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Where Are They Now? Here's What Laina Morris, Know For Her 'Overly Attached Girlfriend' Meme, Has Been Doing Since She Quit YouTube
The internet moves fast, but some faces are impossible to forget.
In 2012, Laina Morris uploaded a joke entry for a Justin Bieber song contest and then watched as a single screenshot from her video took on a life of its own.
Her wide-eyed, unsettlingly yet devoted stare turned her into the infamous "Overly Attached Girlfriend" meme, which became an instant classic as it was plastered across Reddit, Twitter and beyond throughout the 2010s.
Morris leaned into her unexpected fame, turning her meme status into a full-fledged YouTube career. But after years in the spotlight, she made an abrupt exit, citing struggles with mental health and the pressures of online notoriety.
While she may have stepped back from YouTube, she never completely disappeared. These days, she’s still online, just in a different way.
So, what happened to the internet’s most infamous clingy girlfriend? Let’s find out.
Who Is Laina Morris and What Is She Best Known For?
Laina Morris is a Texas native who had no real aspirations toward internet fame until she decided to participate in a fan contest hosted by Justin Beiber in 2012.
Beiber, a teenage heartthrob who got his start on YouTube years prior, had just launched a contest asking his fans to create their own version of his song "Boyfriend."
Morris may have been a few years older than JB, but she jumped at the opportunity to post a tongue-in-cheek parody of his track posing as a crazed fangirl on June 6th, 2012.
The video was titled, "JB Fanvideo," and opened with her staring wide-eyed, teeth gleaming, right into the camera.
You first hear the snap and whistle of Beiber's song "Boyfriend" start-up in the background before Morris launches into a hilarious song sung from the perspective of an aggressively possessive girlfriend. "I wouldn't call it jealousy I'm just looking out for you! Reading all your texts and watching everything you do."
The video was funny enough in its own right, but it wasn't until a single screenshot from her performance was plucked from the video and turned into an Advice Animals style meme did people come to know who "Overly Attacked Girlfriend" really was. Thus, a new meme was born.
How Did the 'Overly Attached Girlfriend' Meme Go Viral?
Reddit picked up the "Overly Attached Girlfriend" meme the day after Laina Morris first posted it online, using the image of her "creepy" smile and slapping it onto an endless array of captions detailing obsessive, possessive or just plain unhinged relationship behaviors.
The meme saw many iterations appear almost instantly after the video picked up traction in mid-2012, with Morris's face popping up on Tumblr and Facebook shortly after as well.
Meanwhile, Morris's original video racked up millions of views. Many internet users viewed the video as social satire about the throngs of fangirls whose lives either revolved around Beiber or Twilight.
The meme was also covered in multiple internet news outlets, including BuzzFeed, Jezebel and the Daily Dot, each delving into Morris's instant meme power and dissecting the very nature of viral fame.
Overly Attached Girlfriend was certified viral within the week, but no one even knew her full name yet.
Morris, who had no initial intentions of internet fame, leaned into the moment, launching a YouTube channel on which she continued to play up the character while showcasing her natural comedic talent.
How Did Laina Morris Capitalize On Her Viral Fame?
Rather than retreat from the limelight, Laina Morris embraced it. She continued uploading videos, expanding beyond OAG into song parodies and sketch comedy, maintaining the signature "creepy" grin that made her famous.
On June 18th, 2012, about a week after her initial JB clip, Morris posted a video called, "CRJ Fanvideo," which featured a parody of Carly Rae Jepsen's notorious song "Call Me Maybe."
The video shows Morris riffing on the song's instrumental track to create another stalker anthem, featuring lyrics like "I know you know who I am, I saw you through your webcam."
Morris was a smart early internet celebrity and she knew how to capitalize on her fame. In addition to rolling out a slew of "Overly Attached" parody songs, Laina also collaborated with other famous YouTubers like Jimmy Tatro, who went on to become a successful Hollywood actor in his own right.
Like other early meme legends, Morris also made bank by starring in a number of gimmicky ads, like the 2012 "Overly Attached Computer" Samsung commercial.
But Morris's fame wasn't just digital. In 2013, Morris flew to Singapore for the Social Star Awards, where she won a staring contest against none other than actress Jessica Alba, arguably the perfect real-world feat for the internet’s most famous wide-eyed meme.
Why Did 'Overly Attached Girlfriend' Quit YouTube, And How Did Becoming A Meme Affect Her Life?
By 2019, Morris had largely stepped away from content creation. In a farewell video, she opened up about struggling with anxiety and depression, explaining that while YouTube had once been fun, it had become a source of stress.
Having only posted one video over the past two years, she formally announced her departure, prioritizing her mental health over online fame.
That said, she never completely vanished. In 2022, she briefly returned to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Overly Attached Girlfriend meme, reflecting on her bizarre and surreal experience with viral internet fame.
Since her exit from YouTube and ascension into meme status alongside the likes of Tay Zonday and Bad Luck Brian, Morris has spoken very candidly about the lengths she went to capitalize on her virality and how her life was affected by her fame.
In the December 2024 episode of the "Assumptions" YouTube series, hosted by Smosh co-founder Anthony Padilla, Morris talked about how awkward it was to date new people with the "Overly Attached Girlfriend" tag.
She also shared an anecdote about how one particularly rude date even started texting his friends and Googling her name mid-dinner.
Like many former meme legends, Morris also found a way to cash in on her internet legacy. In April 2021, she sold an NFT of the original Overly Attached Girlfriend meme for 200 ETH, which at the time was worth around $411,000, turning a joke submission to a Justin Bieber contest into an incredibly lucrative moment nearly a decade down the line.
Where Can I Find Laina Morris On The Internet Today?
Laina Morris may have left YouTube, but she didn’t leave the internet. She remains active on Instagram and TikTok still where she posts songs and sketches that stay true to her off-the-cuff irreverent style of humor.
Here's a clip of her from October 2024 in which she disses the Cybertruck while doing a callback to one of her own videos. Remember when we said she still drives a Kia Soul? Here's proof.
Morris also doesn't shy away from referencing the brand of "creepy" humor that first made her famous. Here's a clip of her doing her signature wide-eyed stare while joking about how "Overly Attached" the song "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish is.
Even though Morris mostly goes by "Laina" online these days, internet users are constantly recognizing her and posing Overly Attached Girlfriend memes in her comment sections.
It's safe to say that Laina Morris doesn't really seem to mind and that she embraces her meme past. You can find her on Instagram at @Laina and on Twitter / X at @laina622.
For the full history of Overly Attached Girlfriend, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information. To see the rest of our "Where Are They Now" series, you can find them all here. Stay tuned for next week's editorial!
