It's been quite a long week for PewDiePie. At the beginning of the week, it was reported that both YouTube Red and Disney's Maker Studios cut ties with the popular YouTuber over what was deemed an "inappropriate" video.
The video in questions is titled "Death to all Jews" and featured two men holding a sign that read who PewDiePie (his real name is Felix Kjellberg) paid to hold a sign that read "Death to all Jews." Kjellberg has issued a response to these reports in a new video.
In the video, Kjellberg says that his videos were taken out of context, says the media is attacking him (as well as having an agenda against influencers), apologizes for the words he used that lead to this, and thanks everyone who supported him.
According to Kjellberg, the Wall Street Journal cornered Disney and YouTube to the point where the brands had to cut their ties with the YouTuber. He described the report as an attack saying, "This whole thing … was an attack towards me. It was an attack by the media to discredit me, decrease my influence, and my economic worth."
Kjellberg pushed aside his focus on the media for a portion of the video to apologize to anyone who has been offended:
"I wanted to reiterate that my intention was to show how stupid the website is and how far you can push it by paying $5. I'm sorry for the words that I used, as I know that they offended people and I admit that the joke itself went too far. I do strongly believe that you can joke about anything, but I also believe that there's a right way and not the best way to joke about things and I love to push boundaries, but I would consider myself a rookie comedian.
I've definitely made this mistakes like this before but it's always been a growing and learning experience for me and it's something that I actually learned to really appreciate. I think this whole situation has definitely been that for me."
Past this, Kjellberg explained his belief that the media is looking to discredit him and is personally attacking him. Kjellberg closes the video saying that there is absolutely no hatred in his work or the content he creates, that he will continue creating content and how he is sincerely thankful to everyone who has supported him.
