Disney, and its digital entertainment firm Maker Studios, has cut ties with the Swedish YouTube star PewDiePie after knowing that some of his videos contain anti-Semitic jokes and Nazi imagery.
PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, is known to be a YouTube star and a Swedish web-based comedian and video producer. He is known for his Let's Play commentaries and vlogs. After his video controversies, he has removed three videos (which collectively had 23 million views at the time) including a January 11th video which included an image of two men laughing as they held a banner that read “Death to all Jews.”
"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," said a Maker Studios spokeswoman. "Maker Studios has made the decision to end our affiliation with him going forward."
The Swedish gamer topped Forbes highest paid YouTube stars list for a second year in a row, with a revenue of an estimated $15 million for the 12 months ending in June 2016. With his over than 53 million subscribers to his main channel, PewDiePie has remained both popular and financially successful.
He has come under criticisms many times during his YouTube career, but has suffered little consequences for his actions.
He posted on his Tumblr that he wanted to “clear some things up" about some of his videos featuring the anti-Semitic remarks.
"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."