PewDiePie in Hot Water yet Again
The big streamer, Gamer, and Youtube Star, Fellix Kjellberg aka PewDiePie recently drew some backlash for his use of the N word during a livestream yesterday. In the heat of a PUBG moment, the Youtuber interjected “What a f**king n*****!”” during a livestream. “Geez! Oh my god! What the f**k? Sorry, but what the f***?”
With over 57 million subscribers, the famed YouTuber is no stranger to scrutiny from outside and within. Not too long ago, he came under fire for displaying a “Death to all Jews” sign in one of his videos. However, he did apologize and explain how it was out of context. But this time around, he’s invoked the fire and fury of the people whose games he broadcasts. Sean Vanaman, co-founder of the studio behind Firewatch, said they will file a DMCA takedown notice for all their content on the YouTuber’s channel. Furthermore, he’s urging other game developers to do the same. He relayed as much in a heated series of tweets combining as follows:
“There is a bit of leeway you have to have with the Internet when u wake up every day and make video games. There’s also a breaking point,” Vanaman explained. “I am sick of this child getting more and more chances to make money off of what we make.
“He’s worse than a closeted racist: he’s a propagator of despicable garbage that does real damage to the culture around this industry. I’d urge other developers & will be reaching out to folks much larger than us to cut him off from the content that has made him a millionaire. Furthermore, we’re complicit: I’m sure we’ve made money off of the 5.7M views that video has and that’s something for us to think about.”
Despite the controversy the YouTube star has stirred, he is still known for his charity work and the positive attitude he encourages among his fanbase. Even so, he is not without reproach. As Vanaman puts it, “There is a bit of leeway you have to have with the Internet when u wake up every day and make video games. There’s also a breaking point, I am sick of this child getting more and more chances to make money off of what we make.”
At the time of this writing, PewDiePie has not issued a statement. Feel free to drop a comment below letting us know your thoughts on this string of events.