The Louisiana woman who went viral for using Gorilla Glue as a hairspray said in an interview that she never intended to spread her sticky saga online – but was desperate for help to untangle her mess.
“I would never take this to social media. The reason I took this to social media was because I didn’t know what else to do, ”Tessica Brown told ET.
“And I know that someone out there could have told me something. I didn’t think for a second when I got up the next morning that it would be everywhere, ”she added.
Brown, whose hair has been tucked in for a month, said on Wednesday that he would see a surgeon to take it off.
She made the announcement after TMZ reported that a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon offered to help for free.
In describing how she ended up in a difficult situation, Brown told ET that he “definitely” regrets using the industrial strength patch after running out of hair spray when she was about to leave her home.
The mother of five said she had used Gorilla Glue before – though never on her hair – and assumed she could simply “wash it off immediately”.
After trying to use olive oil, tea tree and other oils to remove the glue, she decided to turn to social media – and then went to St. Parish Hospital in Chalmette, where health professionals tried to use “small acetone packs”.
But Brown denied spending 22 hours in the ER as her video for help snatched the internet and she was soon dubbed the “Gorilla Glue Girl”.
“I said to my son today, ‘I wish I could just go back’, because I got over it. I got over it, ”she told ET. “I am usually the person who doesn’t care what people say. I just move at my own pace. I don’t care what people say, but I’m getting to the point where people are on TV saying things about me ”.
Brown continued: “If you knew me, I wouldn’t say half of what they are saying. Then someone said, ‘Oh, she just put it on her head on purpose just to get here.’ Who in their right mind would say, ‘Well, let me sprinkle that on my head and make myself famous overnight?’ Never! … Who would want them to do that? I needed someone to tell me how to get this out – that was all. “
Brown, who owns the Tessica’s Little Angels nursery and the dance group Dazzling Divaz, said she “didn’t need this” because her business was struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.
“[The news] put a picture of my bald head, which was not me. [My daughter] had to deal with it yesterday. Teachers are talking about it, ”she told the outlet.
“My little girl, she doesn’t want me to fix her hair anymore. I said to her, ‘Let me do your hair’. She said, ‘You are not doing my hair’. But I’m thinking that she’s kidding and kidding, but she wouldn’t let me do that, ”added Brown.
She has already raised more than $ 16,000 in an online fundraiser, money she said will go to “the wigs that everyone is telling me that I will need. That’s why I always said $ 1,500. “
“From us reading about everything – and it started to happen – [I’m getting] extreme headaches, ”she said. “And the [doctors] I said that when they take it all off or cut it off, I may have scalp damage and in some parts it may never grow back. “
Brown shared that what she finds most painful is being called “Gorilla Glue Girl”, which “bothers my daughters when they go to school”.
“My name is Tessica. Every time someone posts something on social media, that’s it, my inbox gets flooded. Do not worry about it. Yes, you can say that. This is what my mom keeps saying to me: ‘Stop reading the comments,’ ”she said.
“But I can’t help it. I’m going to read them, and they’re still sending me clips of what happened … It’s really, really, really, really ”, added Brown.
Amid all the mockery and insults, however, some people came out in support of the woman.
Beyoncé’s hairstylist, Neal Farinah, offered her a wig, while celebrities like Missy Elliott and Chance the Rapper also supported her, according to ET.
“I am happy that mfs support her in this,” said Chance on Twitter. “When I watched the video the second time, it was hard to laugh because I could tell that the little girl really didn’t know that she had put one of the most powerful stickers in the world in her shit. I hope she recovers well. “
“Porsha [Williams], she wants to send me hair. Jess Hilarious, she and I talk every day as if we are friends, ”said Brown. “A lot of people want to give me hair, but the reason I didn’t accept it is because I don’t want people to think, ‘Oh, that’s why she did it.'”
She also denied allegations that she is considering suing Gorilla Glue for the disaster. The company empathized with its situation.
“If you knew me, you know that I would never, ever do anything to have an influence. If you knew me, you would love me. Whatever you are saying, call me, talk to me. I’ll talk to you. I would really talk to a lot of people. I’m not that person you’re trying to make me look like, ”Brown told ET.
“I am not that Gorilla Glue girl, my name is Tessica Brown. Call me. I’ll talk to you. I’ll let you know exactly who I am, ”she added.