The Star Wars Kid Was the First Viral Video. Where is he Now?
We got it wrong.
I was one of the ones who laughed — and now I regret it.
I saw the original Star Wars Kid video in 2003, with a few dorm mates standing behind me wearing grins.
The video garnered 900 million views — before YouTube was even released. At the time, it was the most viewed internet video in history.
The boy in the video was 9th grader Ghyslain Raza (pronounced “guy-slain”). He’d filmed the video in the theater room with no intention of it being released.
He was the first target of cyberbullying — before the term even existed. He was dubbed The Star Wars Kid after editors added light saber effects to the video:
While everyone laughed, his life was ruined.
At school, boys stood on lunchroom tables with brooms, impersonating him in exaggerated movements to a cacophony of laughter.
