Swedish YouTuber Pewdiepie (real name Felix Kjellberg) has amassed a truly impressive following of over 53 million followers YouTube over the years, and he’s turned that fanbase into lucrative deals with YouTube and Disney-owned Maker Studios. All of that went out the window this week when he posted a video of two Indian men holding a sign that says “Death to All Jews,” which he paid for using Fiverr.
In an episode based around the Fiverr service, which lets you pay five dollars to people to complete various requests, Pewdiepie paid two men in India to hold up a sign that says “Death to All Jews.” He says he didn’t think they would actually do it, but it turns out $5 holds some sway because they did. The action starts at the 11 minute mark below.
As a result, Kjellberg has been dropped by his representation, Maker Studios, as well as YouTube’s “Google Preferred” premium advertising service. The second season of his Scare Pewdiepie YouTube Red show, which was slated to release this year, has been cancelled. All of this should hurt Pewdiepie’s pocketbooks, but with 53 million fans he will probably do okay.
After the news broke, people began pointing out references to Hitler and Nazis in his videos going back for some time. Do you think Pewdiepie is really anti-semitic, or are people taking his joke too seriously?
