An investigation into “Gorilla Glue Girl” Tessica Brown’s GoFundMe is now complete, meaning more than $20,000 crowdfunded by the public is being released to the viral TikToker.
On Feb. 17 Brown told the New York Post that she was unable to withdraw the donated funds after multiple people claimed her cemented Gorilla Glue hair ordeal was a hoax to gain notoriety and money.
“They won’t even release it to me because that many people have called and said it was a fraudulent account,” she told the Post.
The account was launched on Feb. 7 and in just a week thousands of people donated funds to the sum of $23,893. However, less than 24 hours after the fraud investigation was launched a GoFundMe representative reached out to Brown to rectify the issue.
“Prior to the withdrawal, we asked that she clearly state how she intends to use the funds,” said the organization to TMZ. Brown says the page updates have been made, but at the time of this report the page does not yet reflect the changes.
This ordeal began some time during the month of March after Brown made the disastrous decision to use the spray adhesive on her sleek ponytail. After a month of relentless attempts to wash the product out of her hair she decided to share the fiasco with the world by posting videos to TikTok.
She quickly became an overnight sensation as social media questioned the validity of the ordeal, and others watched to see if Brown would reach a resolution that involved salvaging some of her hair. The latter fortunately was the Louisiana native’s reality.
L.A.-based plastic surgeon Michael K. Obeng offered to remove the adhesive free of charge after seeing Brown’s trip to a hospital and attempts to use rubbing alcohol, acetone and other suggested remedies were unsuccessful.
The procedure’s estimated cost is just under $13,000. However, given that her GoFundMe was intended to cover the cost of her medical needs, Brown announced she would donate all the funds.
“I’m like, ‘We can donate to Dr. Obeng’ … and the rest of that, I’m going to donate it to three families in St. Bernard Parish,” Brown said to the Post.
In total, Dr. Obeng’s Restore Worldwide foundation, which the Ghanaian native started to provide reconstructive surgeries in underserved communities abroad, will receive $20,000.
