Transgender TV, YouTube Personality Jazz Jennings Inspires Doll Based On Her Likeness

Since she sat down for an interview with Barbara Walters a decade ago, Jazz Jennings has been one of the youngest transgender women to receive national attention. Now, 16-year-old Jazz, who has her own show on TLC and a bustling YouTube channel, is back in the spotlight thanks to a new item that bears her likeness. The Tonner Doll Company has unveiled a Jazz-inspired figure that will begin to ship in July 2017.

In occasional YouTube updates, Jennings, who is the primary figure in the TLC program I Am Jazz, discusses life as a teenage transgender woman while mixing in typical YouTube fare such as DIY videos and question-and-answer sessions. While she updates fairly infrequently, she has still gained a following of more than 300,000 subscribers, which has delivered more than 13 million views since July 2013.

Tonner unveiled its Jazz Jennings doll at the annual Toy Fair at New York City’s Javits Center. “Ever since I was little, I always loved playing with dolls,” Jennings told the New York Times. “It was a great way to show my parents that I was a girl, because I could just express myself as I am. So this really resonates with me, because it was something so pivotal in my own journey.”

A press release from Tonner does not specify how much the new doll will cost, though it does note that the item will be available in specialty stores this summer.