Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg er uden tvivl en af de mest berømte og populære YouTube-personligheder i verden, og han er desuden kendt for at være provokerende fra tid til anden. Som regel resulterer dette ikke i nogle konkrete problemer, men sådan lader det ikke til at være gået denne gang.
Wall Street Journal påstår nemlig, at hans videodistributør Maker Studios, der er ejet af Disney, er ved at afslutte samarbejdet med Kjellberg efter en række video der åbenbart skulle have indeholdt antisemitiske jokes. Rapporten nævner op til flere tilfælde, og nogle af disse går helt tilbage til august.
Tre ud af de i alt ni videoer er blevet taget ned ifølge rapporten, blandt andet en hvor PewDiePie betaler to indiske mænd for at holde et skilt op hvor der står "Death to all Jews" imens han griner. En talesperson for Maker Studios har leveret følgende udtalelse til Wall Street Journal:
"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."
Firmaet har fjernet alle referencer til Kjellberg fra deres hjemmeside, til trods for at han allerede har addresseret sagen i videoer og via hans Tumblr:
"I was trying to show how crazy the modern world is, specifically some of the services available online. I picked something that seemed absurd to me—That people on Fiverr would say anything for 5 dollars.
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.
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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