Looking back, Sarah Cooper 'wasn't ready' for viral fame: 'I suffered a lot of humiliation'
In 2020, as the world was gripped by a suffocating pandemic, Sarah Cooper became a viral phenomenon. But what happened during and after her skyrocket ride to fame would flip her world upside down.
Cooper's breakthrough came with a series of online videos lip-syncing then-President Trump. In "How to Medical," "How to Bible" and "How to More Cases than Anybody in the World," Cooper supplemented Trump's voice with exaggerated facial quirks and gestures.
The spectacle of a Black woman lampooning the most powerful politician in America delivered a refreshing comic antidote to the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic and looming election, drawing tens of millions of views and shout-outs from Bette Midler, Cher, Jerry Seinfeld and Ben Stiller.
And after a lifetime of wondering how to break into show business, Cooper suddenly had Hollywood knocking on her door.
"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" called her to guest-host an episode of the ABC late-night show. She and "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon." An offer came for a regular role on a sitcom. She sold two TV pilots — a project with Ricky Gervais to Netflix and another based on a book she wrote several years ago to CBS.
