'Overly Attached Girlfriend' Laina Morris is quitting YouTube

26 July 2019, 14:52

By Jazmin Duribe

"I know that this part of my life is done and that it's time to say goodbye."

Laina Morris has just announced that she is leaving YouTube in an emotional 28 minute video. In the video Laina, who shot to fame when she became the Overly Attached Girlfriend meme, explained how she came to the decision to leave the platform because of the struggles with her mental health.

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In case you didn't know, Laina became the viral 'Overly Attached Girlfriend' meme after her Justin Bieber fan video was put on Reddit in 2012. In the video, Laina performed a parody version of Justin Bieber's 2012 song 'Boyfriend' in an attempt to win a contest the singer had put on for his fans to launch his new fragrance called "Girlfriend".

Although Laina didn't win the competition, after a link to her video was posted on Reddit, a meme was born. Laina become an internet sensation with red carpet appearances and a successful YouTube channel boasting over 1.2 million subscribers.

Watch the original video here.

JB Fanvideo

"I would say after about a year of doing YouTube, I started to feel the stress and the weight of the job more than I ever had before," she explained. "It started to feel like a job more than it had before. I felt a lot of pressure to make up my mind career-wise. I couldn't do it confidently and it really stressed me out.

"After about a year and a half of doing it, I started to feel a bit depressed. And starting around 2014, I would say, the beginning of 2014... I'd sort of landed myself in a real deep depression, and I was keeping it a real deep secret from everyone around me.

"I felt ashamed and I felt guilt for being stressed and overwhelmed in a world and with job and opportunities that were so great, I didn't understand why I couldn't handle it. For years, I was battling a really complicated and difficult... and for me for some reason, almost embarrassing, thing that is depression."

Watch Laina's goodbye video here.

Breaking Up with You...Tube

Until her latest video, Laina hadn't actually posted to that channel in 11 months. She explained more about her decision to take a break after moving to Arizona with her boyfriend.

"Taking a small break turned into not posting for an entire year," she added. "Since that last video, it's been another year, and I've gone to therapy and I've really thought this through."

Laina urged her subscribers to seek help. If need and linked support services for anyone who was struggling with their mental health.

She continued: "I've just grown up and my life has changed and my priorities have changed. My relationship with YouTube honestly started to become more negative than positive...

"I know that this part of my life is done and that it's time to say goodbye."