According to the Wall Street Journal, the Walt Disney Company, owners of Maker Studios is ending its ties with YouTube celebrity PewDiePie over a series of anti-Semitic videos.
Some of these videos have already been taken down, but they still seem to be strange. For instance, one of the videos features Nazi imagery, including a man dressed as Jesus who says, “Hitler did absolutely nothing wrong.” Another one has individuals in India holding up a sign that reads “Death to all Jews. You can watch a small video compilation by the Wall Street Journal that features some of these clips.
The original report reads, “Wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat from President Donald Trump’s campaign, Mr. Kjellberg used a photo of Hitler as a segue between clips. Mr. Kjellberg says the material is portrayed in jest. He showed a clip from a Hitler speech in a Sept. 24 video criticizing a YouTube policy, posted swastikas drawn by his fans on Oct. 15 and watched a Hitler video in a brown military uniform to conclude a Dec. 8 video. He also played the Nazi Party anthem before bowing to a swastika in a mock resurrection ritual on Jan. 14, and included a very brief Nazi salute with a Hitler voice-over saying ‘Sieg Heil’ and the text ‘Nazi Confirmed’ near the beginning of a Feb. 5 video.”
Maker Studios has removed all references to PewDiePie from their website. “Although Felix has created a following by being provocative and irreverent, he clearly went too far in this case,” They told the Wall Street Journal. “The resulting videos are inappropriate.”
PewDiePie has also put up an apology for the videos on Tumblr, where he says, “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.”
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Source: Wall Street Journal
