Ilyssa Levy (b. 1997)
Birthplace:
North Carolina, USA
Born:
September 15, 1997
Levy was born and raised in the U.S. state of North Carolina. She attended Franklinton High School. When she was in her teens, she worked for Chick-fil-A and an ice cream shop. At the age of 13, she entered into a relationship with a man named Haris, who was four years her senior. According to her, he was abusive and he would pressure her to send underage nude pictures. Illy had a desire to go to East Carolina University, which was in her state, but due to pressure from her boyfriend, she moved to California for higher education. She would attend the Laguna College of Art and Design, studying animation, with initial expectations of working in an animation studio. Around this time, she and Haris would continue to date, but after continuing abuse, she broke up with him. But the damage had already been done: “…it’s hard for me to fall in love again. It’s hard for me to trust people. It’s hard for me to understand what relationships even are.” Prior to starting her own YouTube channel, she met an animator named Tanimayto, who introduced her to Alex Clark. She also worked for TimTom. She interned for him, and would later use the experience during her time to start her own channel. She started her YouTube channel in 2018. She told her story of her abusive relationship in 2018 through a trilogy videos and was among her most popular, with the first video in the series gaining over 12 million views as of 2018. These videos kick-started her channel. She has worked with Alex Clark, Emirichu, Wolfychu and SomethingElseYT. She has also featured Katzun and TheOdd1sOut on her channel. She has occasionally released music; Zodiac Signs and beautiful, the latter of which recounts her struggle with self-harm and suicidal ideation. Levy has been nominated for the 2020 Streamy Awards in the Animated category.