Very Demure, Another GoFundMe Fiasco: Jools Lebron Asked Her Followers to Fund Her Surgery
Two years ago Jools Lebron’s “very demure” video made her one of the most-watched people on the internet. When she asked those same followers to help fix the teeth addiction destroyed, a lot of them decided she hadn’t earned the ask.
Jools Lebron says addiction destroyed her teeth so badly that a dentist recommended removing them all and replacing them in a $45,000 procedure.
Lebron went viral in 2024 after popularizing “very demure” in a video that drew 58 million views. The fame brought her two million followers, financial stability and access to gender-affirming healthcare. But it also, she said in a March video, “let me fall down a slope of insobriety that ruined my life.”
The GoFundMe divided people almost immediately. Some questioned why 9-to-5 workers should donate to an influencer with more than two million followers. Others pointed out that plenty of people with regular jobs still lack dental insurance. Lebron eventually deleted the video.
Other celebrity GoFundMes have drawn the same backlash. Kylie Jenner was criticized in 2021 for asking followers to contribute to her makeup artist’s medical bills after donating $5,000 herself. Megan Fox faced similar criticism in 2023 after sharing a fundraiser for her nail technician’s father. Earlier this year, Mandy Moore told critics to “kindly F OFF” after promoting a GoFundMe for her brother- and sister-in-law, who lost their home in the Eaton Fire. The pattern is consistent: the ask quickly becomes the story.
“I don’t want to ask my community for help, but I feel like I have no other choice at this point,” Lebron said. “I would love to go get a regular job, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think that’s going to help my situation.”
On Thursday, she said she had collapsed at an airport after experiencing stress and chest pain. She later reassured followers that she was OK: “The teeth are getting done, and the girls are talking about me. … I kinda think it’ll be okay.”
Lebron is now stepping back from TikTok and moving to Twitch. “I think that I am fooling myself that this algorithm will ever favor me,” she wrote, adding that continuing to chase the momentum of “Very Demure” is no longer healthy for her. “It’s time.”
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