No Gorilla Glue hair lawsuit was ever filed. Tessica Brown, the Louisiana woman who went viral in February 2021 after Gorilla Glue Spray Adhesive bonded to her hair and scalp, publicly denied any plan to sue the manufacturer and never pursued a liability claim in any court. The rumor that she was heading to court came from a single early TMZ report that Brown herself rejected within days.
Where the Lawsuit Rumor Came From
Shortly after Brown’s TikTok video went viral on February 4, 2021, TMZ reported that she had consulted a lawyer and was considering suing Gorilla Glue on the theory that the product’s label was “misleading” for not specifically warning against use on hair. The claim traveled fast across entertainment and news outlets.
Brown shut it down in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “No, I’ve never ever said that. I don’t know where all of this is coming from,” she said, explaining that her social posts came from “a dire need of assistance,” not a legal strategy.1Revolt. Gorilla Glue Girl Denies Claims She’s Filing a Lawsuit Against the Gorilla Glue Company She stated directly that she did not intend to pursue a liability claim against the company.2Business Insider. Tessica Brown Gorilla Glue Hair Lawyers Weigh In No complaint was ever filed, no settlement was reached, and no court case exists.
What a Failure-to-Warn Claim Would Have Looked Like
Even without a lawsuit, attorneys and legal commentators spent weeks debating whether Brown could have brought a viable product liability case. The strongest theory on her side was failure to warn.
Gorilla Glue Spray Adhesive carries a label stating, “Do not swallow. Do not get in eyes, on skin or on clothing.”3ABC7 New York. The Girl Who Put Gorilla Glue on Her Hair Update Hair is not specifically mentioned. The company, in its February 8, 2021 statement, emphasized that the spray “is not indicated for use in or on hair as it is considered permanent” and is intended for “craft, home, auto or office projects.”4BuzzFeed News. Gorilla Glue Addresses Tessica Brown Hair Accident
Louisiana law, which would have governed any suit Brown brought, allows a manufacturer to be held liable for harm caused during a “reasonably anticipated use” of a product. That standard is broader than “intended use” and can include misuses that are foreseeable or highly predictable. A plaintiff’s attorney could have argued that the manufacturer should have anticipated someone spraying the product on their hair, given the existence of similarly named hair-styling products like “Gorilla Snot Gel” and the beauty-industry practice of using adhesives in “glue weaves.”5Law and Crime. Here’s Why Tessica Brown May Have a Viable Lawsuit Against Gorilla Glue
What Gorilla Glue Could Have Argued Back
The defense would have had straightforward counters. The product is marketed as an industrial adhesive for craft and construction use, no reasonable consumer treats it as a hair product, and the existing warning to avoid contact with skin arguably covers the scalp by implication.
Gorilla Glue could also have invoked the “open and obvious danger” doctrine. Courts generally hold that manufacturers do not need to warn consumers about risks any reasonable person would recognize on their own.6CALI. Defenses to Products Liability A permanent industrial adhesive sticking to hair, the argument runs, is exactly that kind of obvious risk.
Why Louisiana Law Complicated the Case
Attorneys who weighed in told Business Insider that even if a failure-to-warn theory got off the ground, Louisiana’s “pure comparative fault” rule would have cut into any recovery. Under that rule, a plaintiff’s damages are reduced by their own share of blame. A jury that found Brown even partially responsible for applying industrial adhesive to her hair could have slashed any award substantially.
Other attorneys thought the case could at least survive early motions and reach discovery. The split reflected a genuine ambiguity: whether a judge or jury would consider Brown’s use “reasonably anticipated” was the pivot point of the whole case, and no one on either side could predict the answer with confidence.2Business Insider. Tessica Brown Gorilla Glue Hair Lawyers Weigh In
What Happened Instead
Brown’s medical problem resolved outside the courts. After she checked into St. Bernard Parish Hospital on February 6, 2021, where staff tried acetone and sterile water without success,7Revolt. Gorilla Glue Girl Goes to Hospital to Treat Her Hair Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Michael K. Obeng offered to perform a removal procedure for free.
Dr. Obeng identified the adhesive’s primary active ingredient as polyurethane and developed a custom solvent that combined a medical-grade adhesive remover with aloe vera, an olive oil mixture, and acetone. He tested it on a human-hair wig and on his own knee before using it on Brown. On February 10, 2021, he performed a four-hour procedure under twilight anesthesia that successfully removed the glue.8GQ. Michael Obeng Gorilla Glue Interview9New York Post. This Is the Doc Who Fixed Gorilla Glue Girl Tessica Brown’s Hair
Dr. Obeng said the procedure would normally cost between $12,500 and $15,000. He performed it pro bono through RESTORE Worldwide Inc., the nonprofit he founded in 2008 to provide free reconstructive surgeries in developing countries.8GQ. Michael Obeng Gorilla Glue Interview With her medical expenses zeroed out and the problem physically resolved, Brown had little practical reason to litigate, and she chose not to.
What Didn’t Change
One point worth noting for anyone searching this topic expecting a regulatory or product-safety outcome: the research reflects no indication that Gorilla Glue changed its labeling or product warnings after the incident. The spray adhesive’s warning language, which cautions against contact with eyes, skin, and clothing but does not specifically mention hair, remained the same as before Brown’s video went viral. No class action, no recall, and no settlement followed. The entire legal dimension of the Gorilla Glue hair story begins and ends with a rumor Brown denied.