gigi was detained in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

. Her passport was taken by airport officials and immigration officers at the

Dubai International Airport Dubai International Airport ( ar, مطار دبي الدولي) is the primary international airport serving Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic. It is also the nineteenth-busies ...

. She was denied entry to

for "imitation of women by men", as the government does not recognize Gigi's gender as legitimate, even though, according to Gigi, "The gender on my passport states female and not male." The "imitation of women by men" is illegal in the UAE, and violators can face up to a year in jail. She was released after being detained for five hours. The "#JusticeForGigi" hashtag surfaced on Twitter, with fans and supporters calling for Gigi's release and a reform in anti-LGBTQ laws. It was not the first time a transgender person was detained in Dubai. In 2014, two Brazilian transgender women were also detained and had their passports taken. Gigi, before leaving Dubai for Sweden, responded to the incident by calling for equality and legal protections for LGBTQ people.

2017–present: ''This is Everything''

In January 2017, the documentary ''This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous'', starring Gigi, directed by

premiered at the

. On June 11, Gorgeous watched the documentary with

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her campy style, she has been referred to ...

on Perry's four-day livestream event, '' Katy Perry Live: Witness World Wide''. In June 2017, Gigi was named to the ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine list of the 25 most influential people on the Internet. In 2019, Gigi published a memoir, titled ''He Said, She Said: Lessons, Stories, and Mistakes From My Transgender Journey''. In October 2019, Gigi announced a makeup collection coming out with Ipsy in November 2019. The collection features various beauty products related to makeup.

Personal life

In October 2014, Gigi began dating Cory Binney, the half-brother of drag queen

Alaska Thunderfuck Justin Andrew Honard (born March 6, 1985) is an American drag queen and recording artist known by the stage name Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, primarily known mononymously as Alaska, from Erie, Pennsylvania. She is best known as the runner-up on th ...

, after meeting at a club. Their relationship was on and off until they broke up in May or June 2015. The break-up inspired one of Gigi's most viewed videos titled "Single Life (My Break Up)", a music video to "What the Hell" by

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, '' Let Go'' (2002), is the best-selling album of the 2 ...

. It is now one of Gigi's top 5 most viewed videos of all time with 7.5 million views. They got back together in July 2015 before permanently splitting in November 2015. Gigi, who had previously identified as a gay man and then later

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

, came out as a lesbian in a YouTube video on September 14, 2016. Gigi began dating Nats Getty, an heir and member of the

Getty family The Getty family of the United States identify with George Franklin Getty and his son Jean Paul Getty as their patriarchs. In the 20th century they were heavily involved in the petroleum industry. The Getty family is of Scots-Irish ancestry f ...

, shortly after meeting him at

Paris Fashion Week Paris Fashion Week (french: Semaine de la mode de Paris) is a series of designer presentations held semiannually in Paris, France with spring/summer and autumn/winter events held each year. Dates are determined by the French Fashion Federation. ...

while working as a model for Getty's brother,

August Getty August Getty (né Williams; born June 23, 1994) is an American fashion designer and founder of the fashion brand August Getty Atelier. Early life and family Getty is the son of Ariadne Getty, a member of the Getty family, and Justin Williams. ...

. In March 2018, Getty proposed to Gigi at the

Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte (English: Palace of Vaux-le-Vicomte) is a Baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne department of Île-de-France. Built between 1658 and 1661 for Nicolas Fo ...

in France. On July 12, 2019, Gigi and Getty married in a private ceremony at Rosewood Miramar Beach in

Montecito, California Montecito (Spanish for "Little mountain") is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California.McCormack, Don (1999). ''McCormack's Guides Santa Barbara and Ventura 2000''. Mccormacks Guides. p. 58. . Located ...

. Guests at the wedding included

Ariadne Getty Ariadne Getty (formerly Williams; born 1962) is an Italian-born American philanthropist, businesswoman, and film producer. Early life and family Getty was born in Rome, Italy to Sir John Paul Getty, a philanthropist, and Abigail Harris, a wa ...

Teri Hatcher Teri Lynn Hatcher (born December 8, 1964) is an American actress best known for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (1993–1997); Paris Carver in the ''James Bond'' film '' Tom ...

, Moj Mahdara, Justin Tranter,

Bonnie McKee Bonnie Leigh McKee (born January 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, ''Trouble'', was released in 2004 under Reprise Records. After underperforming, McKee was dropped by her label and took a musical hiatus before es ...

Grace Helbig Grace Anne Helbig is an American comedian, actress, and internet personality. She is the co-creator and co-host of the podcast ''This Might Get Weird'' (2018–present) alongside frequent collaborator Mamrie Hart and is the voice of Cindy Bear ...

, Hannah Hart, and

Trisha Paytas Trisha Paytas (; born May 8, 1988) is an American YouTuber and singer. Her YouTube channel consists of a wide variety of content including lifestyle-oriented vlogs, music videos, and mukbangs. As of July 2022, she has accumulated roughly 5 mil ...

. The couple were given toasts by

Orlando Bloom Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He made his breakthrough as the character Legolas in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series '' The Fellowship of the Ring'' (2001), '' The Two Towers'' (2002), ...

, and Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California f ...

of California. On April 9, 2021, Gigi identified herself as

pansexual , meaning "all" , definition = Sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of gender , classification = Sexual identity , parent = Bisexuality , synonyms = , associated_terms = Polysexual, queer, heterofle ...

, after releasing a YouTube video, explaining how she "didn't fall in love with Nats because of his gender, but the person that he is." Gigi is a practicing

and describes herself as religious.

Transition

Gigi came out as a

in December 2013. Since then, she has undergone

electrolysis In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from n ...

tracheal shave Chondrolaryngoplasty (commonly called tracheal shave) is a surgical procedure in which the thyroid cartilage is reduced in size by shaving down the cartilage through an incision in the throat, generally to aid those who are uncomfortable with the g ...

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. These symptoms can include hot flashes, vaginal ...

facial feminization surgery Facial feminization surgery (FFS) is a set of reconstructive surgical procedures that alter typically male facial features to bring them closer in shape and size to typical female facial features. FFS can include various bony and soft tissue proced ...

rhinoplasty Rhinoplasty ( grc, ῥίς, rhī́s, nose + grc, πλάσσειν, plássein, to shape), commonly called nose job, medically called nasal reconstruction is a plastic surgery procedure for altering and reconstructing the nose. There are two typ ...

, and

breast augmentation Breast augmentation and augmentation mammoplasty is a cosmetic surgery technique using breast-implants and fat-graft mammoplasty techniques to increase the size, change the shape, and alter the texture of the breasts. Augmentation mammoplasty is ...

. On March 8, 2014, Gigi legally changed her name to Gigi Loren Lazzarato. In a September 2015 issue of ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'', Gigi credited "transgender model and performing artist

Amanda Lepore Amanda Lepore is an American model, singer, and performance artist. A former Club Kid, she has appeared in advertising for numerous companies. Lepore is noted as a regular subject in photographer David LaChapelle's work, serving as his muse, as ...

and the death of my mother for sparking my transition."

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards

References

External links

*
Gigi Gorgeous
on YouTube * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorgeous, Gigi 1992 births 21st-century Canadian actresses Activists from Montreal Actresses from Montreal Actresses from Ontario Anglophone Quebec people Artists from Montreal Artists from Ontario Businesspeople from Montreal Businesspeople from Ontario Canadian bloggers Canadian female divers Female models from Quebec Canadian make-up artists Canadian people of French descent Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian people of Lebanese descent Canadian Roman Catholics Canadian YouTubers Canadian socialites George Brown College alumni Getty family LGBT divers Canadian LGBT rights activists LGBT Roman Catholics Canadian LGBT sportspeople LGBT YouTubers Living people Models from Montreal Pansexual entertainers Pansexual actresses Participants in American reality television series People from Mississauga Streamy Award winners Transgender actresses Transgender female models LGBT media personalities Transgender sportswomen Transgender rights activists Fashion YouTubers Beauty and makeup YouTubers YouTube vloggers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people Canadian women activists Muses