After receiving criticism for posting a video in which he appeared to insult a deaf woman using American Sign Language, YouTube sensation PewDiePie has issued an apology.
After sharing his most recent YouTube video with his 111 million subscribers, the 32-year-old Swedish video creator, whose real name is Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, faced criticism.
He has responded, claiming that he was merely making fun of the woman’s long nails and had “no idea” that she was deaf. He further said that it was a “honest mistake.”
PewDiePie is seen playing numerous footage from the social media app that he then goes on to make fun of in the video titled My Dog Cringes at TikToks.
Deaf TikToker Scarlet May is seen in one clip—which has since been taken down from his video—telling a story in American Sign Language.
PewDiePie pauses the video after a little period of time and declares, “No, I’m not listening to this.”
After mocking Ms. May’s nails, he compares them to his dog’s claws.
Then, picking up his dog, Maya, PewDiePie starts to mimic Ms May telling a narrative while using her paws to mimic Ms May’s hand motions.
Critics who reuploaded the clip with remarks like, “Not Pewdiepie making fun of a deaf woman???” lambasted him on Twitter and YouTube.
One individual who shared the video questioned, “So why is nobody talking about pewdiepie making fun of a deaf black woman?”
Another person commented that Pewdiepie was making fun of a deaf tiktok maker for signing in her videos merely because she had long nails.
“Honestly, grow up if you still enjoy Pewdiepie.” He is not only racist, but it appears that he is also making fun of a deaf girl who is using sign language on tiktok,’ a fourth person chimed in.
He made a reaction movie to my TikTok, making fun of my nails and making fun of my signs with his dog, Ms. May, who has 6.2 million followers on TikTok, then uploaded a response video.
“How do I feel now?” Although I thought it was strange and needless, I wasn’t shocked because I’m used to it.
She continues by saying that one of the reasons she posts films on TikTok is to demonstrate the fact that sign language users who are deaf can have long nails.
But then a well-known creator appears here and makes us go a million steps back, which is incredibly frustrating, she said.
The TikToker responds, “Maybe he didn’t know I was performing sign language, or maybe he just didn’t like my long nails,” but then he claims that he didn’t.
That’s okay because many people dislike them.
If that were the case, he ought to have skipped the video and said, “Oh, I don’t like her nails.”
But instead, he decided to cut off the camera and start making fun of my use of sign language, which proves he was aware I was performing it.
If you erred, own up to it, she continues. You don’t just get to make fun of deaf people who have been having a hard time for years…
Even though it’s 2022 and there are deaf individuals and sign language on social media all the time, I really tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking that perhaps he simply is clueless or just doesn’t know.
However, the voice that made fun of the sign and mocked it suggested that he must be aware.
We all learn as we go along, she adds, adding, “If he didn’t know before, he definitely knows now!”
“Hey, just to clear up a few things: I chopped off the segment with the girl that has the long nails,” PewDiePie wrote beneath the reuploaded video.
Had no idea she was deaf, yet it was stupid of me to be unaware. I continued to watch the video and merely made fun of her long nails.
“I gave my dog the same voice I’ve given her for years,” I said.
The entire film has a running theme of people dancing or performing some sort of tiktok dance, so having my dog’s paws move was a dig at that.
Anyway, sorry about the honest error.