It’s been a long and wild journey for Tessica “Gorilla Glue Girl” Brown since she posted a Tik Tok video earlier this month explaining that she had run out of Got2B Glued Blasting Freeze Spray to slick down her hair and used Gorilla Glue spray instead.
First, it was funny AF, then it became a story of tragedy once we learned of the extensive and possibly permanent damage she had done to her hair and scalp and that it was going to be hell removing the glue. After that, anyone with even a modicum of empathy had stopped laughing (for the most part) and started expressing appropriate concern for the 40-year-old’s wellbeing.
Fortunately, a Black plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael Obeng, came to the rescue and offered to undo the glue free of charge, and eventually, Brown was freed from her sticky situation.
While all of this was going on, social media did what social media does: turn literally everything into a big-ass controversy.
Before long, rumors started flying across the web that Brown was planning to sue Gorilla Glue over her unfortunate mishap—this was most likely due to a TMZ article that suggested as much. Well, according to Brown, she “never said that” she planned to sue.
“I don’t understand what all of the other stuff is coming from,” Brown said in an interview with ET. “No. I’ve never ever said that. Again, I don’t know where all this is coming from because at this point everybody saying it.”
Of course, multiple media outlets ran with the rumor and even went so far as to publish articles analyzing whether or not Brown’s nonexistent lawsuit had any merit.
Here’s the thing: If you’ve been paying attention to Brown’s saga on social media, you know that, while a lot of people (especially Black women) have expressed empathy for Brown’s plight and are celebrating the triumphant conclusion to her debacle, she is also getting a lot of hate—a thing she spoke at length about in her ET interview.
I don’t get why anyone (especially anyone Black) would be mad at Brown for turning lemons into lemonade.
Brown has recently gotten herself a full-time agent and has started promoting her own brand of “Bonded for Life” merchandise—and for whatever reason, a lot of people are big mad.
I couldn’t count the times I have personally read the comment, “she shouldn’t be rewarded for her stupidity”—which is a stupid-ass comment to make because she’s not being rewarded for gluing the shit out of her hair, she’s being rewarded for possessing the ingenuity to turn her misfortune into a bag. You can’t be mad at her “stupidity,” then also be mad she was smart enough to turn her situation positive.
Then there’s her GoFundMe page which she launched with an initial goal of $1,500 to help her pay for expenses related to what she called “this unfortunate ordeal.” As of Monday, that page has received more than $23,000 in donations. According to Insider, she plans to donate at least $20,000 of those funds to the Restore Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Dr. Obeng. The foundation was started “with the aim of providing reconstructive surgery for people in developing nations,” Insider reports.
So yeah, maybe it’s about time we let this woman live. She’s doing well now, and I’m here for it.