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Betch: Kelly's 'Shoes' Video Stepped Out 10 Years Ago

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These shoes are three hundred fucking dollars... Let's get 'em!

The year was 2007. George W. Bush was in office, RuPaul Charles was merely a famous drag queen without a reality show, and YouTube celebrities weren't even a thing yet. It was also the year the Internet was graced with the holy grail of videos.

Kelly (brainchild of Liam Kyle Sullivan) was a horribly misunderstood, very tall teenage girl who took style cues from Avril Lavigne and said things like "betch" and "shetbag." She hung out with a teenage vampire and shared a house with her Christian parents, dumb athlete twin brother, alcoholic grandmother and vegan lesbian aunt. She also had an unmatched affinity for shoes.

For queer millennials who hadn't quite found their way, Kelly was kind of a symbol of empowerment. She was a foul-mouthed teenage girl (played by a man in his 30s) who took what she wanted and didn't let stupid boys tell her she had too many shoes. She gave a blossoming generation the permission to let their freak flags fly and not care what people thought.

Kelly's "Shoes" was a monumental video in the history of YouTube. Before going viral was even something for teenagers to aspire to, this music video dominated the internet. It was right up there with the Potter Puppet Pals and Charlie the Unicorn. Relive the glory that is Kelly's "Shoes" 10 years later:

Advocate Channel - The Pride StoreOut / Advocate Magazine - Fellow Travelers & Jamie Lee Curtis

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