PewDiePie Responds To WSJ

 In response to the uproar,
Kjellberg made the following statement on his Tumblr page prior
to Disney and YouTube’s actions:   “It came to my attention
yesterday that some have been pointing to my videos and saying
that I am giving credibility to the anti-Semitic movement, and my
fans are part of it as well for watching. I don’t want to cite
the sources because I don’t want to give them any more attention.

This originated from a video I made a
couple of weeks ago. I was trying to show how crazy the modern
world is, specifically some of the services available online. I
picked something that seemed absurd to me—That people on Fiverr
would say anything for 5 dollars.   I think it’s important
to say something and I want to make one thing clear: I am in no
way supporting any kind of hateful attitudes.   I make
videos for my audience. I think of the content that I create as
entertainment, and not a place for any serious political
commentary. I know my audience understand that and that is why
they come to my channel. Though this was not my intention, I
understand that these jokes were ultimately offensive.   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.”

---

PewDiePie dumped by Disney and YouTube over anti-Semitic stunts

First Disney and now YouTube. It’s been a bad week for Felix
Kjellberg, the vlogging sensation known online by his more famous
alias, PewDiePie. The popular YouTuber lost his deal with Disney
on Monday after a report by The Wall Street Journal discussing
several PewDiePie videos with anti-Semitic content.   On
Tuesday, Variety reported that YouTube is also dumping the second
season of Kjellberg’s original series Scare PewDiePie. The series
was exclusively available on YouTubeRed, the site’s subscription
service.   In the wake of the controversy over Kjellberg’s
anti-semitic content, YouTube told Variety the second season of
the show would be cancelled. Kjellberg is also losing out on
Google Preferred, the search company’s advertising program that
packages top YouTubers’ content that advertisers can buy ad space
against. The creators get a bigger cut of the ad revenue than
usual and the content is supposed to be popular and “brand safe.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-severs-ties-with-youtube-star-pewdiepie-after-anti-semitic-posts-1487034533
The content that immersed Kjellberg in this latest controversy
stretches across a number of videos—the worst of which appears to
have been deleted. A January video that is no longer available,
for example, shows Kjellberg using the freelance marketplace
Fiverr to get two men in India to hold up a sign that said,
“Death to All Jews,” according to The Journal.   In another
video that is still available, Kjellberg had his viewers submit
images from a game he’d published called Tuber Simulator. As part
of the game you create your own YouTuber space. Kjellberg’s
contest entrants included some users who’d made a swastika as
part of their virtual YouTuber space. Kjellberg also ended
another video responding to criticism that he was a racist by
watching a Hitler video while wearing a military uniform.
The story behind the story: Although Kjellberg is losing out on
significant revenue from his deals with Disney and YouTube, he
won’t lose his audience. The PewDiePie channel with its more than
53 million subscribers remains, and it’s unlikely Kjellberg will
stop producing videos because of this. It also doesn’t appear he
will be prevented from using YouTube’s standard advertising.