Eugenia Cooney is an American internet influencer who has amassed a following of over 2 million followers on YouTube, Instagram, Twitch and other social media platforms. Eugenia Cooney has a vast audience with an incredibly wide reach. She has amassed over 235.4 million views.

Eugenia has been the subject of public speculation over the years for one very apparent reason: that Eugenia is incredibly underweight and visibly suffering with an eating disorder.

Please be advised that the following content contains triggering information regarding weight, BMI and appearance.

In February 2019, Eugenia was assessed by medical professionals in regards to her low body weight and put on an involuntary treatment order or a 5150 - a 72 hour psychiatric hold - for assessment of her mental and physical health. Eugenia was subsequently hospitalised for what many speculate to be Anorexia Nervosa, a deadly eating disorder with the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. 

In July of 2019 Eugenia returned to the public eye under the guise of a Shane Dawson ‘documentary’. Shane Dawson is a controversial YouTuber with over 22.4 million followers on his platforms. In this hour long ‘documentary’ - The Return of Eugenia Cooney - Eugenia speaks, vaguely, about her struggles with an eating disorder, however does not divulge which eating disorder she suffers from, nor does she encourage others to get help. This video has been viewed 31.9 million times as of the 20th December 2020. In the first 10 minutes of the documentary, Shane Dawson says, “this, to me, feels like the most important thing I’ve ever done”.

Since July of 2019 there has been a steady decline in Eugenia’s physical appearance. Eugenia has stated that she weighs 38.8kg/84lbs at a height of 170cm tall or 5’7. Using the Body Mass Index scale, that gives Eugenia an estimated BMI of 13.1. According to the Body Mass Index scale, a score of anything below 18 is considered to be underweight. Given this information it is clear that Eugenia is suffering from a life threatening eating disorder and, at this time, is denying that she needs any help.

Eugenia is a prominent Twitch streamer with 100,000 followers. From an outside perspective it seems that Eugenia spends anywhere between 4-6 hours per day live streaming to this audience. During these live streams she does not eat, she does not drink and she vehemently denies any form of problem. When Eugenia is confronted about her eating disorder she refers to the people doing so as ‘haters’.

There has been an outcry of sympathy for Eugenia over the period of 2018-2020 with many prominent influencers speaking out about her condition. It is obvious that Eugenia Cooney is suffering from a deadly eating disorder. It is the opinion of many that the only way for Eugenia to get help is to be removed from her public platforms, specifically YouTube, Twitch, Twitter and Instagram. Until Eugenia is willing to confront her eating disorder head on it is irresponsible and selfish to continue uploading and streaming to an audience of over 2 million viewers, most of whom are young and impressionable. 

Eugenia has become a prominent ‘pro-ana’ figure amongst her younger audience and other people suffering with eating disorders. Many people believe that Eugenia should not be able to live stream or upload to YouTube or Instagram while she is considerably underweight. Eugenia is, at the end of the day, an influencer, and we ask that you think about the influence she is currently having on the world, given the current state of her health.

Global studies have shown that 9% of the population suffers from an eating disorder. Eating disorders are often lifelong battles that result in hospitalisation and death. Aside from the concern that many have for Eugenia, that she may lose her life in the near future, it is also important to consider the impact that her illness is having on her audience. It is saddening to know that many young people look up to Eugenia and wish to look as she does: emaciated.

Many individuals have tried to reach out to Eugenia regarding her eating disorder and the influence she has over her audience, however their concerns have been ignored. Eugenia is unwilling to take accountability for her influence and actions. Until Eugenia engages in treatment and is willing to talk about her experience with an eating disorder, it is fair to say that she will continue to waste away in front of millions of people. These people are concerned for her health and safety, many of them reaching out to local authorities in her area. Unfortunately there is nothing that we, as outsiders, can do to help Eugenia. 

It is for this reason that we ask YouTube, Twitch, Twitter and Instagram to step in and to take an active role in temporarily removing Eugenia from said platforms while she receives the help that she so desperately needs. Many people are afraid that Eugenia will pass away before she is able to receive treatment. By removing Eugenia from these platforms, she will no longer be bombarded with comments regarding her low weight, which only seem to encourage her eating disorder.

This situation is more than a few concerned fans who are worried about Eugenia. While we are worried about her, we are also concerned about the impact that Eugenia is having on her audience and the detrimental effects of her content. At the end of the day, Eugenia is an influencer, and to have influence is to have, ‘the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone or something, or the effect itself.’

YouTube states in its Terms of Service that, ‘YouTube doesn't allow content that encourages dangerous or illegal activities that risk serious physical harm or death’. If this is the case, then it is reasonable to ask YouTube to remove Eugenias content from their platform. Similarly, Twitch’s Terms of Service state that, ‘any content or activity that disrupts, interrupts, harms, or otherwise violates the integrity of Twitch services or another user's experience or devices is prohibited’.

Similarly, Instagram have policies in place to protect their audiences from harmful content. At this point in time, Eugenia has 769,000 followers on Instagram. I can tell you, from personal experience, that reporting her content does not do a thing. When reporting Eugenia’s content for being inappropriate, due to self harm/injury or eating disorders, her posts are manually reviewed. Unfortunately the people reviewing her content do not see an issue with posting skeletal images to hundreds and thousands of people, as they deem the content to be “appropriate”, with Instagram stating that the content, “likely doesn’t go against our Community Guidelines”.

This petition has been written by a person who has recovered from Anorexia Nervosa. My battle with Anorexia Nervosa began at the age of 12 and ended at the age of 24, after numerous inpatient stays in the Eating Disorders Program. To give you some context as to why I am so concerned about Eugenia and her content, specifically the impact that it is having on her audience, I would like to tell you a personal story. In 2011-2013 I had a mere 4000 followers on Instagram. During this time I posted images of myself at an extremely unhealthy weight and with a naso-gastric feeding tube in.

At the time I did not realise the impact that I was having on my followers. It came to my attention years later that young teenagers had been following me and had looked up to me as a ‘pro-ana’ figure. By posting images of myself while I was underweight and with a naso-gastric feeding tube in, I influenced a group of people to pursue unhealthy beauty standards. I consider the fact that I had a small audience of only 4000 followers aka 0.20% of Eugenia’s audience and that with my small audience I was still able to affect so many people in such a negative way. Given the size of Eugenias audience it is reasonable to say that hundreds, if not thousands of young women and men are being negatively influenced by her content.

If you or someone that you know is struggling with an eating disorder please reach out to a loved one or someone that you trust.

Alternatively you can contact the following support services:
National Eating Disorders Foundation - United States of America
Toll-Free Phone Number: 1800 931 2237
Hours: 9:00 AM-9:00 PM (ET) Mon-Thurs; and 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (ET) Fri
For 24/7 crisis support, text 'NEDA' to 741741

The Butterfly Foundation - Australia
Toll-Free Phone Number: 1800 334 673
The Butterfly Foundation also offer free and and confidential support via online chat and email.

Beat Eating Disorders - United Kingdom
Helpline: 0808 801 0677
Student line: 0808 801 0811
Youthline: 0808 801 0711
Beat are open 365 days a year from 9am–8pm during the week, and 4pm–8pm on weekends and bank holidays. They also offer online chat support here.

National Eating Disorder Information Centre - Canada
Toll-Free Phone Number: 416 340 4156
You can also email NEDIC.

For a worldwide list of eating disorder advocacy organisations please click here. This resource is a comprehensive guide to eating disorder support services across the globe.

General Eating Disorder Statistics
- Eating disorders affect at least 9% of the population worldwide.
- 9% of the U.S. population, or 28.8 million Americans, will have an eating disorder in their lifetime.
- Less than 6% of people with eating disorders are medically diagnosed as “underweight.”
- 28-74% of risk for eating disorders is through genetic heritability.
- Eating disorders are among the deadliest mental illnesses, second only to opioid overdose.
- 10,200 deaths each year are the direct result of an eating disorder—that’s one death every 52 minutes.
- About 26% of people with eating disorders attempt suicide.
- The economic cost of eating disorders is $64.7 billion every year.
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