About
Jessica Leonhardt, also known as Jessi Slaughter and formerly as KerliGirl13 on YouTube, is an 11 year old girl and fan of the band Blood on the Dance Floor whose attention-seeking online behaviors caused her to become the target of a 4chan raid, resulting in a rage-fueled and ill-advised retort from her father that became the subject of masses of image macros and videos.
What Happened
The situation began on StickyDrama, a Stickam tabloid consisting of self-submitted stories from the site’s community, consisting mostly of rumors and gossip written by and about tweens.
On July 10th, StickyDrama user tdomf_e8e13 posted an accusation that Blood on the Dancefloor’s Dahvie Vanity was supposedly involved with Jessi:
BOTDF lead singer Dahvie Vanity is at it again! He was apparently having a “friend with benefits” type of relationship with self-proclamed “scene queen” Jessi Slaughter who is only 11! … I found this pic of the two of them at the may 2nd concert in Orlando.
…I have also talked to other people who say that they did fuck last sumer when she was 10. I cannot believe that Dahvie has sunk to this level! I don’t know whether this rumor is true, but if it is he’s disgusting!
[note: bold added for emphasis]
On July 12th, Jessi posted a response on Stickydrama, denying the claims.
Muh Mom Has Read This And Is Talking To Dahvie On The Fone Right Nao!
So I Would Shut Your Mouths If I Were You!
I Have Muh Life And Dahvie Has His.
We Are Just Friends!
Original video
Jessi Slaughter was, at this point, something of a micro-celeb on StickyDrama, and had been posting questionable images and videos on her Myspace, YouTube, and other social networking profiles.
But one video in particular caught the attention of 4chan’s /b/:
Trolling
The effects of her videos being posted to /b/ and various Tumblr blogs led to Anonymous trolling her with taunts of her being stupid and ugly. She replied with comebacks that had little effect on the trollers.
Anonymous soon found out all of her personal information (phone number, address, Twitter, etc.) From here, the attacks escalated. The trolls managed to get her email by sending her friend requests on Facebook with unusual names like “I.P. Freely.” Despite this, Jessi continued, making a Tumblr account, posting pictures to continue taunting the trolls.
Jessi is seen answering the phone for the prank call above in this Stickam video. She is also quoted as saying “Any type of fame, I’ll take.” at the beginning.:
Jessi’s Father
When Jessi made this tearful response video, her father came into the shot, delivering an angry rant to YouTube. Unwittingly, he delivered a few phrases that soon become highly-quoted in image macros and other articles including “You done goofed,” “backtraced,” “cyberpolice,” and “consequences will never be the same.”
Spread
Sometime in the afternoon of July 16, 2010, baseless rumors of “Jessi Slaughter Given PCP by Her Father” began to rise rapidly on YouTube and Google Trends. The malicious hoax was soon picked up by social bookmarking services and popular blogs, who eventually speculated 4chan users for propagating the disinformation.
- Officer Anonymous prank calls Jessi’s parents. (7/15)
- The Dailywh.at’s ‘Internet Hate Machine Victim of the Day’. (7/16)
- BuzzFeed posts ‘You Dun Goofed’. (7/16)
- becauseibacktracedit.com.
- Boingboing’s 4chan “backtraced,” reported to “cyberpolice” by mustachioed mad dad(7/16)
- San Francisco Chronicles Blog reported on the spread of Jessi Slaughter PCP hoax.
- Gawker’s How the Internet Beat Up an 11-Year-Old Girl
Police Investigation
Information in this section is being updated as it comes in.
According to Jessi’s mom, Dianne Leonheardt, in addition to the prank calls placed after her phone number was spread on the internet, the family began receiving death threats. Because of this, Gawker reported on the evening of July 18th that Jessi had been placed under police protection soon after the video went viral. The local sheriff has begun a criminal investigation into this calls and a court has ordered her to stay off the internet until at least July 21st. In addition, the family is currently under constant police surveillance.
Several hours later, Gawker updated their article to note that a spokeswoman from the Marion County, Florida sheriff’s department stated that, while there is a current investigation involving an eleven year old girl, they are looking into the existence of pornographic pictures of her and the prank calls referencing them. The spokeswoman was also quoted as saying “There have been no death threats or threats of harm in any way.”
The latest footage allegedly shows a heated argument between Jessi and her dad, recorded by another Tinychat user who was logged in the chat room at the time [section to be updated]:
4chan vs. Gawker
Included in Adrian Chen’s series of articles about the situation was one entitled The Art of Trolling: Inside a 4chan Smear Campaign. After outlining 4chan’s plan of attack against Dahvie Vanity with screenshots and links, Chen linked to a chatroom, daring readers to troll it. Enraged, /b/ set out to take down Gawker’s main servers around noon on July 19th. When the site did not go down, an attack against Adrian Chen was launched. Gawker posted about the entire plot, stating that they were not afraid.
Coverage of the attempt to take down Gawker appeared on the Village Voice and New York Magazine’s Daily Intel.
Jessi’s Mother Speaks
On July 20th, Momlogic.com interviewed Jessi’s mother; revealing her own lack of parental supervision.
Excerpt:
ml: Were you aware that your daughter had been making and posting these videos online?
DL: Jessica has a webcam and a computer. All of her friends have webcams, too, so they video chat with each other. I knew she’d made a video to apply for “America’s Got Talent.” She sings and sent an audition video in. I had no idea she was making other videos. I have seen her chatting with her friends, but not making videos.
ml: When did you find out about the videos, and what was your reaction?
DL: The officers had said there were videos, but Jess denied making them. Then my mother-in-law called and said there were videos. But I haven’t watched them. I can’t be in the room 24/7. We tried to talk to Jess last night, but she got very upset all over again. I am trying to get her back to normal. It’s taken a very emotional toll on her. I don’t know if she made these videos or not, but she says she didn’t. Right now, I am trying to figure out what’s real and what’s not. This has been very difficult to deal with.
Jessi on Good Morning America
On July 22nd Jessi appeared on Good Morning America to discuss how the reaction to her videos has changed her life and revealed she would begin counseling. (Gawker)
4chan prepared for a mention from the show with Operation /b/ipolar, and played the Good Morning America theme in the background of the /b/ board with a stickied thread featuring this image:
That day “4chan is family oriented” became a trending search on Google Insights.
Jessi Returns 8/5/2010
On August 5th, 2010 Jessi uploaded a new video to YouTuber user KelcieKittyKat’s channel where she explains that she is starting a clothing line:
Parodies
On YouTube, there have been many remixes, spoofs, re-enactments, and other commentary.
Jessi’s favorite band ‘Blood on the Dance Floor’:
Trolling Tinychat with her videos
On July 23, John Mayer admitted he “done goofed” live on the Today show: