We recently connected with Maddy Kate and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Maddy, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

Hi, I’m Maddy Kate Cosplay, and I want to share the time I was “canceled” online.

When I was 17, I grew in fame rapidly online. My cosplays on Instagram and Tiktok really blew up, and I was feeling important for the first time in my life. But with so many eyes on you, so much can go wrong. Bad decisions can be big with so many people watching it can go immensely downhill. This is a story I’ve been wanting to share for 6 years, and I hope others can listen and learn from it.

I grew up with a lack in patarental figures. My mother walked out on me at age 14, and my adoptive dad unadpoted me at 16. I lived with my grandparents by then, but was never really raised to understand things that most people deem as common sense. Hell, I didn’t even know how to use the stove.
I was unaware of things like being a minor on the internet when predators creep, to me letting it happen and selling my body for attention from them. I had no attention growing up, and it felt amazing to be wanted or even felt needed. I had little numbers of friends, but hundreds of men preying upon me.

At 18 I made a patreon account to gain monetary value from my cosplay and included these adult themes. But what I didn’t expect was thousands of people finding this out and trying to cancel me for it. I was confused, hurt, and caught off guard. I didn’t know what I was doing was wrong at all. But it wasnt that I was selling my body as a minor for years, no.. and what was even worse, is that people weren’t mad about MY body. It was the fact I cosplayed characters from anime that were teenagers. I was confused to say the least, “Why are they protecting fictional characters?” I thought. But I grew to learn that it was still not okay.. even if the character was fictional. Even though I was a minor myself when I sold those things, it wasn’t me the public was worried for, it was the idea of sexualizing fictional characters. This was a huge moral epidemic for me. Why was I allowed to do these awful things to myself as a child and no-one bats an eye, or even teaches me that what I was doing was wrong, but when FICTIONAL CHARACTERS I cosplayed were on the line, then it became a problem? This is something I feel strongly about to this day.

I wish someone taught me that selling my body online was wrong. That being a minor doing that was wrong. That these men were grooming me for years because I was underage and pliable due to the neglect of my parents. I wish I had known that sooner. I really do, and I regret it to this day.
But for people to shame me for fictional characters the moment I turned 18 made me realize a huge problem in the adults in my own community. They never protected real kids. They never cared to look at the ages of these cosplayers until they did something as an adult. I was groomed for years and suddenly I was the bad guy.

I have nightmares to this day of the onslaught of hate, death threats, cancel posts, and online friends I thought I had that turned on me. But I learned immensely from this and I vowed to change the community I still loved dearly.

All this happened in 2020, when people were online a lot. Things changed after the covid pandemic, cancel culture diffused a lot, but I still felt strongly about this issue. I started donating to kids who have been neglected and abused in my home state. I never lost followers even after the months of onslaught on me, so I wanted to use my platform to spread awareness. I wanted to be a good role model for younger cosplayers. I grew immensely, and have guested at conventions and spoke about how I grew as a creator. But most of all I wanted to share how we can all make a change to our community, no matter how small. I want to push a better impression of being an adult cosplayer than the ones who were adults to me in my youth.

We all learn and change. I vowed to use my platform for nothing but good things, no hate, no cancel culture, nothing of the sort. I’m 23 now, and I’m proud of the person I’ve become.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’ve been cosplaying for almost 10 years, and working in it full time for 6 years now! I share makeup, wig, and other tutorials, early access pics, exclusive photoshoots, and discord access on my Patreon!

I got into cosplay at a child who loved dress up and to immerse myself as another person. I had a hard reality, and I wanted an escape.

I grew to love makeup and costumes, and even created my own brand because of it. I’ve worked with many companies from Hot Topic,to flying out for conventions, to volunteering at art markets!

Working independently is hard, as I am my own boss. It took me years to take my hobby seriously enough to think of it as a job, as I was making money off of it now.

I’m proud of how every time I cosplay to this day I find something to improve on. There has been no disinterest in my work, and I am constantly inspired to create and do more! I want to teach others that no matter where you start you can keep improving!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

(I think the first chunk I have posted was enough to cover that topic lol)

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I love to create. I love to be a whole new person or to be those I admire in media. Wigs, makeup, film, it all creates art. I love the idea of changing just for a moment into a completely new entity and experiencing being them. In a way, it is still a way I escape from reality, but the more I do it, the more it is my reality. Each of these characters leave something in me that I carry to the next one. I admire being able to continue that and grow as a human from it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.patreon.com/maddykatecosplay?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maddykate.cosplay/profilecard/?igsh=MW0wMm5jcGVlYm8wYw==
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@maddykate?si=48BDSdmdd1wi6nDk
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@maddykate.cosplay?_t=8sIlK69M0le&_r=1

Image Credits

Jinx and Beetlejuice photos by: @mrdangphotos on IG