Felix Kjellberg, a.k.a PewDiePie, may be the most popular personality on Youtube, but he has definitely gone too far with one of his latest “jokes”. Both Disney-owned Maker Studios and Youtube have officially severed ties with the world’s most notorious Youtuber after he made a video that appeared to support anti-semitism.
The video in question featured two men holding up a sign which read “death to all jews” while laughing and dancing. PewDiePie’s unwitting accomplices were apparently Indian nationals who were hired through the freelancing site Fiverr. Fiverr itself has supposedly banned the accounts of all those involved in the fiasco.
Scare PewDiePie, which is one of the headlining shows for Youtube Red, has been cancelled and production of the second season halted. The series is only available through Youtube’s premium paid service, which shouldn’t affect too many people aside from PewDiePie himself.
On a similar note, Maker Studios will no longer be working with PewDiePie or promoting his videos. The group, which supports a collection of Youtubers was recently acquired by Disney. Naturally, this has made PewDiePie extremely unsuitable for its new owners.
PewDiePie has attempted to defend his actions though a post on Tumblr, saying that the video was to highlight “how crazy the modern world is, specifically some of the services available online.” Fiverr was supposedly chosen because it had a collection of people who would do anything for $5. The non-apology also went on to clarify that he does not support anti-semitism.
Despite this, the Swedish Youtuber has consistently used Nazi symbols as “jokes” to appeal to his audience. This has included performing the straight armed salute and showing Nazi Swastikas drawn by his viewers.
Still, PewDiePie has found some support – from the increasingly bold Neo-Nazi movement. The groups have applauded his move to highlight their cause and have been trying to share the video (which has thankfully been removed).
It’s not the kind of support that anyone wants, but it looks like this is the new biggest audience for the world’s most viewed Youtuber.
[Source: Washington Post, Tumblr]
