PewDiePie is facing criticism. Again.
The huge YouTuber, real name Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, has come under fire for allegedly mocking a deaf TikTok user in a recent video.
While he obviously deleted the clip in an attempt to cover up his mistake, it’s since spread on social media. “So why is nobody talking about pewdiepie making fun of a deaf black woman?” the Twitter post was captioned.
In the clip, the YouTuber begins watching Scarlet May tell a story using American Sign Language (ASL). “No, I’m not listening to this,” PewDiePie moans after just a few seconds. He proceeds to use his dog to imitate May’s signing and speech.
After the clip was shared widely online, many criticised the Swedish social media influencer for his mockery of May. “Pewdiepie mocking a deaf tiktok creator for signing in her videos simply because she has long nails…as if the dude couldn’t be any worse,” someone lambasted.
“Honestly if you still like pewdiepie grow tf up. not only is he racist, he’s now apparently mocking a deaf girl on tiktok who is using sign language,” someone else said.
https://twitter.com/blkshenhe/status/1552366409459683330?s=21
May then addressed PewDiePie in a new TikTok video, noting that she’s “used to it” at this point. “(PewDiePie) made a reaction video to one of my TikToks, making fun of my nails, making fun of my signs with his dogs, and, I guess, at one point, mocking my voice,” she said in the TikTok to her 6.2 million followers.
“At the same time, I wasn’t surprised. I’m used to it,” she added. “But a big creator comes on here and puts us a million steps back, so it’s very frustrating.”
May also chastised PewDiePie for editing the clip rather than offering her an apology. “You don’t get to just mock deaf people who have been struggling for years with people like you and then go about your day,” she said.
PewDiePie hasn’t publicly acknowledged the criticism yet. More to come.
@scarlet_may.1 Replying to @anethepeach we all make mistakes hopefully he learns from this 😊🤟🏽 #fyp #foryou
