Viral Glasgow Oompa Loompa calls for better protection from memes after trolls drove her to brink of death

Daily Record

6 days ago

Kirsty Paterson was targeted by trolls who mocked her appreance after she was pictured at the Willy Wonka Experience.
A woman who went viral after a picture of her dressed as an Oompa Loompa was shared millions of times on the internet has called for better laws to protect people from having images of them posted without their consent.
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Kirsty Paterson, 31, was mocked and trolled online after a picture of her at the infamous event Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow was shared across the world. She says the trauma of the experience almost led to her death.
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The picture of her, dressed as a sad Oompa Loompa, went viral after event bosses pulled the plug on the show when punters queued up to demand refunds after paying £35 for a tour of an almost empty warehouse.
Kirsty was looking for her big break in acting when she took a job as an entertainer at the children's event in February 2024.
However, days afterwards Kirsty had been forced to switch off her phone and go to stay with a friend in Edinburgh due to the online abuse.
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Even when seeking escapism by turning on the TV, she found her image was the butt of jokes from chat shows discussing the image.
In an an interview with the Go Doxx Yourself podcast, she said: "I think there needs to be definitely 110% more legislation on this because the result of this could be death and suicide.
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"I just couldn't mentally deal with it, I had to switch off and even when my phone was switched off I couldn't switch off and for me it was the horrible comments it was putting me down a really dark hole at the time.
"I just got completely dehumanised. I was just getting used for advertisements everywhere. Merchandise was getting made about me. This was all within four days.
"And I turned my phone off because I actually mentally couldn't cope with it."
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Kirsty said that the picture continued to be shared widely afterwards and her mental health plummeted.
She believes that copyright should change to mean that if an image of a person is being used commercially, that person should be able to give consent or see some benefit.
It was only when parents shared a series of images to show how the entertainers had pulled out all the stops in difficult circumstances that the narrative started to change.
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Kirsty was later invited as a guest on TV chat shows, was featured by the New York Times and even starred in an Edinburgh Fringe Show based on the disastrous experience and its aftermath.
She said: 'I'm forever grateful to the parents for doing that. And they kind of saved my life. I'm not being dramatic when I say that.
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"Going viral isn't all positive, but it's also been an amazing experience as well."
To hear the full interview with Kirsty and for tips on what to do if your image goes viral, listen to Go Doxx Yourself, a podcast that unpicks the human stories behind cyber nightmares.
For support if you are feeling overwhelmed or struggling to cope, contact the Samaritans at Samaritans.org or by calling 116 123.