Girl who was turned into a meme by bullying 4chan members at just 11 says viral fame killed her dad and left her friendless in a foster home

Damien Leonhardt, 17, formerly known as Jessi Slaughter, has opened up for the first time about how their life was ruined by a viral video they made at age 11

Jessi Slaughter posted a four and a half minute video talking about 'haters' in 2010 to YouTube after rumors began swirling that the 11 year old had slept with a 25-year-old singer.

The video, laced with profanity and brash language caught the attention of the MySpace-era internet.

But when the child posted another video where her father, Gene Leonhardt, furiously defended his crying daughter, spouting out lines like 'you done goofed' and warning viewers he had contacted 'the cyberpolice', the internet unleashed its fury.

That was the turning point that transformed Jessi into a meme and her life into a living hell.

Six years after the internet began bullying Jessi - who now goes by Damien and they/them pronouns - to the point of needing to be placed in institutionalized psychological care, they says the video changed their life. 

When the summer of 2010 ended and Damien returned to school, they said their friends - 'a clique of 'emo' kids' - disowned them.

'I kind of lost all my friends and had to make new friends,' Damien told BuzzFeed. 

But losing their friends was soon the least of Damien's issues.

The rumor that the 11 year old had slept with Dahvie Vanity, the 25-year-old lead singer of the then-famous band called Blood On The Dance Floor and the videos gave the 'internet trolls' of 4chan enough ammunition to go after the child.

Jessi Slaughter (pictured) made a video ranting about her looks and her haters and posted it to YouTube

The underlying context of the video was an allegation the Jessi had slept the 25-year-old lead singer of a band 

Damien was ceaselessly harassed.

'At first it was just comments on YouTube and stuff like that.

'And that was like, well, it's public and people are dicks. 

'But when people are actively seeking your stuff out to send you hateful messages and harass you, that's scarier to me,' Damien said.

Shortly after the video went viral, Damien was placed in foster care when their father punched them and their mother. 

Their father, whose ferocious temper could be seen in the video of the then 11-year-old girl crying, died of a heart-attack the next year.

'My dad was really abusive toward me and my mom,' Damien said. 

'You kind of saw the anger issues with him in the video, and that put extra stress on the family, which made him even angrier.'

Damien moved back in with their mother in a small town in Florida in 2012.

Six years after Damien's life spiraled into turmoil they have looked back with perspective.

Gene Leonhardt (pictured) catapulted the video to meme-status after screaming lines at the internet that made it clear he didn't know how it worked

Leonhardt threatened to send the 'cyberpolice' on the trolls and that he had 'backtraced' the IP addresses of those making the threats

Damien was placed in foster care after being abused by their father. Gene Leonhardt died the following year and Damien returned to live with their mother in Florida

Damien is still online, they're active on the blogging website Tumblr where they feel they have finally found a positive community.

They say they now are able to speak with the community and give advice about handling harassment and bullying.

'I want to use my experiences to help other people, and also to help myself grow as a person and to get more involved with things that can help other people.

'Nowadays, people are a lot more understanding that, yes, there’s a person behind that photo, there’s a person behind that video. 

'It’s not just a funny picture that has no meaning when you share things. It has a meaning to the person who put it there. 

'We’re connected; it’s not just a cold screen. But even now, I feel like people still sort of don’t understand completely that what they do has an impact. 

'Even if you’re not meaning it to be harassing or harmful, it still has an impact,' Damien said. 

Damien now looks back on their life and the things they went through in terms of Internet harassment, understanding the web is a more caring place now, but still falls victim to forgetting about the people living behind the memes