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Following some of PewDiePie’s recent videos, YouTube and subsidiary of Disney, Maker Studios, have made some moves to distance themselves from the online content producer.
The videos that have caused controversy contain antisemitic sentiment such as one where Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg paid two men from India to hold up a sign that read ‘death to all Jews,’ via website Fiverr. Another featured swastikas and some religious imagery, along with the message ‘Hitler did absolutely nothing wrong.’
Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Maker Studios said ‘although Felix has created a following by being provocative and irreverent, he clearly went too far in this case,’ before going onto say that some of his recent content has been ‘inappropriate.’
Variety has reported that YouTube has also taken umbrage with Kjellberg and has cancelled the second season of his YouTube Red series Scare PewDiePie, and has removed his channel from Google Preferred — the advertising program for ‘brand-safe content’ that appears on YouTube.
Prior to the actions of Maker Studios and YouTube, Kjellberg took to Tumblr in order to post his thoughts on the controversial videos. PewDiePie stated ‘I was trying to show how crazy the modern world is, specifically some of the services available online,’ in reference to the video in which he paid two men to hold an antisemitic sign. Kjellberg went on to say, ‘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.’
Source: Wall Street Journal
Source: Variety
