About
Talia Joy was a YouTuber known for her makeup tutorial videos and personal vlogs chronicling her battle with two separate cancers, neuroblastoma and pre-leukemia. She passed away on July 16th, 2013.
Online History
Talia Joy was diagnosed with neuroblastoma[4], the most common childhood cancer, on February 14th, 2007. On August 17th, 2010, the Facebook fan page Angels for Talia[3] was created to share photos and updates from her cancer treatment in New York City with friends and family back home in Florida. The page gained more than 1,500 likes within three months and accrued more than 341,000 fans as of July 2013. Talia created her YouTube channel[1] on July 12th, 2011, uploading her first video (shown below, left) sixteen days later, depicting her participating in a dance-off with a fellow fifth-grader at a school dance. On August 27th, she uploaded her first makeup video (shown below, right), showing her and her friend doing a fantasy eyeliner look.
In September 2011, she launched her personal website[2] and she steadily continued to gain fans on YouTube and Facebook throughout 2011 and early 2012, gaining more than 100,000 YouTube subscribers by August 2012. On August 7th, 2012, Talia uploaded a vlog (shown below) announcing that she had been diagnosed with a second type of cancer and was facing the choice of whether or not to pursue a bone marrow transplant that was not guaranteed to work. She explained that she decided not to seek the treatment, to which doctors gave her four months to a year to live.
The day after this vlog was posted, a number of news outlets and beauty blogs began to pick up on her story, including Jezebel[5], Refinery29[17], Styleite[6], the Daily Mail[7], ABC News.[8] That week, Talia’s videos were also shared on What’s Trending[9], NY Daily News[10], MSN Now[11], Before It’s News[12], Fox News Latino[13], CBS News[14], San Franciso Gate[15] and NBC Latino.[16]
Ellen Appearance
On August 10th, 2012, a video (shown below, left) containing a clip from the documentary The Truth 365 was uploaded to Talia’s channel asking fans to help fulfill her dream of meeting talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. On September 13th, 2012, Talia was invited as a guest on DeGeneres’ daytime talk show Ellen, where she was named an honorary Cover Girl by the makeup brand of the same name (shown below, right).[18] Video from this appearance was shared on the Huffington Post[19], NBC Latino[20], MTV Act[21] and the Daily Mail.[22]
#TaliasBucketList
On April 24th, Talia was admitted into the hospital[23] with nausea and pain. After conducting tests, doctors found that her cancer had spread through more of her bones[24] and by early May, her official Facebook page confirmed[25] there were no options left. As her health began to deteriorate, family, friends and fans turned to social media with the hashtag #prayfortalia[26], which was used on Twitter more than 268,000 times between June and July 2013 according to Topsy Analytics.[27] On July 10th, Talia’s sister Mattia uploaded a photo of Talia’s bucket list (shown below) to her Instagram[28], asking fans to complete these actions in honor of her sister using the hashtag #TaliasBucketList.
People on Twitter[29], Tumblr[30] and Instagram[31] began submitting photos of themselves completing Talia’s tasks, which were later compiled into a Facebook photo album.[32] Some of these tasks included using body paint (shown below, left), sending a message in a bottle (shown below, center) and having an “outdoor day” (shown below, right). Within a week, the hashtag had been used on Twitter[33] more than 5,400 times and Instagram more than 2,100 times. On July 10th, New Media Rockstars[34] reported on the hashtag.
Death
On July 16th, 2013, the Angels for Talia Facebook page announced[35] that Talia had passed away that morning. Within 5 hours, the post had received more than 146,000 likes, 42,000 shares and 28,000 comments. The post was linked on the /r/MakeupAddiction subreddit[38] where it received more than 1,900 upvotes, 1,400 points overall and 120 comments within 5 hours. Her death was reported by a number of news outlets, internet culture blogs and style magazines including the Today Show[39], New York Daily News[40], the Huffington Post[41], Boing Boing[42], the Inquisitr[43], New Media Rockstars[44], People Style Watch[45] and E! Online.[46] Additionally, Ellen expressed her grief over the loss via Twitter.[47]
Notable Videos
Personal Life
Talia Joy Castellano was born on August 18th, 1999 in Florida. Despite her cancer diagnosis, she uploaded 246 videos to her YouTube channel in two years, averaging approximately 62,000 views per day. Outside of YouTube, she maintained personal accounts on Twitter[35] and Instagram[36], where she had more than 192,000 followers and 2.3 million followers respectively.
Search Interest
External References
[1]YouTube – taliajoy18’s Channel
[3]Facebook – Angels for Talia
[4]Wikipedia – Neuroblastoma
[5]Jezebel – 12-Year-Old Cancer Patient’s Makeup Tutorials Are the Best Thing on the Internet Right Now
[6]Styleite – WATCH: This 12-Year-Old Cancer Patient’s Makeup Tutorials Are Amazing
[7]The Daily Mail – ’I’ll do my make-up tutorials for as long as I can’: The 12-year-old YouTube star with two types of cancer and four months to live
[8]ABC News – 13-Year-Old Cancer Patient Wins, Breaks Hearts
[9]What’s Trending – Interview With 12-Year Old Talia Joy Castellano, Cancer Fighting YouTube Star
[10]NY Daily News – With only months to live, 12-year-old girl creates makeup videos to help other kids also suffering from cancer
[11]MSN Now – Girl with cancer shows bald is beautiful with makeup tips
[12]Before It’s News – YouTube Star, Talia Joy Castellano, 12, Now Battling Two Forms of Cancer (VIDEO)
[13]Fox News Latino – Cancer Fighting YouTube Star, 12, Breaks Hearts, Inspires in Latest Video
[14]CBS News – Popular 12-year-old makeup guru with cancer mulls difficult choice on treatment
[15]SFGate – 12-year-old girl with cancer makes the world smile (and cry) with her inspiring makeup tutorials
[16]NBC Latino – 12-year-old dying of cancer inspires the world on YouTube
[17]Refinery29 – 12-Year-Old Cancer Patient Steals Our Hearts With Incredible Makeup Tutorials
[18]Ellen – Talia Becomes an Honorary CoverGirl
[19]Huffington Post – Talia Castellano, Teen With Cancer, Goes On ‘Ellen’ And Becomes Cover Girl (WATCH)
[20]NBC Latino – [VIDEO] 13-year-old battling cancer gets to meet her favorite star Ellen DeGeneres
[21]MTV Act – SWEETTWEET: ELLENDEGENERESGETSINSPIRED BY 13-YEAR-OLDCANCERPATIENTTALIA
[22]The Daily Mail – The most inspiring CoverGirl ever? Make-up blogger, 13, fighting two types of cancer becomes honorary face of beauty giant
[23]Facebook – Angels for Talia: Talia is being admitted back the hospital.
[24]Facebook – Angels for Talia: As most of you may have guessed..
[25]Facebook – Angels for Talia: We are receiving a large amount of messages from so many with questions and links to options for Talia.
[26]Twitter – Tweet Results for #prayfortalia
[27]Topsy – Tweet Statistics for #prayfortalia
[28]Instagram – mattia_joyce: This is Talia’s bucket list of things she wants to do before she dies.
[29]Twitter – Tweet Results for #taliasbucketlist
[30]Tumblr – Posts Tagged #taliasbucketlist
[31]Statigram – Photos Tagged #taliasbucketlist
[32]Facebook – Angels for Talia: #taliasbucketlist
[33]Topsy – Tweet Statistics for #taliasbucketlist
[34]New Media Rockstars – FANS OF 13-YEAR-OLDYOUTUBEBEAUTYGURUTALIAJOYCASTELLANOENCOURAGED TO FULFILL #TALIASBUCKETLIST
[35]Twitter – @TaliaJoy18
[36]Instagram – taliajoy18
[37]Facebook – Angels for Talia: It is with a heavy heart that we share with all of you that Talia has earned her wings at 11:22am.
[38]Reddit – /r/MakeupAddiction: [MISC] 13 year old makeup guru Talia Joy has passed away from cancer today.
[39]Today News – Cancer-stricken CoverGirl Talia Castellano dies at 13
[40]NY Daily News – Talia Joy Castellano, 13-year-old YouTube makeup star, dies from cancer
[41]Huffington Post – Talia Joy Castellano Dead: Inspirational YouTube Star Dies After Six-Year Battle With Cancer
[42]BoingBoing – Talia Joy Castellano, cancer patient famous for YouTube makeup tutorials, dies at 13
[43]The Inquisitr – YouTube Star Talia Joy Castellano Dies At 13
[44]New Media Rockstars – YOUTUBEBEAUTYGURUTALIAJOYCASTELLANODIES
[45]People Style Watch – Honorary CoverGirl Talia Castellano Dies at 13
[46]E! Online – Talia Castellano, RIP: Remembering the Late Cancer-Stricken Teen CoverGirl
[47]Twitter – @TheEllenShow: This year I met a very special girl, and today we lost her. Sending my heart to Talia’s family. I’m so sad.