YouTube star Felix Kjellberg, also known as “PewDiePie,” is canceling his $50,000 donation to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) after receiving backlash from some of his fans online.
Kjellberg uploaded a video to YouTube on Thursday to apologize about the pledge, stating he didn’t know much about the ADL before agreeing to make a donation, The Verge reported. The ADL announcement was originally made when Kjellberg celebrated surpassing 100 million subscribers on YouTube earlier this week. Following this update, members of Kjellberg’s YouTube fan base were upset and accused him of trying to cover up his name.
“I made the mistake of picking a charity that I was advised to instead of picking a charity that I’m personally passionate about,” Kjellberg said in the video. “Which is 100 percent my fault.”
Kjellberg added, “I saw it as an opportunity to put an end to these alt-right claims that have been thrown against me. It wasn’t to try and clear my name or save grace. If it was I would have done it years ago.”
Pewdiepie statement on the ADL donation https://t.co/eGTYDdCEEx pic.twitter.com/RAzEh7eBJM
— PewDiePie Submissions (@LWIAY_bot) September 11, 2019
In a tweet that was recently deleted, Kjellberg acknowledged criticism of the donation and why “making a donation to the ADL doesn’t make sense to everyone, especially since they’ve outright spoken against me” and that “I wanted to show publicly that I can move past it and move on.”
In 2017, Disney severed ties with Kjellberg after he made several videos that featured ant-Semitic images, BBC noted. Kjellberg apologized for the footage and said he understood how “these jokes were ultimately offensive” on the video platform.
Kjellberg said he wanted to pledge funds after his name was connected to this year’s mass-shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand. However, some fans suggested that he was pressured to give $50,000 to the ADL, who slammed his previous anti-Semitic videos. Following the backlash, Kjellberg said he will donate money to another organization.
“It really doesn’t feel genuine for me to proceed with the donation at this point and I instead wanted to actually take my time, keep the intent that I had but just doing it with the right charity and doing it properly,” Kjellberg explained. “I’m sorry for all the confusion and I’m sorry for messing this up. That’s what I do.”
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