19 Years Later, ‘disaster Girl’ Gained Insane Money From The Famous Meme
You don’t need to worry how much fame can bring to those who participate in memes.
The ‘disaster girl’ picture, which was a common feature of early meme culture, may be recognizable to you, but in typical ‘where are they now?’ fashion, here is how much the girl earned from the popular photo.
Her name is Zoë Roth, and in 2021 she decided to profit on the well-known image of Roth at the age of four grinning evilly before the camera while a house in the background burns.
It is frequently used when someone does something nefarious or evil, making it appear as though the youngster was the one who ignited the fire.
Roth decided to sell the original image as a non-fungible token (NFT), sometimes referred to as a digital ownership certificate.
You may recall the excitement surrounding NFTs; in essence, the artist’s signature encrypts them, confirming their authenticity.
This makes it possible for tweets, memes, and other online content to be marketed as works of art.
When Roth and her father witnessed a controlled burn—an intentional fire started to clear a property—near Mebane, North Carolina, USA, in January 2005, the aforementioned photo was taken.
The man behind the camera when she made her iconic smirk in front of the house fire was her father, Dave Roth, an amateur photographer.
Away from social media and the internet, the image was a 2008 photography competition winner before going viral after it was shared online.
Roth, who was a university student at the time, sold the original photograph to a bidder going by the handle @3FMusic for 180 Ethereum, a cryptocurrency.
180 Ethereum was worth $473,000 (£341,000) at the time.
In addition, the token contained a code that gave the family the right to retain the copyright and receive 10% of any subsequent sales.
Over the years, the ‘disaster girl’ meme has been altered multiple times to suit various situations; celebrities and well-known catastrophes have been inserted to suit the framework.
She said that she enjoys the various iterations of the picture in an interview with the New York Times in 2021, stating: “You just make it fit however you want to fit it.”
“I love seeing them because I’d never make any of them myself, but I love seeing how creative people are.”
The subject of the picture herself stated that the money would help her pay off her college loan and that a portion of the proceeds would be donated to charitable organizations. The Roth family has also decided to divide the NFT’s profits among themselves.
She explained: “People who are in memes and go viral is one thing, but just the way the internet has held on to my picture and kept it viral, kept it relevant, is so crazy to me”
“I’m super grateful for the entire experience,” Roth admitted.
