Cooney was born Colleen Cooney on July 27, 1994, in Boston, Massachusetts.[3][4] Her first name was changed to Eugenia several months after her birth.[5] Throughout her childhood, Cooney didn't have many friends and was often the victim of bullying at school,[6][7] which caused her to switch schools multiple times and begin attending an online school after her first year of high school.[8][9] She transferred to Connections Academy and graduated in 2012.[10][11] Eugenia Cooney pursued modeling for a brief time in New York.[12][13] After being asked to remove her online presence and feeling overcontrolled, Cooney decided to instead focus on her online career.[14]
Cooney began her online presence on June 17, 2011, by livestreaming on broadcasting service YouNow, later creating her YouTube channel that same year.[15] Her first three videos amassed over 7.5 million views. Cooney's YouTube content mainly consists of clothing hauls, vlogs about her daily life, cosplay outfits, and makeup tutorials.[15] She began livestreaming on Twitch in March 2, 2018,[16] where she has over 400,000 followers as of August 1, 2022.[17] She is known for her emo style, characterized by her "extraordinarily long, dark hair, gothic lace dresses, and bold, multi-colored makeup looks."[18]
In November 16, 2018, Cooney starred in the music video for Niki DeMar's song "Anthem for the Judged".[19] Cooney was nominated and a finalist for "YouTuber of the Year" for the 12th annual Shorty Awards in 2020.[20]
Critics argue that Cooney's content encourages eating disorders among viewers, raising concern about her influence on her young fans.[24][25][26] Cooney is a popular figure in online "pro-ana" communities, where her videos and images are used as "thinspiration".[note 1][28] Beginning in 2015, viewers began expressing concern around her weight loss, and since then several theories about her health, mental state, and home life have steadily grown. In 2016, a Change.orgpetition titled "Temporarily Ban Eugenia Cooney off of YouTube" went viral and received 18,000 signatures, although it was later removed for "violating community guidelines".[29][30] In response to the petition, Cooney denied having a problem and said that she did not intend to be a bad influence.[6]
In July 2019, Cooney appeared as the subject of a hour-long YouTube documentary video by Shane Dawson titled "The Return of Eugenia Cooney", in which she confirmed that she had an eating disorder and detailed her recovery process for the first time. She noted several friends had gotten her help at the time.[31][32] Dawson's video on Cooney was viewed over 27 million times in a month.[33] The reaction to "The Return of Eugenia Cooney" was mixed, with some viewers and mental health experts raising concerns about the future of her treatment, as well as the possible impact on Dawson's mostly young, female audience.[33]
Following the publication of Dawson's documentary, Cooney returned to posting videos.[31] She was initially praised when she returned to YouTube, with people commending her for her return and being honest about her health. As a result, Cooney was nominated for YouTuber of the Year at the 2020 Shorty Awards.[34] Despite being initially praised for opening up about her struggle with an eating disorder, Cooney was soon criticized again for appearing to relapse.[32]
In early 2021, another petition was started on Change.org to age-restrict, or entirely remove, Cooney's YouTube channel and social media accounts, claiming that she promotes eating disorders.[35]
