Plastic surgeon offers to help woman who used Gorilla Glue on hair, as lawyer accuses company of RACISM
A black woman who glued her hair solid with Gorilla Glue will reportedly fly to LA, where a renowned plastic surgeon has offered to unstick her. The internet debate on her curious hairdo soon devolved into accusations of racism.
Tessica Brown became internet-famous last week when she posted a video on TikTok seeking help for a sticky situation. The 40-year-old Louisiana woman encased her hair in Gorilla Glue spray adhesive, and spent a month unable to remove the high-strength glue from her head.
Her situation drew mockery and sympathy in equal measure, and after a number of failed attempts to remove the glue, Brown checked herself into a hospital over the weekend. However, medical professionals were unsuccessful, and her hair remains solid.
Brown will now fly out to Los Angeles on Wednesday, where famed plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Obeng will embark on a three-day procedure using medical-grade glue remover to unstick her hair, TMZ reported on Tuesday. Obeng will reportedly cover the cost of the $12,500 procedure himself.
Though Gorilla Glue is not sold in the beauty aisle, Brown apparently felt misled, telling her TikTok followers that she usually uses Schwarzkopf’s ‘Got2B Glued’ to finish off her hairdo, and assumed Gorilla Glue would work similarly. After emerging from the ER, TMZ reported on Monday that she was weighing legal options against the glue company, due to a label on the glue calling it “multi use.”
Gorilla Glue released a statement on Monday reminding the public that “our spray adhesive states in the warning label ‘do not swallow. Do not get in eyes, on skin, or on clothing.’”
We are very sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident that Miss Brown experienced using our Spray Adhesive on her hair. We are glad to see in her recent video that Miss Brown has received medical treatment from her local medical facility and wish her the best. pic.twitter.com/SoCvwxdrGc
— Gorilla Glue (@GorillaGlue) February 8, 2021
The product, the company continued, “is used for craft, home, auto or office projects to mount things to surfaces such as paper, cardboard, wood, laminate and fabric.”
For some of Brown’s defenders, that warning clearly wasn’t enough. “Your product failed to adequately warn, knowing hair glue in fact exists and many Black women use hair glue as hair adhesive & for this, your company is liable,” lawyer Exavier Pope tweeted at Gorilla Glue, before claiming that “Black people are disproportionately impacted by being injured by products they buy to save money” because of “systemic inequality.”
I am going so hard for that BLACK woman because Black people are disproportionately impacted by being injured by products they buy to save money, cause you know, systemic inequality AND don’t have same access to redress injuries AND 85% lawyers are white. It’s all connected
— 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 (@exavierpope) February 8, 2021
Others blamed ‘racism’ for ‘forcing’ Brown to use glue on her hair in the first place.
So many are being dismissive of #gorillagluegirl. Given the history of how black women are targeted and still battle the pervasive belief that our natural hair is unprofessional, unkempt, or in some way “a statement” pls show her some grace and understanding. https://t.co/t6k8JHYKfv
— Sunny Hostin (@sunny) February 6, 2021
The active racism and misogynoir is forcing this woman to live up to the european standard of beauty so she has to use gorilla glue https://t.co/QlL8UlENt9
— Texturism Made Me Do It #BlameBlackMen 🇹🇹 (@TriniOgun) February 7, 2021
i honestly feel SO bad for gorilla glue girl 😭 the lengths Black women will go through to smooth their hair. racism is toxic af.
— anti-racist trauma-informed care (@ArticLlc) February 7, 2021
Amid the accusations and counter-accusations, Brown has managed to crowdfund nearly $13,500 in just over a day to cover her medical bills.
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