"To have my name associated with something so unspeakably vile has affected me in more ways than I might have shown."

"I just didn’t want to address it right away, and I didn’t want to give the terrorist any more attention. I didn’t want to make it about me. Because I don’t think it has anything to do with me. To put it plainly, I didn’t want hate to win. But it’s clear to me now — the ‘Subscribe to PewDiePie’ movement should have ended then."



From "‘I didn’t want hate to win’: PewDiePie ends ‘subscribe’ meme after Christchurch shooter’s shout-out" in WaPo.

With more than 95 million subscribers, [Felix] Kjellberg [AKA PewDiePie] long held claim to the title of YouTube’s most popular channel until recently. But as he promoted an anti-Semitic YouTube channel, produced videos that cracked dark jokes about anti-Semitism and Nazis and once yelled the n-word while playing a video game, critics raised alarms about his influence on the young and impressionable.

The “Subscribe to PewDiePie” movement evoked some of those same concerns — culminating, of course, with its invocation during the Christchurch massacre. The grass roots effort started harmlessly enough last year, with viral videos and pranks....

YouTube's biggest star — Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie) — reveals himself to be an anti-Semite... unless you can believe this somehow works as just joking.

Forbes reports:

Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie) has posted nine videos featuring anti-Semetic [sic] comments or Nazi imagery, the Wall Street Journal reports. These include a video of men paid by Kjellberg to hold up a sign reading "Death to All Jews" (Kjellberg later referred to this as a joke gone too far) and another with a man dressed as Jesus who says, "Hitler did nothing wrong." Multiple other videos feature swastikas, while another includes photos of Hitler, with Kjellberg wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap. The Nazism has expanded to audio: In a January 14 video he played the Nazi Party anthem, and in a February 5 video he features a "Sieg Heil" voiceover.

PewDiePie has taken down three of the nine videos in question.... "I am in no way supporting any kind of hateful attitudes," he wrote. "I think of the content that I create as entertainment, and not a place for any serious political commentary." He did not, however, go so far as to apologize for the videos.... "I think there’s a difference between a joke and actual like, f*ck, death to all Jews," he said, once again without actually apologizing...

"YouTube's Biggest Draw Plays Games, Earns $4 Million a Year."

"Cussing, Comic Videogame Reviewer PewDiePie Has 27 Million Subscribers."

Felix Kjellberg... A native of Gothenburg, the seemingly modest Swede... simply plays games and allows his audience—mostly teenagers—to peer in on his experience and hear random opinions interspersed with odd behavior. He contorts, screeches, swears, sings and even "twerks" to portray his feelings.

Here's an example:



So the secret to making $4 million a year is: 1. Be a very cute guy. 2. Be childlike and silly. 3. Play in a way that makes the viewer feel she is not alone but is playing with you.

And that's why Felix Kjellberg is a 4-millionaire and you're not.