Is PewDiePie really over? The 28-year-old Swedish star just stepped into hot water thanks to his newest upload. In the video, around the 2-minute mark, you can hear Felix say, "18! 18! 18, n****!" Felix appeared to be celebrating the fact that he was named the 18th most handsome man of 2016. The clip of him using the slur is a little hard to hear if you're not specifically listening for it, but apparently, it was loud enough for everyone on Twitter to hear. Now, #PewDiePieIsOverParty is trending.
PewDiePie's change
Felix started taking his extremely popular channel in a different direction about a year ago, according to fans.
The YouTube Star used to make videos revolving around video games and family-friendly content. These days, his videos are usually 10-minute vlogs where he makes a bunch of random and edgy jokes. Perhaps this N-word slip is just another way that Felix is trying to change his brand? Sadly, it looks like he could've taken his mission too far.
Backlash
The response to PewDiePie's latest video has been extremely mixed. (His video currently has 963,270 views, 158,594 likes and 2,822 dislikes.) Some Twitter users seem to be taking the incident very seriously.
Y'all defending a white man for using racial slur?... He really got y'all wrapped around his fingers #PewdiepieIsOverParty pic.twitter.com/G6YR8TI0yQ
— ️كريس (@huntybey) January 5, 2017
the amount of people trying to defend a white mans use of the n word in this hashtag is disgusting #pewdiepieisoverparty
— ficken (@lgbtitties) January 5, 2017
While others are choosing to defend PewDiePie's actions:
@ everyone in this tag tbh #PewdiepieIsOverParty pic.twitter.com/eiTN7qaL8K
— Georgia (@MagnificentMark) January 5, 2017
#PewdiepieIsOverParty Saying the N word doesn't make you racist. Racist is when you think your race is superior to another's lol.
— Jinerous (@D_P1D) January 5, 2017
Felix responds
PewDiePie has yet to directly respond to the controversy.
However, he did decide to pin a fan's comment on his recent video. The comment read:
"LOL, Felix said the N word and all white people get triggered. I'm black and I didn't even notice it. So it's OK. You get a pass, Felix. Papa bless."
PewDiePie also retweeted a tweet from iDubbbz, a fellow YouTuber who is known for using the N-word heavily on his own channel.
— The idubbbz (@Idubbbz) January 5, 2017
The tweet reads, "#pewdiepieisaniggerparty" and it appears to be a response to the original trending hashtag.
This isn't the first time Felix has been accused of racial insensitivity. Last year, he claimed that YouTube wanted him to fail because he's white. He also called Lilly Singh, an Indian YouTuber, cancerous. Whether or not Felix will officially respond to his controversy is currently unknown.
