I Accidentally Became A Meme: Side-Eyeing Chloe
- Hi I'm Katie, I'm Chloe's mom.
- I'm Chloe.
I accidentally became a meme.
And this is that story.
- Before the viral sensations it was a normal,
every day family life.
Breakfast, TV, cartoons, trips.
In 2010, it, we did not have a YouTube account.
We didn't have any social media except for Facebook.
And I knew I wanted to surprise Lily
with a trip to Disneyland.
And my family was all over the country.
So I'm like, you know, I'll post it on YouTube
so they can see it.
- Hey Lily. - What?
- [Katie] Do you wanna open a birthday present early?
Lily was five turning six.
And Chloe was only a few months old,
she was just a baby.
I made the video, saw her reaction,
and I just loved it.
- I don't really remember that much from my Disneyland trip.
- I did not think for one second that it would go viral.
It just, that didn't even cross my mind.
(dramatic action music)
I remember feeling like a chicken with my head cut off
because there were so many different people reaching out
from all over and
I remember crying myself to sleep one of the nights
'cause I was so overwhelmed.
Because one minute, your child is a normal child,
and the next minute, half the world knows who she is.
It was pretty insane.
But it was amazing.
We had nothing but a positive experience from it.
So I'm like, it's been two years, you know,
I really didn't think we'd be able to get her again.
Because, I mean she's known for being surprised and,
but we got here, again.
And she was crying.
Yes honey. - (crying) Oh my God.
- (crying) Oh my God. - Oh honey.
We're going again!
So Chloe didn't even come into my like mindset
at that point, with that second video.
This time, Chloe made the face.
- (crying) Oh my gosh.
- [Katie] Chloe we're going to Disneyland!
Which she always made, every day, it was nothing new.
So when I panned over and she made the face,
I didn't think anything of it.
- I remember sitting in the car.
- And making that face?
- Uh huh.
- You do remember making that face? (laughs)
I recorded it that day, uploaded it that day.
We went straight to Disneyland.
And it was, it was insane.
(dramatic action music)
It was, it really affected our trip
because my phone was ringing off the hook, so.
And I wanna wonder, how did they get ahold of me?
That's my question.
Where did they get my number?
When we go to Disneyland,
that's where we get recognized the most.
And it, I can just hear the screaming coming out
of (laughs) nowhere and people just wanna see her
and meet her and talk to her and,
she's always overwhelmed and she's always just like,
making the face probably.
- People were like running up past us, they're like,
oh my gosh, I love that meme.
And then my mom's like, that's her,
and she's like, they're like.
And then just ran over like can I have a picture please!
- I'm like, she's right here.
And they're like, oh my gosh.
She just wants to do Disneyland, you know?
But she's really sweet and the people are so sweet
that we meet.
I feel like the second time around,
social media had expanded a lot in those two years.
It was actually the Buzzfeed article that said
the patron saint of Tumblr is Chloe.
And I'm like, what is a Tumblr?
I had to really get familiar with Tumblr
because people were sending me
the weirdest things I've ever seen.
I remember the first time I showed her
was something from Tumblr.
And she was so weirded out.
Because I was just scrolling,
and it was just Chloe
on Nicki Minaj.
Chloe's face on Miley Cyrus in the wrecking ball,
Chloe's face is the wrecking ball.
Chloe's face on Beyonce's face
dancing in Drunk In Love video.
Like, I had, me as a mom had to get in
and see what all these kids were doing.
And I'd show Chloe and she would be like,
Mom that's not me!
And so I feel like, it hasn't really clicked
until the last like three years.
When she hit like five and six where she's like oh wow.
And people were noticing her,
and we'd go to McDonald's and people were noticing.
Just her average, every day life started to change.
- I asked my friends if they like memes
and then they're like, oh yeah I love memes.
And like the girl with the side eye face.
And I was like yeah, that's me, and they're like.
Stop!
And I'm like yeah,
you didn't know I had - I didn't know that.
- A YouTube channel?
And they're just like.
- Just from this point on, it's been like a dream.
We've been able to do so many things.
We've been to Brazil, where else have we been?
- Mexico. - Mexico.
Just so many great places.
- The time that we went to Brazil was super fun,
we did lots of fun things.
We met this guy and he was like doing magic tricks with us
and like, oh yeah we went to see Google
and that was fun.
And I got to sign a picture of me.
- [Katie] Oh yeah the elevator.
- Oh yeah, the elevator.
It's my meme on the elevator.
I went, didn't we go on that elevator?
- Yeah, we had to ride that elevator like 20 times.
- It was super fun too.
- Yeah and she had billboards all over Sao Paulo,
so we'd just drive around and there's my child
on a billboard.
I was just blown away.
- [Chloe] Disney invited us to a Wreck-It Ralph premiere.
And we went, and we walked the red carpet,
and like we took pictures and stuff.
And we saw the movie, it was so good.
And like we got to meet Vanellope, Wreck-It Ralph,
and like all the Disney princesses and stuff.
- Things come in ebbs and flows,
sometimes we'll have a really awesome year.
We'd worked with some other really fun companies.
And then the last few months, there's nothing.
And we're okay with that.
There's no, you know,
trying to make this what it isn't.
So we have average day,
we have movie nights, family nights,
Disneyland trips, and when,
if we get the amazing opportunity to do these crazy things,
I always tell my girls, stop and look around.
See where you are.
This is not a normal life,
so really enjoy it in the moment.
If I could go back, I probably would not change anything.
Because things have been such,
it's been such a great experience.
I feel like nothing could be changed.
Chloe has fun, Lily has fun, we laugh, we joke.
There's one thing that I've learned.
You cannot control it.
Once it's out, it's out.
And you're never gonna get it back.
I think the best thing I can say is just let it go.
- Just be yourself.
Like say hi to people, that's what I do.
When I'm famous somewhere I just walk around
and say hi and like, stuff like that.
- A lot of people wanna parent-shame me
because, I can't believe you put her video on,
I had no idea this would happen.
I didn't plan for it to happen.
I definitely didn't even plan for Chloe to become a meme.
And it happened.
So the best thing, the best advice you can do,
just have fun with it.
It won't last forever.
She'll always be the side eye but she's growing up
and becoming older.
I think sometimes people forget,
I think with all celebrities, big and small,
is that Chloe is just, her face is just a picture.
It's a second in time.
She is a person.
- I'm eight and I like playing
with my best friend.
And my mom's signing me up
for soccer with my best friend.
And that's pretty much all.
- She's not just a buck-toothed side eye.
Although she does it a lot.
She's a real little girl
and this has been just the funnest thing ever.
So I'm Katie, Chloe's mom.
- And I'm Chloe.
And we'll see you around the internet.
- [Katie and Chloe] Bye!
(mellow pop music)
