PewDiePie reality show cancelled by Youtube after 'Death to All Jews’ stunt
Disney recently ended its deal with vlogger
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Following reports Disney has ended its deal with vlogger PewDiePie, Youtube has announced they are also pulling support from the streamer, cancelling his reality show and dropping his channel from the premium advertising program.
Both companies have stopped working with PewDiePie - real name Felix Kjellberg - after he posted several offensive videos to Youtube, including one that featured two Indian men paid to hold up a sign reading “Death to All Jews”.
In a statement picked up by Variety, a YouTube spokesperson said: “We’ve decided to cancel the release of Scare PewDiePie season 2 and we’re removing the PewDiePie channel from Google Preferred.”
Scare PewDiePie - produced by some of the companies behind The Walking Dead - featured on YouTube Red, a premium streaming service that costs $10 and isn’t available in the UK. The show saw Kjellberg encounter scary situations inspired by video games.
The 27-year-old Swede has more than 53 million subscribers to his channel and his videos have been watched over 14 billion times, more than anyone else's on the site.
Kjellberg has since defended the various offending videos, saying they are a way of "trying to show how crazy the modern world is,” clarifying that he wasn't endorsing anti-Semitism.
Writing on Tumblr, he stated: "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.
"As laughable as it is to believe that I might actually endorse these people, to anyone unsure on my standpoint regarding hate-based groups: No, I don’t support these people in any way.”
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