Benny Jean Pierce (born February 19, 1999), known professionally as Miss Benny, is an American actress, singer and

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

Early life

Benny was born on February 19, 1999, and grew up in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

. She lived as a

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for LGBTQ people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometime ...

teenager before coming out. As she began posting on YouTube, she found an outlet with similar individuals in the online community. She befriended fellow YouTube artists

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actor. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with Universal Music Australia, EMI Australia in 2013 and ...

and

Tyler Oakley Mathew Tyler Oakley (born March 22, 1989) is an American YouTuber, actor, activist, author, television personality and Twitch streamer. Much of Oakley's activism has been dedicated to LGBTQ youth, LGBTQ rights, as well as social issues including ...

. She is of

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

descent.

Career

Benny began posting on YouTube using various channels when she was 11 years old in 2010 as a way to feel less isolated and lonely. In 2012, she began posting under the YouTube channel, KidPOV. She began posting under her own name in 2016. She frequently discusses gender and identity. Benny has done makeup tutorials and collaborated with other media personalities including Tyler Oakley and

James Charles James Charles Dickinson (born May 23, 1999) is an American beauty YouTuber and makeup artist. While working as a local makeup artist in his hometown of Bethlehem, New York, Charles started a YouTube channel, where he began uploading makeup tu ...

. Her YouTube channel also includes humorous skits.

Music

In 2014, Benny released the song "Little Game". She wrote the lyrics and directed and produced the music video with assistance from Tumi Mphahlele. The song and video rebuff forcing children into traditional

gender role A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gendered ...

s. In 2016, Benny was cast as Smiley in season 2 of

go90 go90 was an American Internet television service and mobile app owned and operated by Verizon Communications. The service was positioned as a mobile-oriented "social entertainment platform" targeted primarily towards millennials, featuring a ...

's ''Guidance''. Also in 2016, Benny released the single "Boys Will Be Boys", which is about

toxic masculinity The concept of toxic masculinity is used in academic and media discussions to refer to those aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, homophobia, and violent domination. These traits are considered "toxi ...

. It features melodic tones, smooth vocals, and drum beats. Music critic Nic Kelly reviewed the song positively, describing its style as somewhere between

Odesza Odesza (; stylized as ODESZA) is an American electronic music duo originating from Bellingham, Washington. It consists of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight, known individually as Catacombkid and BeachesBeaches. They formed in 2012, shortly bef ...

and Drumaq. The song's music video was filmed and edited by YouTuber and filmmaker Chase vs Everything, and featured Kalama Epstein. In 2017, Benny released the R&B single "Never Apart". She directed the video which was shot by Chase vs Everything.

Style

Benny names

Bob Mizer Robert Henry Mizer (March 27, 1922 – May 12, 1992) was an American photographer and filmmaker, known for pushing boundaries of depicting male homoerotic content with his work in the mid 20th century. Biography Bob Mizer's earliest photograph ...

as one of her aesthetic influences. She strives to create music that is glittery synth-pop, bubbly, and "very gay and very

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

." Benny listens to pop musicians

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...

and

Carly Rae Jepsen Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After studying musical theatre for most of her school life and while in university, Jepsen garnered mainstream attention after placing third on the fifth season of ...

. She also listens to rap and hip hop.

Acting

In 2018, Benny appeared in the sitcom '' Fuller House'' as Casey, the show's first openly gay character. In 2023, she indirectly claimed in a

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

video that ''Fuller House'' star

Candace Cameron Bure Candace Helaine Cameron Bure (; Cameron; born April 6, 1976) is an American actress and talk show panelist. She is known for portraying D.J. Tanner on ''Full House'' and its sequel series ''Fuller House (TV series), Fuller House'', and a number ...

had campaigned for her character's removal from the show due to her character's

identity. Bure denied the claims. She was cast in the series ''Reverie'' in 2019. In 2019, she was cast as the lead for

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

pilot '' Glamorous'' playing Marco, an "ambitious and creative gender-nonconforming teenager who uses makeup and fashion to let his queer self bloom." The show was then dropped and picked up by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

after the coronavirus pandemic. It premiered June 22, 2023. In an essay published in ''Time'' magazine, Benny revealed that the character will transition, alongside her own transition in real life. Benny has been the voice of Angel in ''

Craig of the Creek ''Craig of the Creek'' is an American animated television series created by Matt Burnett and Ben Levin for Cartoon Network. The show's pilot episode debuted directly on the TV on December 1, 2017. The series premiered online on February 19, 201 ...

'' since season 4.

Personal life

Benny lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California. Benny is a

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

woman. She uses she/her pronouns. She has three older siblings who assist with aspects of video production, including crafting props and designing hair and makeup.

Discography

Singles

* "Little Game" (2014) * "Boys Will Be Boys" (2016) * "Never Apart" (2017) * "Rendezvous" (2019) * "Every Boy" (2019) * "That's My Man" (2019) * "One Damn Good Mistake" (2019) * "Break Away" (2023)

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, Ben J. 1999 births Living people 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers American child singers American LGBTQ singers American queer actresses American transgender actresses American women singer-songwriters Beauty and makeup YouTubers LGBTQ people from Texas LGBTQ YouTubers American music YouTubers Musicians from Dallas American queer musicians Singer-songwriters from Texas YouTube channels launched in 2011 YouTubers from Dallas LGBTQ women singers Transgender women singers Hispanic and Latino American actors LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people