PewDiePie has been slammed for his latest video where he appears to mock a deaf TikTokker who was using sign language during a clip.
The Swedish YouTuber, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, is one of the most subscribed to content creators in the world.
However, his latest reaction video has left him in some strife.
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Uploading a video titled 'My Dog Cringes at TikToks…', PewDiePie and his dog Maya reacted to various videos from the social media app.
In one section, he observed a clip from TikTokker Scarlet May.
The deaf content creator was telling a story while using American Sign Language (ASL), however, just a few seconds in to watching the video, the Swede pressed pause and refused to continue watching.
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He said: “No, I’m not listening to this.”
PewDiePie then took aim at May’s nails and added that his pup has the ‘same crazy nails’ as her and imitated her signing and speech.
As of writing, the clip has been edited out of the current upload, however, the video’s thumbnail still showcases a picture of May - almost as if baiting viewers to search for his reaction to the video themselves.
While the clip may have been removed, as we all know in the age of the internet nothing is ever truly deleted, and with 111 million subscribers that certainly seems the case here.
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One viewer managed to capture the clip and shared it on Twitter, saying: “So why is nobody talking about PewDiePie making fun of a deaf black woman?”
Another said: “PewDiePie mocking a deaf TikTok creator for signing in her videos simply because she has long nails…as if the dude couldn’t be any worse.”
Meanwhile, the comments on the current video fire off at the YouTuber for seemingly washing over his mistake and failing to apologise.
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One user commented: “It doesn’t matter if he knew she was deaf or not. Doesn’t matter if it was an honest mistake. He still owes an apology. Even the fans must see that.”
Whilst another user said: “He edited it out instead of addressing it and apologising, yet kept her in the thumbnail.”
Following the controversy, May addressed PewDiePie’s reaction in a new TikTok video.
She said: “How do I feel? I feel like it was very weird, very unnecessary but at the same time I’m not surprised, I’m used to it.
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“It’s been a big issue in the deaf community that I’ve been trying to normalise and put out, is that using nails while signing is normal, it’s okay.
“But then a big creator comes on here and puts us a million steps back, so it’s very frustrating.”
Despite the backlash, both fans and non-fans of PewDiePie have sprung to his defence to claim his reaction was taken out of context.
One user tweeted: “Let's see what did PewDiePie mock again. Being black? No. Being a woman? No. Being deaf? No. Having loud nails? Yes.
“I don’t even watch his s**t but y’all will find anything to take out of context and get mad over it.”
PewDiePie has yet to publicly acknowledge the backlash.
Jayden Collins