Gigi Gorgeous
Giselle Loren Lazzarato Getty, known professionally as Gigi Gorgeous, is a Canadian YouTuber, socialite, actress, and model.
In 2008, Lazzarato began uploading video blogs onto streaming platform YouTube. Her videos achieved popularity and established an online following for her. During the following years, she uploaded regularly to her channel along with creating and starring in the reality program The Avenue. Following a brief hiatus, Lazzarato gained media attention after coming out as a transgender woman in 2013. During 2014, Lazzarato documented her transition through her social media profiles, notably through her videos revolving around her cosmetic procedures, which obtained viral status. In 2016, an incident involving Lazzarato being deported from Dubai because of her status as a transgender woman, resulted in widespread media coverage. Lazzarato was the subject of This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous, a Barbara Kopple-directed documentary that followed her life during her transition. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to have a limited theatrical release and several accolades including a Streamy.
Besides her personality work, Lazzarato has dabbled in acting and modeling work. Her performance credits include starring in fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson's short film I Hate Myselfie and its sequel, along with guest appearances in television series Project Runway All Stars, Me and My Grandma, Good Work, and Trailblazers, amongst others. Through modeling, she has appeared on the covers of Paper and FASHION, been featured in spreads for Galore, Kode, Refinery29, and Out and served as a frequent muse of August Getty Atelier. In 2019 she authored the book He Said, She Said: Lessons, Stories, and Mistakes From My Transgender Journey.
Early life
Lazzarato is the child of David, a business executive, and Judith Lazzarato. Her family consists of Italian, Lebanese, English and French heritage and she was raised in the Roman Catholic faith.As a young adult, Lazzarato was a nationally ranked diving champion. She attended St. Francis of Assisi School and later Mississauga's Iona Catholic Secondary School and attended George Brown College. At George Brown, she studied fashion, but eventually left the college to focus on her YouTube career. Her mother, Judith, died of leukemia on February 3, 2012, at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto.
Career
2008–13: Beginnings on YouTube
Prior to her transition, Lazzarato was known as Gregory or Greg, and operated a makeup tutorial YouTube channel that began in 2008 while she was an eleventh grader, when a friend mentioned seeing a makeup video by Michelle Phan on YouTube. At the age of 16 she came out, identifying as a gay male. Since her transition, her YouTube channel started to include more vlogs, fashion, and lifestyle videos.On January 18, 2011, Lazzarato announced The Avenue, a YouTube-based reality series that was going to star in. The show premiered on March 15 of that year on YouTube with distribution by Blip. The show’s last episode aired on April 14, 2013.
2014–16: Gender transition and appearances
Lazzarato was awarded the LogoTV Trailblazing Social Creator Award in 2014 for her advocacy on behalf of LGBT youth. She frequently attends BeautyCon conventions to meet with fans and sit in on panels about makeup techniques and the cosmetics industry. She modeled for designer Marco Marco, and walked in the 2014 and 2015 Marco Marco Fashion Shows.Lazzarato has used her internet celebrity status to bring awareness to transgender issues, the LGBT community, and anti-bullying. Her image was featured in a montage of transgender celebrities in the ABC 20/20 documentary about Caitlyn Jenner's transition.
In October 2014, Lazzarato began dating Cory Binney. They met at a club and started dating from then on. They were on and off and broke up in around May or June 2015 which inspired one of Lazzarato’s most viewed videos titled
“Single Life which is a music video to “What the Hell” by Avril Lavigne. It is now one of her top 5 most viewed videos of all time with 7.5 million views. Lazzarato and Binney got back together a month later before officially splitting in November 2015.
In early 2015, Lazzarato starred in fellow YouTuber Shane Dawson's debut short film I Hate Myselfie as Amber. She said she looked to Rachel McAdams' portrayal of Regina George in Mean Girls, while playing Amber. She has since reprised her role as Amber in I Hate Myselfie 2.
In June 2015, it was announced that Lazzarato had teamed up with singer Miley Cyrus and had joined Cyrus' Happy Hippie Foundation's Marie Claire "#InstaPride" campaign. The campaign included a series of photos and an announcement by Cyrus that she and Lazzarato were working on a secret project. The project later turned out to be a spread in American magazine Marie Claire featuring them both. Lazzarato signed a partnership with 'Too Faced Cosmetics' in which she starred in the cosmetic commercial film "Better Than Sex" which premiered on July 9, 2015. At the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards Lazzarato, along with a group of drag queens, introduced Miley Cyrus for her debut performance of Dooo It! from Cyrus's new album Miley Cyrus and her Dead Petz.
In September 2015, Lazzarato had a two-page spread in People magazine. She appeared on Entertainment Tonight as a special guest that same month. Lazzarato was featured in Kylie Jenner's app "Kylie" where she filmed several make up tip videos. On September 18, she won the Streamy Award for "Best Beauty Series". It was announced on October 7 that Lazzarato would star in Adam Lambert's video for his song "Another Lonely Night".
2016: Dubai incident
On August 9, 2016, Lazzarato was detained in the United Arab Emirates and had her passport taken by airport officials and immigration officers at the Dubai International Airport. She was denied entry in to Dubai for being a transgender woman, as the government does not recognize her gender as legitimate even though, according to Lazzarato, the gender on her passport states female and not male. The "imitation of women by men" is illegal in the UAE, and violators can face up to a year in jail. Lazzarato was released after being detained for five hours.The "#JusticeForGigi" hashtag surfaced on Twitter, with fans and supporters calling for Lazzarato's release and a reform in anti-LGBTQ laws. It was not the first time a transgender person was detained in Dubai. In 2014, two Brazilian transgender women were also detained and had their passports taken. Lazzarato, before leaving Dubai for Sweden, responded to the incident by calling for equality and legal protections for LGBTQ people.
2017–present: Continued success, ''This is Everything''
In January 2017, the documentary This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous, starring Lazzarato, directed by Barbara Kopple premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. On June 11, Gorgeous watched the documentary with Katy Perry on Perry's four-day livestream event, .In June 2017, Lazzarato was named to the Time Magazine list of the 25 most influential people on the Internet.
In 2019 Lazzarato published her memoir, titled He Said, She Said: Lessons, Stories, and Mistakes From My Transgender Journey. In October 2019 Lazzarato announced that she has a makeup collection coming out with Ipsy in November 2019. The collection has various beauty products related to makeup.
Personal life
In October 2014 Lazzarato began dating Cory Binney, the half-brother of drag queen Alaska Thunderfuck. They met at a club and started dating from then on. They were on and off and broke up in around May or June 2015 which inspired one of Lazzarato’s most viewed videos titled “Single Life which is a music video to “What the Hell” by Avril Lavigne. It is now one of her top 5 most viewed videos of all time with 7.5 million views. They got back together in July 2015 before officially breaking up in November 2015. Lazzarato, who had previously identified as bisexual, came out as lesbian in a YouTube video on September 14, 2016. Lazzarato began dating Nats Getty, an heiress and member of the Getty family, shortly after meeting her at Paris Fashion Week while working as a model for Getty's brother, August Getty. In March 2018 Getty proposed to Lazzarato at the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte in France. On July 12, 2019 Lazzarato and Getty married in a private ceremony at Rosewood Miramar Beach in Montecito, California. Guests at the wedding included Ariadne Getty, Caitlyn Jenner, Teri Hatcher, Moj Mahdara, Justin Tranter, Bonnie McKee, Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart, and Trisha Paytas. The couple were given toasts by Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, and Governor Gavin Newsom of California.Lazzarato is a practicing Roman Catholic and describes herself as religious.
Transition
Lazzarato announced that she was a transgender woman in December 2013. Since then she has undergone electrolysis, tracheal shave, hormone replacement therapy, facial feminization surgery, rhinoplasty, and breast augmentation. She legally had her name changed to Giselle Loren Lazzarato on March 8, 2014.In a September 2015 issue of People Magazine, Lazzarato credited transgender model and performing artist Amanda Lepore and her mother's death for sparking her transition.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
| I Hate Myselfie | Amber | Short film | ||
| Better Than Sex | Gigi | Short film | ||
| I Hate Myselfie 2 | Amber | Short film | ||
| 2017 | This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous | Herself | Documentary |