Jessi Smiles

Jessica Vasquez (born August 18, 1993), known professionally as Jessi Smiles, is an American YouTuber, podcaster, and influencer. She rose to prominence on Vine starting in 2013 and has been described as one of the platform's earliest stars. , she co-hosts the podcast Do We Know Them?

Early life Vasquez was born on August 18, 1993. She is of Cuban descent. Her mother, Cristina Ferrero, worked as her manager in 2014; her parents divorced when she was young. In her first Vine to appear on the platform's popular page, "The Shit Guys Care About", she twerked in short-shorts; she soon reached 100 thousand followers and quit her spa job. In August 2013, four weeks after starting her account, she accrued one million followers and was verified on Vine, also appearing in a video with Pharrell Williams. Also that year, she launched a YouTube channel for her music, Jessi Sings, and released her debut single, "What If I". She posted her last video on Vine, which promoted her YouTube channel, in March 2016 before it was discontinued in January 2017. In June of 2025, Jessi Smiles also launched a second podcast with friend Kathleen Lights called The JK Podcast.

Public image and accolades Voxxi included her on their list of the best Latino creators on Vine in 2013, with Jessica Lucia Roiz writing that she was "without a doubt one of the funniest 'chicas'" on the platform.

At the Shorty Awards, she was nominated for Vine Star of the Year in 2015 and for YouTube Comedian in 2017.

Personal life Smiles married Nassim Ssimou in April 2017. She gave birth to a son, Noah, in August of that year.

Two weeks after their first in-person meeting, Smiles flew out to LA to visit him, but the two broke up four days later; Smiles still stayed in LA for the planned duration of the trip. On August 31, Smiles hit her head while filming a Vine, likely resulting in a concussion; Lepore, insisting someone needed to watch over her, drove Smiles to his home and, she alleged, raped her in her sleep. The allegations quickly went viral on social media and prompted death threats against Smiles.

In November 2019, Smiles uploaded a video alleging that Gabbie Hanna, her former best friend, defended and collaborated with Lepore following his plea deal. In 2014, prior to having met either Smiles or Lepore, on the day TMZ had broken the news about the rape charges, Hanna had posted multiple tweets expressing skepticism about Smiles's accusations. In June 2021, in response to what Smiles described as Hanna continuously mischaracterizing her own interactions with Lepore as having been fewer than there actually were, Smiles uploaded several videos of a 2020 phone call between her and Hanna. In Smiles's hour-and-20-minute long video "Gabbie Hanna will never stop", uploaded to YouTube in July 2021, she asked Hanna to stop mentioning her rape trial.

Discography