Corey Worthington's Party

Overview

Corey Worthington's Party was an event that took place at a teen’s residence in Melbourne, Australia in January of 2008. After the party was shutdown by police, Worthington appeared in a television interview during which he showed little remorse for his act and the clip was subsequently uploaded to the video-sharing website YouTube.

Background

On January 12th, 2008, then 16-year-old Corey Worthington threw a party while his parents were away at his house in the Narre Warren district of Melbourne, Australia. According to the Australian news site Crikey^[1], Worthington publicized the event on the social networking sites Myspace and Facebook, which attracted a crowd of 500 youths many of whom ended up vandalizing the neighborhood.

Notable Developments

On January 14th, 2008, YouTuber thetonkins uploaded a video titled “Best Street Party Ever – Parents Yet to Find Out”, which included an interview clip with Worthington on the television news program A Current Affair. During the interview, when asked why he refused to remove his sunglasses by host Leila McKinnon, Worthington responded by stating "because they're famous." Within five years, the original video upload accumulated over 2.4 million views and 12,200 comments.

Reporter: "Take those glasses off and say sorry"
Corey: "Can't do that"
Reporter: "Why?"
Corey: "Because, they're famous."
Reporter: "You should go away and have a good long hard look at yourself."
Corey: "I have, everyone has, they love it."

On the following day, the online retailer Busted Tees^[12] released a shirt which included a screen printed illustration of Worthington with the caption "I'll say sorry / but I'm not taking off my glasses" (shown below).

News Media Coverage

On January 14th, 2008, the Courier Mail^[10] published an article titled “Parents of Teen Party Animal May be Fined $20,000”, quoting Victorian police chief Christine Nixon's estimated costs in damage. The following day, the news blog Gawker^[11] published an article titled "Your Glasses Are Famous: Australian Media Keeps Chasing Party Kid Corey Worthington." On January 17th, the Herald Sun^[7] published an article titled “Corey Worthington Starts to Pocket Riches”, reporting that entrepreneur Danny Grant hired Worthington as a party promoter for his company Loud Promotions. On January 20th, The Telegraph^[9] published an article citing a public letter released by Worthington’s parents in defense of their son:

"The Corey we know is a loving, kind and fun boy who always has time for his family.''

On January 24th, Reuters^[8] published an article titled "Australia Wild Party Child Turns Party Pro", reporting that Worthington was being represented by Australian celebrity agent Max Markson to host parties in various Australian cities.

Flash Game

On January 16th, 2008, the single-serving site "SlapCorey"^[2] was launched, which included a flash game that allowed players to slap a photo of Worthington with a virtual hand. On the following day, The Telegraph^[5] reported on the website in an article titled “Slap Corey – the game.” As of September 10th, 2012, the game has been played 1.1 million times.

Sunglasses

According to the fashion blog Guest of a Guest^[15], Worthington's sunglasses appeared to be a knock-off version of the New Zealand designer Karen Walker's yellow sunglasses (shown below, right). The blog post revealed that a pair of the sunglasses were being sold in an eBay auction that has since been removed.

On June 28th, 2010, a Facebook^[16] page for "Corey Worthington's Famous Sunglasses" was created. Several YouTubers uploaded parody videos in which the subjects wear sunglasses from the A Current Affair interview.

Fight Video

On January 29th, 2008, YouTuber shagsta690 uploaded a video of a news report in which Worthington is shown participating in a brawl filmed on a camera phone (shown below). On February 1st, The Sydney Morning Herald^[4] published an article titled "Corey Attack Video Staged Probe", reporting that Victorian police officers were examining the video after they received tips that the fight may have been staged.

Big Brother

Worthington appeared on the eighth season of the Australian reality telelvision series Big Brother Australia, which premiered on April 28th, 2008. On day 19 of the show, Worthington left the Big Brother house.

Vandalism Charges

On March 17th, 2010, Worthington was charged with criminal damage for smashing a car with a metal bed post. On April 18th, the Herald Sun reported that Worthington plead guilty to smashing the car owned by his former friend Chris Holden and was fined $500 to be donated to the Royal Children's Hospital.

Project X

On March 2nd, 2012, the comedy film Project X was released, in which three teens throw a huge party while their parents are away that escalates beyond their control. The same day the movie was released, the sports news blog The Big Lead^[18] published a review of the film, which claimed the story was inspired by Corey Worthington's party. The film was given mostly negative reviews, receiving a score of 26% on the website Rotten Tomatoes.^[14]

Search Interest

Search query volume for "corey worthington" peaked in January of 2008, the same month the A Current Affair interview was uploaded to YouTube.

External References