Ilyssa “Illy” Levy (born: September 15, 1997), better known online as illymation, is an American YouTuber, animator, and singer-songwriter. Her best-known video series is a trilogy recounting her experiences with her abusive ex-boyfriend.[2][3]
Early life[]
Levy was born and raised in the U.S. state of North Carolina. She attended Franklinton High School. When she was in her teens, she worked for Chick-fil-A and an ice cream shop. At the age of 13, she entered into a relationship with a man named Haris, who was four years her senior. According to her, he was abusive and he would pressure her to send underage nude pictures.
Illy had a desire to go to East Carolina University, which was in her state, but due to pressure from her boyfriend, she moved to California for higher education. She would attend the Laguna College of Art and Design, studying animation, with initial expectations of working in an animation studio. Around this time, she and Haris would continue to date, but after continuing abuse, she broke up with him. But the damage had already been done: “…it’s hard for me to fall in love again. It’s hard for me to trust people. It’s hard for me to understand what relationships even are.”
Career[]
YouTube channel[]
Prior to starting her own YouTube channel, she met an animator named Tanimayto, who introduced her to Alex Clark. She also worked for TimTom. She interned for him, and would later use the experience during her time to start her own channel.
She started her YouTube channel in 2018. She told her story of her abusive relationship in 2018 through a trilogy videos and was among her most popular, with the first video in the series gaining over 12 million views as of 2018. These videos kick-started her channel. She has worked with Alex Clark, Emirichu, Wolfychu and SomethingElseYT. She has also featured Katzun and TheOdd1sOut on her channel.
She has occasionally released music; Zodiac Signs and beautiful, the latter of which recounts her struggle with self-harm and suicidal ideation.
Levy has been nominated for the 2020 Streamy Awards in the Animated category.
Collaborations[]
Outside of her own YouTube channel, she has appeared on Anthony Padilla’s I Spent a Day With… series. She also appeared in FBE’s React series. She appeared in YouTube Rewind 2018. She also contributed to Embarrassing Times to Get Recognized, a multi-artist project made for theodd1sout’s channel. A tour with Emirichu, GingerPale and Life Noggin had been planned, but was later cancelled.
Controversy[]
False flagging[]
On December 21, 2023, Levy uploaded a video titled "Perks of being The Fat Kid" to talk about her weight issues experience. She would detail her experience of being bullied in school for being overweight and having problems with clothes shopping. She would state that because of diet culture, people have the outdated belief that what you eat determines whether or not it makes you a good or bad person. Around 2022, Levy would attempt to go on a diet due to feeling insecure after going to the Streamy Awards. However, Levy started doubting her dieting process for a while because there was little change after four months and other health problems. She would say that people should keep in mind that their body won't change immediately when they start dieting or exercising and that they deserve to wear what they like as long as it makes them comfortable, crediting Maintenance Phase's podcast. She also says that you shouldn't only look at the positive nor the negative aspects of your body and accept what your body looks like at the moment, as well as food, saying that inherently "good" foods, like carrots, can be harmful to some people's diets just like how inherently "bad" foods, like candy, can't be harmful to some (e.g. people with diabetes who have a low BGL).[4]
The video was polarizing with some accusing Levy of encouraging an unhealthy amount of permissiveness and spreading misinformation. On February 28, 2024, the commentary YouTuber Think Before You Sleep uploaded a video critique where he said that he does sympathize with her getting bullied back in school, but he didn't agree with her stance on "Fat Acceptance", mainly for spreading biased information, poor dieting and fashion, and extreme left-wing views.[5]
On March 3, Levy somewhat addressed this video in a Tumblr post where they said that since TBYS's video went live she had been getting "Hate Comment Bombed". She also said that while she didn't watch the video, an associate gave her a rundown. Levy said that it did take a while to report it and did chat with a YouTube receptionist, though she did submit a report herself but also encouraged others to do the same, calling him a right-wing extremist.[6]
On March 12, Think Before You Sleep uploaded another video where he claimed that Levy had been sending false flags about his video. Many have criticized her for her "immature" response and said that she is the one breaking YouTube guidelines and not Think Before You Sleep since encouraging mass-flagging would be considered "Repeatedly encourages abusive audience behavior" under Youtube's Harassment and Cyberbullying policies, which is the policy category Levy was trying to get Think Before You Sleep banned for.[7]
Sometime around April, Levy was doxxed in relation to the drama between her and TBYS. This could possibly have been done by people that dislike her in general. It's unknown if this was confirmed to be true.
Personal life[]
Levy has a brother named Graham. She was in a relationship with a man named Calvin, and later with fellow animator Tanimayto, but have since broken up. She has two cats, one named Luigi and one named Juniper/Junie/June. Her family cat, Cheeto, died.
She is a Democrat and has participated in activist issues. She is outspoken about relationship abuse, having gone through an abusive relationship herself. She describes herself as ‘either bi or pan’. In their 2022 video "Fun times at the dentist :)", Levy had revealed to be on the asexual spectrum, and her gender to be demigirl with she/they pronouns.
She has dealt with self-harm and suicidal ideation since she was 14 and has made a musical video about it titled "Beautiful?". In May of 2022, she was diagnosed with autism after finishing a video about her speculating that she’s autistic.[8] She is ethnically Jewish on her Father's side[9]. In November of 2023, she posted a video titled "Dating (when you're autistic)" in which she introduced her current boyfriend. His real name is kept private, so Illy calls him Kermit.[1]
Channel milestones[]
Subscriber milestones[]
- 100,000 subscribers: July 23, 2018
- 500,000 subscribers: September 19, 2018
- 1 million subscribers: January 5, 2019
- 2 million subscribers: March 2, 2022
Video view milestones[]
- 100 million views: September 27, 2020
- 200 million views: May 14, 2022
References[]
- ↑ illy. Twitter. Archived from the original on September 8, 2022.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7lYeRqhQ9Q
- ↑ https://www.dexerto.com/pokemon/youtuber-shares-devastating-pokemon-diamond-pearl-mistake-that-cost-100-hours-1559794/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfG_Er6lyJE&t
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry9kmwoa1OA&t
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkxw9VrS7TmubPER5WBPUvy8elrCKDtznBw
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoNbOrCLvz0&t
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3Vy2BPmMS4
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5IimXRrCCo