PewDiePie at the European Premiere of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' on December 16, 2015 in London.
Topline: After facing years of criticism for his supposed ties to the alt-right, YouTube megastar PewDiePie announced over the weekend that he’s taking a break from the platform and deleted his Twitter account, saying that he’s “tired.”
- In a video on his channel on Saturday, Swedish YouTube creator PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, announced he’s taking a break next year. “I wanted to say it in advance because I made up my mind. I’m tired. I’m feeling very tired. I don’t know if you can tell ... early next year I’ll be away for a little while,” he said.
- Days later, Kjellberg also deleted his Twitter account after uploading a video on Monday titled “i hate twitter.” He railed against the social network for rewarding what he called empty virtue signaling. “What I don’t like is the constant posturing that goes on there. People just can’t seem to help themselves from pointing out what is good and what is bad, or how others are bad and you are good,” he said.
- His last tweet before he deleted his account took aim at the media for misleading coverage about him. He pointed to a headline from British tabloid The Mirror that falsely claimed he was “quitting” YouTube instead of taking a hiatus.
Key background: Kjellberg is YouTube’s most popular and recognizable stars, but he’s been accused of anti-Semitism and racism over the years. In 2017, Disney stopped advertising with his channel after he paid actors to hold up a sign reading “Death to All Jews” in several videos (he said it was a joke gone too far). Months later he was caught saying the n-word in a gaming stream and later apologized.
White nationalists have since embraced Kjellberg. The Christchurch shooter used a popular alt-right meme “subscribe to PewDiePie” in a livestream before he went on to kill 51 people. And in a botched attempt to rehabilitate his image in September, Kjellberg rescinded a planned donation to the Anti-Defamation League, an organization combating anti-Semitism, after saying the donation didn’t feel “genuine.”
Tangent: PewDiePie became the first individual creator to reach 100 million subscribers on YouTube in August, making him one of the most popular creators on the platform. He’s also one of the wealthiest. According to Forbes, Kjellberg raked in $15.5 million in 2018.
