World
Disney cuts ties to YouTube star PewDiePie who posted 'Death to all Jews' video
February 14, 2017 11:03
Walt Disney is ending its affiliation with the world's highest-paid YouTube star PewDiePie after the 27-year-old uploaded a series of videos featuring antisemitic comments and jokes.
PewDiePie — whose real name is Felix Kjellberg — posted one video featuring two men laughing while holding a sign that read, "Death to all Jews," while another featured a man dressed as Jesus saying, "Hitler did absolutely nothing wrong."
Kjellberg has over 53 million YouTube subscribers, and reportedly makes over $14 million a year.
Kjellberg struck a deal with Disney’s Maker Studios in 2014, which gave him co-ownership of a multi-channel network called Revelmode that produces videos, mobile apps and merchandise.
"Although Felix has created a following by being provocative and irreverent, he clearly went too far in this case and the resulting videos are inappropriate," a spokesperson for Maker Studios said in a statement. "Maker Studios has made the decision to end our affiliation with him going forward."
In response, Kjellberg wrote a blog post on Sunday "to clear some things up," stating that his channel was "not a place for any serious political commentary" and that with these videos in particular, he was "trying to show how crazy the modern world is."
"I think it’s important to say something and I want to make one thing clear: I am in no way supporting any kind of hateful attitudes," he added.
