PewDiePie News: Disney Ends Ties, YouTube Drops Deals With Internet Star Over Anti-Semitic References
Internet star Felix Kjellberg, aka PewDiePie, has just lost several business and project deals with Disney and YouTube after reports surfaced that some of his videos contain anti-Semitic statements and Nazi references.
PewDiePie is often referred to as YouTube's biggest star as over the years, the number of people following his channel has grown to more than 53 million. However, the YouTube sensation faces controversy after the Wall Street Journal reported that some of his videos contained Nazi references and anti-Semitic statements.
After the report spread, a spokeswoman for Maker Studios, a Disney subsidiary that had business ventures with PewDiePie, reportedly made the statement: "Although Felix has created a following by being provocative and irreverent, he clearly went too far in this case and the resulting videos are inappropriate. Maker Studios has made the decision to end our affiliation with him going forward."
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YouTube subsequently canceled the second season of PewDiePie's paid show "Scare PewDiePie" that aired on YouTube Red, a subscription service for $10 per month. A YouTube spokesperson was quoted by Variety as saying, "We've decided to cancel the release of 'Scare PewDiePie' season 2 and we're removing the PewDiePie channel from Google Preferred."
The controversial content can reportedly be found on videos uploaded last Jan. 11, Jan. 17, and Jan. 22 where a man portrayed as Jesus Christ said, "Hitler did absolutely nothing wrong," as well as two other men acting as natives who were holding up a cardboard sign that read, "Death to all Jews."
These actors were reportedly contacted and paid by PewDiePie through the freelance service website Fiverr. According to a WSJ source, the Fiverr accounts of the three actors as well as PewDiePie's were suspended after the videos drew flak.
The mentioned videos from January were reportedly taken down by PewDiePie himself. While the YouTube superstar did not directly respond to WSJ's report, he addressed the controversies through his own Tumblr blog site.
PewDiePie maintained that he was simply trying "to show how crazy the modern world is" especially some of the services that can be availed through the internet. And to prove his point, he showed how "people on Fiverr would say anything for 5 dollars."
The YouTube superstar continued that he wants to make it clear he is in no way supporting "hateful attitudes." PewDiePie reiterates on his Tumblr: "As laughable as it is to believe that I might actually endorse these people, to anyone unsure on my standpoint regarding hate-based groups: No, I don't support these people in any way."
