Jenna Nicole Mourey, better known by her pseudonym Jenna Marbles, is an American YouTube personality, vlogger, comedian, and actress. As of September 2019, her channel has approximately 3.3 billion video views and 20 million subscribers, and is the 86th most subscribed channel on YouTube and eighth-most-popular channel operated by a woman. Mourey is the first social media star to have a wax figure displayed at Madame Tussauds Museum in New York City.
In the summer of 2010, Mourey was sharing a three-bedroom apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She paid $800 rent by working various jobs, including bartending, working at a tanning salon, blogging, and go-go dancing at nightclubs. That year, Marbles started her career with Barstool Sports, where she wrote for their female-oriented site StoolLaLa. She left the publication in 2011.
YouTube
Mourey uploads a new video to her YouTube channel every Wednesday or Thursday. One video, released in 2010 and titled, "How To Trick People Into Thinking You're Good Looking", was viewed over 5.3 million times in its first week. Her video, "How To Avoid Talking To People You Don't Want To Talk To", was featured in The New York Times and ABC News in August 2011. In the video, she said, "I'm sick and tired of guys thinking that just because I showed up at a club or a dance or a bar, that I want to have their genitalia touching my backside"; the video had approximately 36.2 million views as of March 2018. The pseudonym "Jenna Marbles" comes from her mother's complaint that "Mourey", their legal surname, pulled up only Jenna's videos on Google. Jenna's mother was unemployed when Jenna's first video went viral and was concerned that the content might put off potential employers. The name "Marbles" comes from her dog "Mr. Marbles"., Marbles's YouTube channel had about 19 million subscribers and 2.9 billion video views. Mourey appeared as Eve in Epic Rap Battles of History, season 2 episode 13, "Adam vs. Eve". She played a banana in The Annoying Orange episode "Fake n' Bacon". She played Miley Cyrus in a "Wrecking Ball"-inspired segment of YouTube Rewind 2013. On January 30, 2014, she appeared in season four of Ridiculousness. Mourey appeared as herself in . In 2015, Mourey unveiled a wax figure of herself at Madame Tussauds New York. She was the first ever YouTube star to be immortalized there, where hers is the first selfie-taking wax figure. Mourey does a weekly podcast with her boyfriend Julien Solomita, The Jenna Julien Podcast. Topics include stories of growing up, conspiracy theories, and YouTubers. They sometimes feature other YouTubers as guests, including Shane Dawson. On June 25, 2020, Mourey uploaded a YouTube video, in which she apologized for past offensive comments and blackface, and stated that she would be taking an indefinite hiatus from her YouTube channel. On June 26, 2020, Mourey's boyfriend Julien Solomita confirmed via Twitter that he would be taking a break from his own channel, and that the couple's joint podcast and Twitch streams would be put on indefinite hiatus.
Other ventures
Mourey released a brand of dog toys called Kermie Worm & Mr. Marbles. The toys' appearances are based upon her dogs. She has also created items with some of her most memorable quotes printed on them, including "What are this?" and "Team legs!". Mourey also hosts a weekly pop countdown on SiriusXM Hits 1, "YouTube 15". In 2016, Mourey became an executive producer for Maximum Ride, a film based on James Patterson's series of novels of the same name.
Personal life
Mourey has been in a relationship with YouTube creator Julien Solomita since 2013. In 2015, Mourey became a vegan.
