Volume 28 Issue 23 November 10, 2020
Inside:
New Dining Options Now Open On S.R. 56! See page 34!
DON’T PANIC!
STORY BY JOHN C. COTEY * PHOTOS: JACK DYTRYCH PHOTOGRAPHER
S
crolling through Kelsey Darragh’s popular YouTube channel, one thing is for certain — she has no filter. Some of the titles and topics of her videos may make you blush (don’t ask), while others you will irresistibly click (we said don’t ask!), but Kelsey is both sassy and serious, and most often both at the same time. However, you don’t have to dig deep into her YouTube channel to find Darragh — a 2008 Freedom High graduate now living in a Los Angeles apartment with a view of the famous Hollywood sign — tackling more serious issues dealing with gay, lesbian and trans issues, being in an abusive relationship, battling chronic pain, getting sober and even living with mental illness. Darragh, who proudly says she is a three-time college dropout — Auburn University, the New York Film Academy and Los Angeles City College — used her edgy sense of
What We Love About Florida Ave. Brewing & Rock & Brews! See the stories on pages 34-35!
humor to burst onto the YouTube scene in 2010, and started working for Buzzfeed in 2015. One of her favorite videos was about being chained to her mother Kristy Darragh, well-known local realtor, for 24 hours. And, while mom may blush at some of the titles on her daughter’s YouTube page, Kristy has appeared in a few of Kelsey’s videos herself. Kristy knew that Kelsey had struggled her entire life with anxiety, panic and depression. But, while she was at Buzzfeed, Kelsey bravely revealed it to the whole world, in video form of course. The reaction transformed her life, and her mission. “My parents will tell you that I’m the most dramatic child that ever existed,” Kelsey says. “It’s no surprise that I’m using my voice for (both) entertainment and mental health activism. It was just kind of written in the stars for me.” See our Q-n-A with Kelsey on page 4!