Miss Benny (born Ben J. Pierce on February 19, 1999) is an American actress, singer and

YouTuber A YouTuber is an online personality and/or influencer who produces videos on the video-sharing platform YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006. Influence Influe ...

Early life

Benny was born on February 19, 1999, and grew up in

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, United States. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the 27th-most populous city in Texas, the 197th-most populous city in the United States, and the 12th-most populous ...

. She lived as a closeted teenager before coming out. As she began posting on YouTube, she found an outlet with similar individuals in the online community. She befriended fellow YouTube artists

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor and YouTuber. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with EMI Australia in 2013 and released his thi ...

and

Tyler Oakley Mathew Tyler Oakley (born March 22, 1989) is an American YouTuber, actor, activist and author. Much of Oakley's activism has been dedicated to LGBT youth, LGBT rights, as well as social issues including health care, education, and the preventio ...

Career

Benny began posting on YouTube using various channels when she was 11 years old in 2010 as a way to feel less isolated and lonely. In 2012, she began posting under the YouTube channel, KidPOV. She began posting under her own name in 2016. She frequently discusses gender and identity. Benny has done makeup tutorials and collaborated with other media personalities including Tyler Oakley and

James Charles James Charles Dickinson (born May 23, 1999) is an American beauty YouTuber and makeup artist. While working as a local makeup artist in his hometown of Bethlehem, New York, Charles started a YouTube channel, where he posts makeup tutorials. ...

. Her YouTube channel also includes humorous skits.

Music

In 2014, Benny released the song "Little Game". She wrote the lyrics and directed and produced the music video with assistance from Tumi Mphahlele. The song and video rebuff forcing children into traditional

gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...

s. In 2016, Benny was cast as Smiley in season 2 of

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's ''Guidance''. Also in 2016, Benny released the single "Boys Will Be Boys", which is about

toxic masculinity Toxic masculinity is a set of certain male behaviors associated with harm to society and men themselves. Traditional stereotypes of men as socially dominant, along with related traits such as misogyny and homophobia, can be considered "toxic" d ...

. It features melodic tones, smooth vocals, and drum beats. Music critic Nic Kelly reviewed the song positively, describing its style as somewhere between

Odesza Odesza (; stylized as ODESZA) is an American electronic music duo originating from Bellingham, Washington. It consists of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight, known individually as Catacombkid and BeachesBeaches. They formed in 2012, shortly bef ...

and Drumaq. The song's music video was filmed and edited by YouTuber and filmmaker Chase vs Everything, and featured Kalama Epstein. In 2017, Benny released the R&B single "Never Apart". She directed the video which was shot by Chase vs Everything.

Style

Benny names Bob Mizer as one of her aesthetic influences. She strives to create music that is glittery synth-pop, bubbly, and "very gay and very queer." Benny listens to pop musicians

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...

and Carly Rae Jepsen. She also listens to rap and hip hop.

Acting

In 2018, Benny appeared in the sitcom '' Fuller House'' as Casey, the show's first openly gay character. In 2023, she indirectly claimed in a

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version o ...

video that ''Fuller House'' star Candace Cameron Bure had campaigned for her character's removal from the show due to her character's queer identity. Bure denied the claims. She was cast in the series ''Reverie'' in 2019. In 2019, she was cast as the lead for

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

pilot '' Glamorous'' playing Marco, an "ambitious and creative gender-nonconforming teenager who uses makeup and fashion to let his queer self bloom." The show was then dropped and picked up by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

after the coronavirus pandemic. It premiered June 22, 2023. In an essay published in ''Time'' magazine, Benny revealed that the character will transition, alongside her own transition in real life. Benny has been the voice of Angel in ''

Craig of the Creek ''Craig of the Creek'' is an American animated television series created by Matt Burnett and Ben Levin for Cartoon Network. The show's pilot episode debuted directly on the official app on December 1, 2017. The series premiered online on February ...

'' since season 4.

Personal life

Benny lives in

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, California. Benny is a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

woman. She uses she/her pronouns. She has three older siblings who assist with aspects of video production, including crafting props and designing hair and makeup.

Discography

Singles

* "Little Game" (2014) * "Boys Will Be Boys" (2016) * "Never Apart" (2017) * "Rendezvous" (2019) * "Every Boy" (2019) * "That's My Man" (2019) * "One Damn Good Mistake" (2019) * "Break Away" (2023)

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, Ben J. 1999 births Living people 21st-century American LGBT people 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers American child singers American LGBT singers American queer actresses American transgender actresses American women singer-songwriters Beauty and makeup YouTubers LGBT people from Texas LGBT YouTubers Music YouTubers Musicians from Dallas Queer musicians Singer-songwriters from Texas Transgender singers Transgender women musicians YouTube channels launched in 2011 YouTubers from Dallas