Funny Guy the Scammer Fur Coat
Even if you don't follow Joanne the Scammer on Twitter or Instagram, where she brags about scams like credit card fraud, you've surely seen screen-grabs of her face pop up on your timeline. She's the self-described "messy bitch" whose signature look is a disheveled wig and cheap fur coat. She, however, isn't real. She's a character-turned-meme created by 25-year-old Branden Miller, a Florida-based comedian who decided to dream up a funny alter ego.
Miller, who has nearly 2.5 million followers across Twitter and Instagram, has been playing Joanne (last name: Prada) since May 2015 but only started blowing up in earnest this year. In January, Blac Chyna recreated one of his earliest videos, "My Craigslist Ad," in which Joanne warns the world she's a liar and a thief, all while flipping her hair (a signature move). In March, he was featured in The Fader. In May, he got a Twitter shout-out from Katy Perry. By September, he'd released a satire about white people, paid for by the production company Super Deluxe, called "Caucasian Living With Joanne the Scammer," in which Joanne brags about her fancy coffeemaker and bottles of Perrier. (Spoiler: She turns out to be a home intruder, much to the horror of the actual homeowner played by Chelsea Peretti.) The video became a veritable GIF machine, turning Joanne into a meme independent of Miller and expanding his reach to countless millions.
"I think people get a kick out of the essence of her," Miller says. "It's not just about scamming with Joanne at this point. It's her bitchiness, pettiness, cattiness." Here, Miller talks to Cosmopolitan.com about the ups and down of becoming a meme, and what's next.
You've been doing Joanne for a while, but this was the year other people started taking over your image and making a meme out of you. Was it weird?
I knew what I was getting myself into. My goal was to turn Joanne the Scammer into a meme because that way your face is being used everywhere. That was my strategy to promote myself. I will say this: I think people are overusing it. I think the public has overexposed the character a tad bit.
When you started Joanne, she was a prostitute. Now she's just a scammer, no sex work involved. What changed?
I wanted to evolve her into something a little more universal.
You now say Joanne is not a trans person, but you've been criticized for stereotyping her as a "transsexual hooker" and a "tranny" in the past. Was that a learning experience for you?
I'm from the gay culture. I came out very young, and we would use terms like that. So I was like, "Damn, I did not know that was not OK to say anymore." So I completely learned a lot from that. It's been really harsh though, because I think there are a lot of people who just want to hate. I think they look at me as an easy target, possibly. But I did sit down to learn what I had to learn because if I did hurt people's feelings, then that hurts my feelings. You know, I'm totally so far away from transphobic. It actually made me really upset. And I've come away from Twitter a lot because of the words that people will use. It actually scares me. Like, oh my god, I'm literally just trying to make you guys laugh. It's not that deep. I don't want to address it over Twitter. But I've apologized to a lot of people directly because of it.
Why wouldn't you want to address it over Twitter?
Because I feel like people just want a reaction out of you. And it's tacky. Why do you want to talk about something so intense over a public outlet?
Is the fame wearing at you at all at this point? Like, being under a microscope all the time?
Oh my god, I don't even, because I never indulged in it. But I will say this: Everywhere I go, I get asked for photos. So, that's a little weird. I was out [shooting in costume as Joanne] in California and these people were taking my photo. And I turned around and I was like, "Do you want me to pose for this fucking picture because, like, you're taking, like, 100 of them?" and they were completely awkward but I was pissed off. Like, damn, people are really fucking weird. I don't think they knew who I was. I think they were just being really shitty. I'm a fucking man in a fur coat, I have a black dress on, and I'm, like, 6-foot-5 in heels, I have a fucking full beard.
You've now met Blac Chyna and Amber Rose, at Amber's Slut Walk. Do you know how Chyna discovered you in the first place?
I emailed her. Her email was in her Instagram at the time, I don't know if it's still there. I basically said, "Hey, I want to be a comedian, an entertainer, and if you look at my videos, I'm very sure that they will make you laugh." She read it and she followed me, like, four hours later, and then started liking my stuff.
Can you support yourself off your work as Joanne?
Yeah. I get my money from videos that I do for Super Deluxe. If I have a good idea, I'll pitch it to them and if they have a good idea, they'll pitch it to me. It's a tag-team kind of thing. And I get money hosting club events, usually two a month. It's not about me just showing up, it's about me posting something about the event on social media. I've also just released a commercial for a welcome mat I'm selling through Super Deluxe. It says "Get out of my Caucasian House." Half the proceeds will go to the ACLU [an 18-by-30-inch mat costs $50]. I'm really nervous about that. I don't know if people are going to buy it. I didn't want to do a T-shirt — everyone does T-shirts. I want to do weird stuff.
Would you ever do sponsored content, like promote detox tea or anything?
I've done a teeth-whitening kit, but no, I won't go into [promoting sponsored content regularly]. I think that's cheesy, and at this point, it really doesn't work.
Going back to the "get out of my Caucasian house" mats — do you think that joke will play better or worse now, given Trump's election win?
Playing a racist woman or saying shit like "get out of my Caucasian house" — I think that is on topic as of right now, with Trump winning. When I'm on Joanne's Twitter, I am 100 percent Joanne. So if I say something that's fucking racist or just completely a mess, it's literally the character.
You've spoken before about how you did video-cam porn to support yourself in the past. Do you regret doing it?
I can only go forward. It's part of my past, I was honest about it, and I'm trying to move on. I had to do what I had to do because when I was 18, I left my family. I just wasn't happy in that position that I was in. I moved out very quickly and was introduced to video camming. And it was paying all my bills.
You left your family after your parents told you you were adopted — and that you weren't actually white, as you were raised to think you were. Did that inspire your Caucasian Living sketches?
I do think those stem from somewhere in my life. The Caucasian home really represents the dark humor of my life. Like, literally thinking you're white at one point of your life when you're black. That's crazy.
What does your family think about Joanne?
They're extremely supportive.
And you've been with your boyfriend for eight years — what's his take on Joanne?
He's a counselor. He's totally detached from it 100 percent. He'll just support me but he doesn't really care. He's just like, "Yeah, you're a fucking mess."
Have you lost friendships or are people a little bit phony with you because they want to get in on fame?
No, I don't think so, because I don't have many friends. I don't talk to many people because people are weird, you know? People are fake and all that shit. I have a lot of associates; I play the game a lot.
Branden Miller is part of Cosmopolitan.com's list of 2016's most fascinating people on the internet. See the rest of the list:
1. The Culpeppers
2. Huda Kattan
3. Simone Biles
4. Jerika and Jen Bolen
5. Janice Joostema
6. Spencer and Heidi Pratt
7. Makela St. Fort
8. Ryan Lochte and his fiancée, Kayla Rae Reid
9. #MrStealYourGrandma: Irvin Randle
10. Russian Leo: Roman Burtsev
11. Dicks Out for Harambe: Brandon Wardell and Brandon Zaboklicki
12. Chewbacca Mom: Candace Payne
13. The Damn Daniel Boys: Daniel Lara and Josh Holz
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Source: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a8383647/joanne-the-scammer-internets-most-fascinating/
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