YouTube star PewDiePie has apologized after he was reprimanded for uploading a video in which he appeared to mock a deaf woman using American sign language.
The 32-year-old Swedish video maker, whose real name is Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, came under fire after he posted his most recent YouTube video to his 111 million subscribers.
But he hit back by saying he had “no idea” the woman was deaf and only made fun of her long nails, adding that it was an “honest mistake.”
In the video, titled My Dog Cringes on TikToks, PewDiePie plays several clips from the social media app, which he then jokes about.
A clip, now removed from his video, shows deaf TikToker Scarlet May telling a story in American sign language.
After a few seconds, PewDiePie stops the video and says, “No, I’m not listening to this.”
He then jokes about Ms. May’s nails before comparing them to his dog’s claws.
The 32-year-old Swedish video maker, whose real name is Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, came under fire after he posted his most recent YouTube video to his 111 million subscribers.
In the video, titled My Dog Cringes on TikToks, PewDiePie plays several clips from the social media app, which he then jokes about. He then jokes about the deaf TikToker Scarlet May’s nails before comparing them to his dog’s claws
PewDiePie then posted below the re-uploaded video to explain the situation
PewDiePie then picks up his dog Maya and starts impersonating Mrs. May telling a story, using her paws to copy Mrs. May’s hand movements.
He was criticized by critics on YouTube and Twitter, who re-uploaded the clip along with comments such as, “Not Pewdiepie making fun of a deaf woman???”
“So why isn’t anyone talking about pewdiepie making fun of a deaf black woman?” said one person, sharing the video.
Another wrote: ‘Pewdiepie mocks a deaf tiktok creator for logging in to her videos simply because she has long nails…like the dude couldn’t be worse.’
“Honestly, if you still like pewdiepie, you should grow up. Not only is he racist, he’s now apparently mocking a deaf girl on TikTok who uses sign language,” a fourth added.
Ms. May, who has 6.2 million followers on TikTok, then uploaded a comment video where she says, “He made a reaction video on my TikTok, joked about my nails and joked about my signs with his dog…
‘So how do I feel? I feel like it was very weird and very unnecessary, but at the same time I wasn’t surprised, I’m used to it.’
She adds that one of the reasons she uploads videos to TikTok is to show that deaf people can have long nails while using sign language.
She said, “But then a great creator comes and takes us a million steps back, so it’s very frustrating.”
But the TikToker then says, “Maybe he didn’t know I did sign language, maybe he just didn’t like my long nails. It doesn’t matter, a lot of people don’t like them…
“If that was the case, he should have just said, ‘Oh, I don’t like her nails,'” and skipped the video.
“But instead he chose to stop the video and mocked me while I was doing sign language, showing that he knew I was doing sign language.”
Ms. May, who has 6.2 million followers on TikTok, then uploaded a comment video saying PewDiePie’s video was “very weird and very unnecessary”
She adds, “If you’ve made a mistake, admit it. You don’t just mock deaf people who have struggled for years…
“I’ve really tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he just doesn’t know or really isn’t aware, even though it’s 2022 and there are deaf people and sign language on social media. But the mocking of the board and the voice like… he must know for sure.’
She ends by saying ‘we all live and learn’ and added, ‘If he didn’t know before, he sure does now!’
PewDiePie then posted below the re-uploaded video to explain the situation by saying, “Hey, to clear up a few things: I edited the clip with the girl with the long nails.
PewDiePie then posted below the re-uploaded video to explain the situation by saying, “Hey, to clear up a few things: I edited the clip with the girl with the long nails.” He added that he “had no idea” she was deaf
He ended his explanation by saying, ‘Anyway fair mistake, my fault’
“I had no idea she was deaf, but a little stupid of me not to realize it. Still looking through the clip, I only poked fun at her long fingernails.
“The voice I did for my dog is the same voice I’ve been giving her for years. (edit: …and making my dog’s paws move was poking at people who are always dancing or moving something on tiktok, which is an ongoing theme throughout the video).
“An honest mistake anyway, my mistake.”