The YouTube star PewDiePie is facing criticism for a video where he appears to make fun of a deaf tiktoker who is signing while telling a story in her video. After watching for a few seconds, PewDiePie says that he, “is not listening to this,” and proceeds to employ his dog as a prop, while using a silly voice to narrate as the dog.
Pewdiepie being tr@sh again? What’s new pic.twitter.com/OfJYZWy2g2
— KatieKat (fan account) (@ThatsSoKatie44) July 27, 2022
The incident has sparked debate on Twitter, with many people accusing him of mocking a deaf woman of color for her nails and signing, labeling the action as ableist and sexist.
nobody literally nobody is talking about pewdiepie making fun of a deaf woman in his comments?!? why do white men always shit on woc when they have long nails?? then goes a head to mimic asl.. he cuts out the clip without taking any responsibility
— Billlies #1 fan (@kenthota) July 27, 2022
Others are claiming that the internet is taking his actions out of context, and that they had nothing to do with race, gender, or disability.
Lets see what did pewdiepie mock again.
— RJ/GreatDaein (@greatdaein) July 27, 2022
Being black? No
Being a woman? No
Being deaf? No
Having loud nails? Yes
I don’t even watch his shit but y’all will find anything to take out of context and get mad over it
This is not the first time that the Swedish YouTube Megastar has come under fire, as he has been criticized for anti-semetic rhetoric, and creating a safe space for alt-right beliefs in the past.
people need to stop getting on the internet and defending pewdiepie; are we just forgetting how he ACTIVELY made a safe space for yahtzees and yahtzee sympathizers and let antisemitism rampantly fester in his community online?
— len/troy ?? 22 Days (@bisexualowls) July 27, 2022
Ultimately, PewDiePie has 111 million subscribers, so whatever he does will carry massive influence on his sizable and devoted fan base. Perhaps he should be a little more careful about the content he chooses to make, and the potential implications and consequences it can have.
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