YOUTUBE influencer Gabbie Hanna has come under increasing scrutiny following a video she posted in 2020.
The controversial clip, which has since gained widespread media attention, featured a photo of murdered teen Bianca Devins.
What was Gabbie Hanna's video featuring Bianca Devins?
On January 23, 2020, Gabbie Hanna posted a video which included a photo of Bianca Devins – who was brutally murdered in 2019.
Titled “Turning Myself into an E-Girl," the influncer was attempting to researching more about the slang terms used to describe active social media users who borrow their style from anime and subcultures such as "scene" and "emo."
To do so, she had opened a Vox article which also had a picture of Bianca.
Without looking at the content that was beside the picture, Gabbie made a remark about Bianca’s outfit.
She said: “This outfit here is straight-up what I wore from 7th grade to college, and I have that shirt now.”
Why was the video controversial?
Hanna swiftly faced intense backlash to the video for showing the image of Devins without context.
She was also accused of being insensitive and exploiting Devins' death for views.
On February 14, Gabbie released an apology video titled: “For Bianca.”
In it, Hanna said that she was unaware of what happened to Devins and had "completely missed" the paragraph in the article referring to her death while conducting the research.
She also said that she had been in contact with the Devins family and had apologized to them privately.
Was the video removed from YouTube?
According to Insider, the video is still available on YouTube but is unlisted, meaning users can only access it if they have the link.
The outlet adds that the scene featuring Bianca Devins now appears to have been edited out.
What did other influencers say about the video?
Various channels reported on the backlash and offered their perspective on the controversial clip.
One such was YouTuber Angelika Oles – who has been involved in a well documented spat with Hanna over the incident since 2020.
Initially, Okes posted two video addressing the situation as she criticized Gabbie’s video as "problematic," noting how Hanna had skimmed past Devins' picture and discussed her as if she were still alive.
A year later, in April 2021, Oles later made a video entitled "Gabby Hanna is a real high school Bully" during which she discussed some of Hanna's previous controversies.
Gabbie has since responded called out a number of channels, inclufding Oles for talking about a “slanderous lie that caused the family so much drama.”
Gabbie further alleged she has lost sponsorships, jobs, followers, and others due to this.
In June 2021, demanded that channels be held accountable for how they reported on her e-girl video.
It echos her previous calls asking for content creators to take accountability of their actions.
Speaking during a epsidoe of her new series of Youtbe, Hanna defended her initial response to the backlash against the e-girl video as she claimed she “did the right thing.”
"This should have never been news," she said.
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