Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg. (Photo by J. Countess/WireImage)
While celebrating a historic milestone, the first individual on YouTube to reach 100 million subscribers, Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg casually announced a charity donation of $50,00 to the ADL, the Anti-Defamation League.
The self-described mission of the ADL is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Thus, Kjellberg’s announcement could be viewed as an olive branch, a formal attempt by the once-controversial YouTuber to put his old reputation behind him, to move away from his history of racially insensitive jokes.
Unfortunately, an extremely vocal segment of his fanbase had a major problem with the donation. It’s all a bit complicated, as the ADL is a respected anti-hate group, but one that hasn’t proved immune to controversy. The organization has been heavily criticized by the left, and hated by the alt-right (for obvious reasons).
The ADL is also resented by a fringe of YouTube fans, who view the group as a threat to free expression, through their role in assisting YouTube target hateful content, which has festered and thrived on the video-streaming platform for years, along with deranged conspiracy theories. YouTube’s famously inconsistent approach to moderation, which sometimes results in demonetization and deletion to undeserving channels, is where the “free speech” argument comes in to play.
Controversies aside, there are surely worse things to do than donate money to an anti-hate organization. PewDiePie’s comment section, however, quickly exploded with condemnation and conspiracy theories, with some claiming that Kjellberg was somehow “blackmailed” into the donation, and others pointing out that the organization had once dared to criticize Kjellberg during his dark days.
It’s unclear what percentage of Kjellberg’s gargantuan fanbase was genuinely outraged, and how much the backlash really mattered. After all, the man has 101 million followers; surely he can afford to lose a million or two, especially individuals who become suspiciously infuriated at the prospect of a charitable donation.
Oddly enough, this level of fan backlash simply wasn’t there during Kjellberg’s former controversies. But Kjellberg simply doesn’t need the stress these days, and chose to rescind the donation, stating,
“I made the mistake of picking a charity that I was advised to instead of picking a charity that I’m personally passionate about. Which is 100 percent my fault.”
Perhaps the $50,000 will end up going to sick children or wildlife conservation - surely even the dredges of Kjellberg’s fanbase wouldn’t have an issue with that. But Kjellberg catering to the worst elements of his fanbase is disappointing; the kind of people who condemned the donation and frantically formulated conspiracy theories, aren’t the kind that you want in the comment section.
Hopefully, Kjellberg shall soon return to his newlywed, newly wholesome lifestyle; the most subscribed individual on YouTube shouldn’t be a territorial grab for a toxic culture war.
It should just be a place to watch Minecraft videos, and laugh.
