Staten Harry, the child the internet crudely dubbed the “Hey Monsters’ kid”, was once Lady Gaga’s biggest supporter before his parents shipped him off to conversion camp.
Some people go to acting school and become actors, others pick up recording contracts to become singers, but in the rarest of cases, some people become etched into the fabric of the internet as viral stars. You’ve got the Charlie bit my finger kid, the fish and the rice cake dude, and of course, Staten Harry.
Though you might not recognise his name, or even him as a full-fledged tween, I’m willing to bet you’ve come across his viral sound on more than one occasion. Here’s his sad story.
Who is Staten Harry?
In 2009, a young Staten Harry reacted to Lady Gaga’s iconic track Alejandro. His reaction went positively viral, so much so that despite deleting the video, his beaming expression and quotable lines are still widely shared across TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. “Keep those paws up” and “Everyone better be jumpin” became instant viral lines, but over a decade later, you wouldn’t recognise Staten Harry.
When Gaga’s Abracadabra was released earlier this year, many naturally deferred to Staten Harry’s opinion as the resident expert on all things Little Monster.
“Yes, I am the Lady Gaga Monsters child, but I no longer associate myself with Lady Gaga and believe that her fans are demonic, and I do not condone that behaviour,” he said, refusing to react to the album.
In videos that have since been deleted, Staten detailed how his parents had sent him to “conversion camp and it changed me for the better.” Since then, he’s dedicated his life to God, deleting the “thousands” of tributes to Gaga from his life and swapping Shallow for scripture, and John Wayne for Jesus.
His most recent posts are a stark contrast to his earliest days of internet fame
@statenharrypreciousfaith
There are currently only two videos on Staten Harry’s TikTok, the first of which was uploaded in April and saw him read the Bible for a full seven minutes. It makes for a difficult watch, especially considering the sheer joyfulness of his original viral moment. The second video was more of the same, this time about how anyone can “become a child of God” and “be freed” by his power.
His YouTube account, under Staten Harry with Precious Faith Ministries, has significantly more videos on there, mostly about scripture.
He’s been quiet for about a month
Staten Harry has not posted on his TikTok in over a month, and he also hasn’t posted a new video to YouTube in just under four months. He’s been a bit more active on YouTube Shorts, posting his most recent video in May. He’s also been quiet on the ministry front, not posting to Precious Faith Ministries’ Facebook. Where Staten Harry is or what he’s doing is unknown.
Still, people in his TikTok comments are a refreshing change on a platform so rife with division, with one person writing: “Hope u know u still have a community that is gonna actually accept u the way u are, we still love u.”
“It’s gonna be okay, diva, you’ll win back your sparkle,” another said.
Someone else rightly pointed out: “Lady Gaga loves you and she made you love yourself and be yourself.”
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Featured image credit: Staten Harry
