Lia Marie Johnson is an American actress, singer, and Internet personality known for appearing in various web series, including the Emmy-winning web series Kids React, and for her own vlogging and social media output. She is also known for her starring role in the Nickelodeon movie Terry the Tomboy and for recurring roles in AwesomenessTV's Side EffectsTV Series and My Music. In 2012 her personal YouTube channel, "Lia Marie Johnson", was reported to have received 16 million views. As of 2017, Lia's YouTube channel is reported to have surpassed 117 million views and currently maintains over 1.7 million subscribers, while her Instagram account was followed by 1.5 million followers. In a 2014 Adweek profile she was referred to as one of "10 of the biggest young stars on YouTube". In 2015 she was named one of the Top 100 YouTubers in the world.
Johnson's YouTube account was created in 2007, with videos uploaded by her mother which featured her performances at talent shows, and church recitals. After two years, Johnson began to control the output of the channel, creating content that has come to include personal commentary, sketch comedy, and musical performances. In 2010, Johnson began to work with the Fine Brothers as a recurring guest on their Kids React series. This exposure increased the traffic to her own channel and became an early source of her online fame. In the aftermath of the initial series episodes, she was surprised by the phenomenon of strangers knowing her and approaching her as fans, and remarked "I think Kids React was my very first viral video, 'cus everyone knew my name after that." In 2011, Johnson was added to the recurring cast of the spin-off series Teens React, and in 2014 was moved again to the newly established YouTubers React, which featured herself and various well known YouTube personalities. In 2014, Johnson appeared at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, and starred in Terry the Tomboy: The Movie, a spin-off film based on the eponymous character she portrays on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series, AwesomenessTV. In 2015 she covered the single "Latch" by Disclosure, singing with Alejandro Luis Manzano of Boyce Avenue, and released it on YouTube. The song was originally performed by singer Sam Smith. Johnson has also been featured on the covers of Adweek and BYou Magazine. On January 9, 2015, Johnson released her first single, "Moment Like You", along with a music video which can be found on her YouTube channel. She appeared in the music video for Post Malone's single "Go Flex", which was released on April 28, 2016. On September 28, she explained to her fans that she had signed to Capitol Records, and was continuing to work on the music album she had been recording for the previous two years. The following month she released her first single produced by Howard Benson through Capitol Records titled "DNA" which surpassed 29 million Spotify streams. On February 17, 2017 Johnson released her second single "Cold Heart Killer". The music video for the song was released on March 10, 2017. A year later, Johnson debuted her third single “Champagne” on May 17, 2018. Starting mid November of 2019, Lia teased a new project on her Instagram page, with one promotional photo being posted everyday. Seven days later, Lia announced her fourth single titled, "Moonflower," on November 23, 2019. Johnson released her fifth single, “Like a God”, on March 12, 2020. As much as her career has soared through the film and music industry, her Instagram presence has been publicly concerning as she has been accused of live streamingunder the influence of alcohol several times. Concerns have also been raised regarding the relationship between Johnson and her producer Steven Wetherbee, who has been accused of inappropriately touching Johnson without her consent. In January 2020, Wetherbee appeared on Johnson's Instagram live stream, groping an intoxicated Lia off-camera, before Wetherbee became alarmed of her audience observing this live. Johnson later stated that police had visited her. Wetherbee was then seen to take her phone and shut her stream. In response to the situation, Lia's fanbase has responded with #SaveLiaMarieJohnson in an attempt to push actions against Steven Wetherbee.
