Woman Became a ‘Massive Viral’ Meme from Cameo in 2012 YouTube Video (Exclusive)

Avery Wagner didn’t know she would become part of internet history when she agreed to shoot a video with friends over a decade ago.

Wagner, 32, was attending the University of Arizona when another student named Jimmy Tatro wanted to film a video on campus.

At the time, Tatro, 33, had recently started posting YouTube videos and contributing to the channel Total Frat Move. He frequently filmed and wrote skits with Christian A. Pierce, who was friends with Wagner.

At one point, Wagner, a film minor, expressed interest in joining some of their skit productions. So one day, Pierce informed her they were filming a video that included a “party scene.”

“I don’t know how I feel about being on camera, which is the irony of it all, that this is the one time where I thought, ‘I don’t know about this,’ turned into something that will follow me around for the rest of my entire life,” Wagner shares with PEOPLE exclusively.

In the video, someone delivers the punchline and the extras, including Wagner, are filmed reacting. It was the group’s first time hearing the punchline, so Wagner says her reaction was “relatively genuine.” 

After the video came out in 2012, it went viral. When Wagner watched it, she went to the comments section and was “gutted” by the barrage of comments targeting her specifically, especially about her appearance.

“I had bad anxiety about the whole situation for a long time. It wasn’t great for my confidence. It didn’t turn into the meme that it is now until probably like a year and a half to two years later,” Wagner shares. 

After a while, Wagner shares that she “got over” her initial feelings about the clip.

“For the longest time, I thought, ‘That’s the worst picture ever taken of me. This is so embarrassing.’ Now I’m far enough away from it to where I think it’s funny.” 

One thing about the internet is that it lasts forever. Wagner has since leaned into the meme, recently posting a TikTok video about the situation.

“Every year, I always think that this thing is gonna die and go away and people are gonna forget about it,” she shares. “About once a year, it resurfaces in a massive viral way.”

“At this point, if you have a computer and you’ve used the internet at all in the last 12 years, you’ve probably seen my face. Which is so weird to think about.” 

Even people Wagner hasn’t spoken to in years still reach out after they recognize her from the photo. To this day, however, she’s never been recognized on the street for being in the meme. 

Now, 13 years later, Wagner is a small business owner who runs a social media agency. 

“The girl who was a meme turned content into her life. I started my business three years ago and I work with clients all over the country, primarily in design and building real estate spaces,” she shares.

Ironically enough, Wagner notes that other people in the video have also gone into some form of social media or film and television production, including Tatro, who now has over 3 million YouTube followers and has starred in several comedies, such as The Real Bros of Simi Valley and The Machine.

Outside of making content professionally, Wagner also shares parts of her personal life, focusing on mental health awareness and creating a more open and transparent online space.

“I have an anxiety issue,” Wagner shares. “I’ve dealt with it my entire life and I have been lucky enough to avoid the negative side of TikTok. It does a number on people’s mental health. Being in the industry, I’m actively creating content for both myself and my clients. I want everybody in the world to be a little bit nicer.”

Her biggest takeaway from her brief internet stardom was the impact rude comments can have on everyday people. She implores social media users to think before they type and not “bully people on the internet.”

“We are real people. People in memes are real human beings. If you have a lot of anger and need to express it, write it down in a journal,” she says. “You don’t need to tell people who are 19-year-old babies that they’re ugly and they’re the ugliest girl you’ve ever seen and the ugliest girl that ever went to the University of Arizona. It doesn’t do great things for people’s mental health.”