Nash Grier

Nash Grier
Born December 28, 1997
North Carolina, United States
Education Davidson Day School
Known for Posting 6-second videos on Vine
Website
http://www.nashgrier.com

Nash Grier (born December 28, 1997) is an American teenager who became nationally known in 2013 for his online Vine videos, which are usually 6 seconds long.[1] As of April 2014, he is the most popular user on Vine, and has significant followings on other social media.[2]

Personal life

According to New York magazine Grier "is a God-fearing Christian who frequently consults his iPhone's Bible app while on the road."[2] He attended Davidson Day School in North Carolina.[3]

Career

Grier states he is mostly self-taught on how to make videos, including studying other Vine stars to see what would get the largest audience.[4] The most popular Vine stars at the time were "almost all men and many of them [were] God-fearing Christians who [bleeped] f-bombs and [steered] clear of sex."[4] Grier's "apparent spontaneity," Huffington Post states, is actually shrewdly crafted and scripted programming, with clips re-filmed many times, and sometimes edited for hours.[4] He is also careful to post them in the afternoon to coincide with the end of the school day.[4] Grier has a second Vine account, Nash Grier 2, for less-scripted and reworked content that doesn't "entertain everyone."[4]

Daily Dot estimates that among Twitter, Vine, and YouTube posts, Grier speaks to more than 14 million fans as of July 2014.[5] Huffington Post noted in March 2015 that Grier has 11.3 million followers on Vine, 7.3 million on Instagram, 4.1 million on YouTube and 4.3 million on Twitter, giving him "higher social media ratings than the White House."[4] Grier's team "confirmed that major brands will pay the star between $25,000 to $100,000 to plug their products" in vines.[4]

Because of his popularity he has appeared on Good Morning America twice.[6] Grier and his best friend Cameron Dallas have accepted a movie deal with AwesomenessTV to star in their own movie.[7]

Grier has a PR company, 26MGMT, and three managers including his father Chad.[4] In spring 2014 he moved to Los Angeles, California with Dallas, another Vine star Grier met through the site, so the aspiring actors could be near their agents.[4] Chad Grier helps run 26MGMT which focuses on Vine stars and includes five clients including Grier, Dallas, and Grier's younger brother Hayes.[4] Grier has earned money with deals from Sonic and Virgin Mobile among others, and also has a deal with Mobli.[4]

Video controversies

In August 2014 Huffington Post noted that despite his video career being only a year old at the time, Grier has great success but also controversies with his posts, including some being called "sexist, racist, and homophobic."[4] Grier has gained attention and criticism for some of his work which has offended people, including many of his followers. A video mocking Asian names, "How asians name their children..." in September 2013 was seen as racist.[4] A December 2013 YouTube video he made with friends and social media stars JC Caylen and Cameron Dallas was criticized as sexist.[8] The three young men attempt to "dictate what a girl should and should not do" in the entry entitled What Guys Look for in Girls.[8] Huffington Post Teen noted, "According to the video if they're not the type of girl they describe, then they'll probably 'never be loved.'"[8] The DailyDot noted Grier's following "largely consists of teenage girls."[9] The nine-minute long video consisted of the three stating what girls should be in order to attract guys, including criticizing physical aspects they don't like. The video was up for five days and "gathered major backlash over what many viewers felt were the boys’ reinforcement of horrible beauty and behavioral standards in young women who already battle with low self-esteem."[9] He later took the video down due to backlash, but others reposted it.[10]

Grier has been criticized by various media outlets for disparaging comments against LGBT people.[11][12][13] In April 2013, Grier posted a vine to his 8.7 million followers where he said, "Yes, it is! FAG!" in response to an OraQuick at-home oral HIV test ad which stated, "It's not a gay thing."[14][15] Grier later deleted the vine, but it had already spread online,[14] after Vine user Munera re-uploaded in April, 2014.[16] Towleroad stated Grier had a history of "making homophobic remarks on social media (and then deleting them)."[14] "Grier hasn’t acknowledged the deleted vine or tweets from angry users, instead only promoting a new video about dealing with haters online," noted BuzzFeed.[17][18] A Snapchat photo of Grier kissing a man also went viral, but it is not clear if the image was connected to the recent homophobic post or was an old image that had resurfaced.[19] Grier posted an apology on Twitter noting that he was "young, ignorant, stupid and in a bad place. I’ve moved on and learned from my mistakes and I am so truly sorry to anyone I have offended."[5] In October, 2014, teen clothing retailer Aeropostale which has been "aggressively" using social media stars to reach out to teens faced backlash for partnering with Grier because of his controversies.[20][21][22] BuzzFeed News noted "the backlash highlights the challenges brands face in working with today’s new breed of celebrity in a supremely competitive landscape."[23]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2014 "Mmm Yeah" by Austin Mahone Himself Lyric Video
2014 AwesomenessTV Himself Guest host in "Kanye: What's In My Murse?" episode[24][25]
2014 Good Morning America Himself Guest [26][27]
2014 Fox News Himself Guest [28]
2015 The View Himself Guest [29]

References

  1. ↑ Grier, Nash (February 3, 2014). "Ask Nash". Nash Grier YouTube channel. Event occurs at 2:38. Retrieved August 8, 2014. How old are you? Sixteen years of age, born December 28, 1997.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Glazek, Christopher (April 20, 2014). "Nash Grier: The Jesus-Loving Vine Star". New York. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  3. ↑ Ruebens, Lindsay (October 13, 2013). "'Vine-famous,' this 15-year-old has 1.4 million followers online". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 Bosker, Bianca. "16 And Famous How Nash Grier Became The Most Popular Kid In The World". Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jaworski, Michelle (2015-03-23). "Vine star Nash Grier under fire for homophobic comments". Dailydot.com. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  6. ↑ Ruebens, Lindsay (October 15, 2013). "Vine sensation Nash Grier heads to New York City for 'Good Morning America'". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  7. ↑ Rullo, Samantha. "Vine Stars Cameron Dallas & Nash Grier Got A Movie Deal, But Can They Handle More Than 6 Seconds?". Bustle. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Vincent de Urquiza, Camilla (January 8, 2014). "The Pressure for Perfection Is Becoming Too Much". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Jaworski, Michelle (2015-03-23). "Teen Vine stars enrage followers by telling girls how to be more attractive". Dailydot.com. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  10. ↑ "Bustle". Bustle.com. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  11. ↑ Schroeder, Audra (July 8, 2014). "Vine star Nash Grier under fire for homophobic comments". The Daily Dot. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  12. ↑ Badash, David (July 8, 2014). "Top Social Media Star Says Only Gays Get HIV -- Calls Them 'F*gs'". New Civil Rights Movement. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  13. ↑ Jeffery, Hannah; Doss Helms, Ann (July 8, 2014). "Vine star Nash Grier faces criticism for screaming homophobic slur". Carlotte Observer. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "Nash Grier, Vine's Most-Followed User, Slammed for Homophobic Slur: VIDEO| Gay News". Towleroad.com. 2014-07-08. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  15. ↑ "Nash Grier vs. Justin Bieber on Vine". OSM. Online Social Media. July 15, 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  16. ↑ Broderick, David (July 8, 2014). "16-Year-Old Vine Celebrity Nash Grier Uploaded And Deleted A Video Saying Only Gay People Get HIV". BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  17. ↑ Badash, David (8 July 2014). "Top Social Media Star Says Only Gays Get HIV -- Calls Them 'F*gs'". The New Civil Rights Movement. The New Civil Rights Movement. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  18. ↑ Broderick, Ryan (July 8, 2014). "16-Year-Old Vine Celebrity Nash Grier Uploaded And Deleted A Video Saying Only Gay People Get HIV". BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  19. ↑ Moss, Caroline (July 13, 2014). "Business Insider". Business Insider. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  20. ↑ Hilton, Perez. "Aeropostale Hires Known Homophobic Vine Star As One Of The Faces/Designers Of Their New Line! WTF!". Perez Hilton. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  21. ↑ Kazimierska, Marika. "Shoppers Outraged With Aeropostale For Hiring Homophobic And Racist Social Media Star". Design & Trend. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  22. ↑ Votta, Rae. "Aeropostale's Nash Grier partnership is going over about as well as you'd expect". Daily Dot. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  23. ↑ Maheshwari, Sapna. "Aeropostale Hires Nash Grier, Vine Star With History Of Anti-Gay Tweets". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  24. ↑ "Social media sensations Nash Grier, Cameron Dallas to star in movie". Fox10phoenix.com. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  25. ↑ "What’s On TV Tonight? – Listings For 10/04/2014". Rickey.org. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  26. ↑ "Nash and Cam on Good Morning America!". 26MGMT.com. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  27. ↑ "GMA Live! (4.30.14) | Watch the video - Yahoo Good Morning America". Gma.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  28. ↑ "Social media sensations Nash Grier, Cameron Dallas to star in mo - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5". Myfoxatlanta.com. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  29. ↑ "Vine on "The View": Nash Grier Video | The View - abc.com". Abc.go.com. 2015-02-23. Retrieved 2015-03-28.