PewDiePie apologizes for joke, but lambasts media

We all know the story: After publishing a video which depicted two men holding up a banner saying “Death to all Jews,” PewDiePie landed in hot water with YouTube and Disney.

Felix Kjellberg—the YouTube sensation's real name—has apologized for the joke. However, he claims he has been taken out of context, and wrongfully portrayed as someone who endorses Nazi ideology.

The apology

PewDiePie published a video in which he apologized for the “Death to all Jews” joke.

“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,” PewDiePie stated in the video. “I do strongly believe that you can joke about anything but I also believe there’s a right way, and not the best way, to joke about things.”

He continued: “I love to push boundaries, but I would consider myself a rookie comedian, and I’ve definitely made mistakes like this before. But it’s always been a growing and learning experience for me… this whole situation has definitely been that for me. And it’s something that I’m going to keep in mind going forward.”

PewDiePie then slammed the Wall Street Journal, saying it took him out of context and “portrayed” him as a Nazi racist. According to PewDiePie, while he did indeed use Nazi imagery in his videos, it wasn’t to endorse Nazi ideology.

In one video, PewDiePie used footage of a Hitler speech to criticize YouTube, which he felt was adopting a system that was akin to a “Nazi scheme.”

“I acknowledge that I took things too far, and that’s something that I will definitely keep in mind moving forward,” he said. “But the reaction and the outrage has been nothing but insanity. People celebrating the fact that my show got canceled, which is something that literally hundreds of people worked on. Is that fair, is that worth celebrating, over some jokes that you disagree with?”

He didn’t mince words when addressing the Wall Street Journal: “I’m still here, I’m still making videos. Nice try, Wall Street Journal. Try again, motherf--kers.”

The crazy modern world

Prior to the apology video, PewDiePie went on Tumblr to state that the point of the “Death to all Jews” video wasn’t to mock Jews, but to reveal the absurdity of internet crowdsourcing services such as Fiverr.

“I was trying to show how crazy the modern world is, specifically some of the services available online,” he said. “I picked something that seemed absurd to me—that people on Fiverr would say anything for 5 dollars.”

He added: “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.”

No stranger to controversy

Provocative, sarcastic, and prone to the frequent use of profanities, PewDiePie is no stranger to controversy. He once threatened to delete his channel upon achieving its 50-million-subscribers milestone. He later confessed that it had been nothing more than an attention-grabbing prank. He also used Twitter to circulate fake news regarding himself. In August of 2016, after joking that he had enlisted in ISIS, he was temporarily suspended from the social networking service.

According to some reports, PewDiePie’s use of Nazi imagery has garnered the attention of actual neo-Nazis, who believe him to be one of them.

After the “Death to all Jews” joke, Disney’s Maker Studios cut ties with PewDiePie on the evening of February 13, 2017. Not long after this announcement, Google’s YouTube made the decision to cancel the second season of the star’s reality show, “Scare PewDiePie.” Additionally, YouTube removed PewDiePie’s channel from Google Preferred, which is its premium program that allows companies to advertise “brand-safe content” through the service’s most-visited channels.

“Scare PewDiePie” was produced by Maker Studios and SkyBound Entertainment. It premiered in February last year on the subscription-based YouTube Red. The show revolved around having PewDiePie encounter frightening sets and situations paralleling his favorite horror video games. The first season boasted ten episodes, which are still available on the service. The second season was renewed in June 2016, but, thanks to the cancellation, it looks like we’ll never see it now.

Ever since the fallout, a number of YouTube personalities have come to PewDiePie’s defense.

Others, while admitting they don’t believe PewDiePie to be anti-Semitic, remain of the opinion that his jokes were not only in poor taste, but could also end up normalizing hateful speech, imagery, and thoughts.

And of course, there are those who are more critical of the YouTube megastar and those like him. This lengthy write-up by BuzzFeed contributor Jacob Clifton describes PewDiePie as “one of 50 million-and-one drops in an ocean, caught in a tide toward a nasty shore,” and suggests that he’s an “edgelord.” Clifton also points out that PewDiePie is only “a symptom of a majority illness,” meaning that the issue is much larger than PewDiePie himself.

PewDiePie, a 27-year-old Swede, is one of the most popular and successful personalities on YouTube. He has the most-subscribed YouTube channel at over 53 million followers, and was named by Time magazine as one of 2016’s most influential people. — BM, GMA News