Benito Skinner

Skinner was born and raised in Boise, Idaho, and attended Bishop Kelly High School. His family is Catholic, but he has said they "weren't really practicing".^[1] While a senior in high school, Skinner founded the nonprofit OATHS, which stands for Organization Assisting the Homeless Student, and was recognized at the 2011 National Philanthropy Day Idaho.^[2] He also played on Bishop Kelly's football team as a wide receiver.^[3]

Some of his early comedic inspirations were Robin Williams in his role as Mrs. Doubtfire, and SpongeBob SquarePants. While he would perform renditions of Britney Spears and Destiny's Child songs for his family, he has discussed repressing some of his early proclivities toward performance and comedy due to bullying and homophobic comments.^[4]

He went on to attend Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he studied acting, English, and film and media studies. In college, Skinner began experimenting with performance in the form of recorded lip syncs and other videos. He had created the @BennyDrama7 Instagram account in high school – with the "7" referencing his football jersey number – but only began to post comedic videos while in college.^[5][4]

While at Georgetown, Skinner was also the co-creator and host of BEAT$, a weekly campus radio show known for its pop music stylings.^[6]

After graduating, Skinner worked as a video editor while continuing to create online content. In 2016, Skinner made his social media accounts public, and this early work developed into comedy videos on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.^[7][4] He is known for his celebrity impressions of, e.g., Shawn Mendes, Lana Del Rey, and Kourtney Kardashian, as well as for original characters, including Jenni the Hairdresser. He has described his work as fully rooted in pop culture.^[3]

In 2018, he performed his debut show "Overcompensating" at Carolines on Broadway to a sold-out audience at the New York Comedy Festival.^[8] He hosted the pop culture podcast Obsessed with Mary Beth Barone on Spotify for one season and 50 episodes.^[9][10] Skinner and Barone launched a pop culture podcast, Ride, in 2023.^[11]

Skinner gained notoriety in 2021 for filming a series of TikToks with the White House. He acted as a character nicknamed the “Gen Z intern” and urged young people to obtain COVID-19 vaccines.^[12][13][14] In 2023, Skinner was listed under Forbes 30 Under 30 in the social media category.^[15]

In 2024, Skinner starred in Chelsea Peretti's first feature, First Time Female Director.^[11] In 2025, he hosted the press conference organized by Spotify for Lady Gaga's Mayhem album release and interviewed the singer.^[16] The same year, Skinner created the series Overcompensating for Amazon Prime Video.^[17] In February 2026, he appeared in the music video for Maisie Peters' single "My Regards".^[18]

Skinner is gay and came out in his senior year of college. He was in a relationship with director and photographer Terrence O'Connor from 2016 to 2025. They resided in Los Angeles, California. They were known for their elaborate and carefully constructed annual couples' Halloween costumes.^[19][20]