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PewDiePie Responds Directly To Recent Controversy In New Video
YouTube superstar PewDiePie's ties to Disney were recently severed following the posting of a video where he paid $5 to two men to hold up a sign with anti-semetic words written on it. As a result, Disney, which owns Maker Studios who employs PewDiePie, severed their ties to the entertainer. You can read more about the controversy here.
In response today, Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg posted a video on his YouTube channel, which will continue to be active, sharing his side of the story. He acknowledges the joke went too far saying, "My intention was to prove how stupid [fiverr.com] is and how far you could push it by just paying $5. I'm sorry for the words that I used as I know they offended people, and I admit that the joke itself went too far." He understands how it may have offended, but calls out Wall Street Journal specifically for misrepresenting what was meant to be a joke. "I think most internet personalities can agree with me that the media generally doesn't like us very much," Kjellberg says, "Old shcool media does not like internet personalities... because they're scared of us."
Kjellberg continued by saying, "A lot of people love the video, and a lot of people didn't, and it's almost like two generations of people arguing whether this is okay or not." He ended the video saying, "I'm still here. I'm still making videos. Nice try Wall Street Journal. Try again motherf***ers."
You can check out PewDiePie's full video post below.
[Source: PewDiePie on YouTube]
Our Take
This is a complicated situation and while I appreciate hearing PewDiePie's side of the story, I can't help but feel he doesn't fully understand why his "joke" was offensive. I admire PewDiePie's ability to find massive success in this new avenue of entertainment, but maybe having someone to bounce joke ideas off of before pursuing them wouldn't be a bad idea in the future.
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