Nicole Arbour
Nicole Arbour in 2014
Arbour at the 2014 Hamilton Festival of Friends
Born1982 or 1983 (age 40–41)[1]
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Alma materHumber College
Occupations
Known forYouTube, music

Nicole Arbour is a Canadian comedian, choreographer, singer, actress, and YouTuber.

Career

Arbour is a former cheerleader for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association.[2] While studying at Humber College, she started her cheerleading career and led the Humber Hype dance team which won two national championships.[3]

Acting

As an actress, she appeared in Howie Do It,[4] and Silent But Deadly.[2] Arbour's single "Bang Bang" was released on April 30, 2013.[2] On June 18, 2015, her single and music video to "Fun Revolution" was released and was the first Periscope music video to debut.[5][6] In April 2015, Arbour was nominated as a finalist for "Best Comedian" for the Shorty Awards, won by Hannibal Buress.[7][8] Arbour released a single and self-directed music video to "Show Me How You Werk" on December 4, 2017.[9]

Choreographer and hosting work

She has worked as a choreographer for professional cheerleading teams, award shows, and recording artists including Omi's "Cheerleader" performance in 2015 Much Music Video Awards, 2013 Much Music Video Awards and CFL Argos Cheerleaders.

Arbour has been the host of a number of major events and tours including Style New York Fashion Week at Madison Square Garden,[10] Virgin Mobile "National Fearless Day" with Richard Branson,[11] City Fest Toronto[12] and LG National Texting Championships 2008–2009.[13] She also worked for brands on their marketing campaigns including Virgin Mobile, Axe and Molson Canadian's "Guy Code Campaign". Arbour was featured in Adweek magazine in April 2017 for her work in an advertisement of PMD's Lip Plumping Device.[14]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2008 The Rocker Trashy Groupie
2009 You Might as Well Live Regina Manitoba
2011 Silent But Deadly Jackie

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2006-2009 Video on Trial Herself Series regular
2007 Winnipeg Comedy Festival Herself Standup Comedian [15]
2009 Howie Do It Beautiful Assistant / Spokesmodel Series regular; 7 episodes
2014–2015 Too Much Information Herself[16] Series regular
2015 CMT's Hottest Herself Series regular
2015 CMT's Hottest Herself Series regular

Awards and recognition

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2009 IAB Mixx Awards Branded Content Nominated [17]
2015 Shorty Awards Best Comedian Nominated [18][19]
2016 The Producers Choice Honors Honorary Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Won [20][21]
2017 International Pain Foundation Hero of Hope Awards Nerve To Be Heard Won [22]

Controversies

"Dear Fat People" video

In September 2015, Arbour became the subject of controversy when she posted a viral video on her YouTube channel titled "Dear Fat People".[23] Critics argued that the video endorses fat shaming.[24] The video was temporarily unavailable on YouTube,[25] over claims that it violated the YouTube terms of service, but was later restored.[26]

Arbour was the subject of both public and celebrity criticism, with plus-size model Ashley Graham labelling her comments as "disgusting".[27]

Soon after the video was released, Canadian director Pat Mills stated publicly that he had considered hiring Arbour as a choreographer for his then-upcoming film Don't Talk to Irene after meeting with her, but that he then saw "Dear Fat People" and it "made me never want to see her again".[28] This was reported as Arbour having been "fired" from the film, but in fact no job offer had been extended.[28][29][30]

On September 16, 2015, Arbour appeared on The View to defend the "Dear Fat People" video, stating that "that video wasn't made to offend people...it's just satire," that she wasn't targeting those with medical conditions, and that the video wasn't supposed to be taken seriously.[31] Time magazine stated, "Arbour doesn't see her comments as bullying, but rather an intense form of truth-telling".[32] Arbour was quoted in the Time article saying:

I find seeing someone's head being blown off offensive ... I find children starving in a country with more than enough food offensive. I find women's bodies being mutilated for religious purposes, that is offensive to me. But words and satire I don't find offensive.[32]

Arbour has put out other similarly named satirical videos, including "Dear Black People", "Dear Feminists", "Dear Sluts"[33] and "Dear Refugees".

Domestic abuse allegations

On January 11, 2016, YouTube personality Matthew Santoro posted "My Abuse Story", a video in which he claimed he had been in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship. In the video, he did not name who his abuser was but people eventually figured out that he was referring to Arbour. The video was originally set to private after Santoro ended the relationship but was accidentally made public.[34] Santoro claimed he was manipulated into isolating himself from his friends and family because of Arbour's jealousy, and was later even slapped in the face by Arbour.[35] Arbour denied the allegations in a YouTube video.[34] Santoro has since removed his original video.

Political statements

Arbour said she once identified with the Liberal Party of Canada, but in 2020 said she no longer did.[36]

In a YouTube video in 2018 Arbour said that some people overreact when dealing with racial and gender issues, and that less focus should be spent on the institution of slavery which ended in the 19th century, and more focus should be spent on current issues stemming from it such as the racial wealth gap, marijuana legalization, police reform, and reforming the way media covers crime and arrests.[37] Several of her social media posts received widespread criticism in 2018 for their perceived cultural appropriation and lack of empathy.[38]

References

  1. ^ Oswald, Brad (April 12, 2012). "Hey! What are you staring at? Her comedy's up here, buddy!". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Strobel, Mike (April 18, 2013). "'World's Sexiest Comedian' on comeback as a rapper after accident". Toronto Sun. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  3. ^ "Unbeatable Arbour pumps it up". Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  4. ^ "Nicole Arbour". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2015. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  5. ^ Murray, Joshua (July 16, 2015). "Nicole Arbour presents the Fun Revolution: Artist Q&A". The Reviews Are In. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  6. ^ Cullen, Clare (June 20, 2015). "First ever music video debuts on Periscope - Independent.ie". www.independent.ie. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  7. ^ Lee, Ashley (March 2, 2015). "Shorty Awards 2015: Nominees Include Shonda Rhimes, Chris Pratt, Laverne Cox (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  8. ^ "Best Comedian in Social Media - The Shorty Awards". shortyawards.com. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  9. ^ "Pineapple Pages Episode 1: Show Me How You Werk". Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  10. ^ "Style New York Fashion Week at Madison Square Garden". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  11. ^ "Sir Richard Branson & Glee's Cory Monteith to Choose Canada's Most Fearless". Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  12. ^ "Cityfest at CityPlace: Toronto's Newest Festival This Saturday". August 14, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  13. ^ "LG Creates Game Show Atmosphere for Canadian Texting Championships". August 28, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  14. ^ "Natural Beauty Is Great. But So Is Natural-ish Beauty, Says This Crazy Ad for a Lip Plumper". Adweek. April 26, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  15. ^ "Performers Winnipeg Comedy Festival". Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  16. ^ "Too Much Information features cavalcade of comedians". November 17, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  17. ^ "MIXX Awards Finalists Announced". September 14, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  18. ^ "Shorty Awards 2015: Nominees Include Shonda Rhimes, Chris Pratt, Laverne Cox (Exclusive)". Hollywood Reporter. February 3, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  19. ^ "Comedian in Social Media - Shorty Awards". Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  20. ^ "Celebrity Sightings In Los Angeles". Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  21. ^ "2016 The Producers Choice Honors". Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  22. ^ "2017 Hero of Hope Award Winners". Retrieved May 16, 2018.
  23. ^ Rodriguez, Karen (September 7, 2015). "'Dear Fat People' Video Sparks 'Fat-Shaming' Backlash". Newsy. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  24. ^ Hetter, Katia (September 7, 2015). "Celebrities battle it out over fat-shaming". CNN. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  25. ^ Castillo, Stephanie (September 6, 2015). "YouTube Video Censorship: Nicole Arbour's Account Gets Suspended After Shaming 'Fat People'". Medical Daily. Retrieved July 10, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  26. ^ Hetter, Katia (September 8, 2015). "Fat-shaming: Celebrities battle it out". cnn.com. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  27. ^ Harrison, Lily (September 10, 2015). "YouTube Star Nicole Arbour Fired From Movie Role for 'Cruel Fat-Shaming Video'". E! Online. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  28. ^ a b Heigl, Alex (September 11, 2015). "Nicole Arbour Responds to Claim She Was Fired from Film Job in Wake of 'Dear Fat People' Backlash". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  29. ^ Webber, Stephanie (September 11, 2015). "YouTube Star Nicole Arbour Fired From Movie After Fat-Shaming Video - Us Weekly". US Weekly. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  30. ^ Willis, Jackie (September 11, 2015). "YouTube Star Nicole Arbour Fired From Film After 'Dear Fat People' Backlash". ET. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  31. ^ Olya, Gabrielle (September 16, 2015). "Nicole Arbour Refuses to Apologize for 'Dear Fat People' YouTube Video on The View". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  32. ^ a b Ross, Ashley (September 10, 2015). "'Dear Fat People' Comedian Nicole Arbour: 'I'm Not Apologizing'". TIME.com. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  33. ^ Arbour, Nicole. "Dear Sluts". youtube.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2018.
  34. ^ a b Votta, Rae (January 12, 2016). "YouTube celebrity Matthew Santoro says ex Nicole Arbour abused him". The Daily Dot. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  35. ^ Kasparian, Ana (January 14, 2016). "Nicole Arbour's disgusting response to Matthew Santoro's allegation of abuse". www.rawstory.com. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  36. ^ Nicole Arbour [@NicoleArbour] (May 15, 2020). "I'm no longer a liberal. That's it, I'm out. I was once jr prime minister of Canada as a liberal. I voted liberal. I've worked full time for the liberal party. This is insulting to the people bullsh*t and I'm out" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 15, 2020 – via Twitter.
  37. ^ Arbour, Nicole (May 31, 2018). "The Truth About "Racism"". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  38. ^ Herron, Rachel (May 16, 2018). "White Woman Who Appropriated 'This Is America' Video Said 'I'm Sick Of People Mad At Slavery'". BET.

External links