YouTube is canceling the reality show of its biggest star over anti-Semitic videos he posted on the website, Variety says. The report comes hours after Disney also cut ties with with 27-year-old Felix Kjellberg, better known online as PewDiePie, over the videos.
“We’ve decided to cancel the release of ‘Scare PewDiePie’ season 2 and we’re removing the PewDiePie channel from Google Preferred,” a YouTube spokesman says, according to Variety. Google Preferred is a system that offers advertisers “easy-to-buy packages” on endorsed content.
In a January 11 video, PewDiePie — who has 53 million followers on YouTube — reportedly paid two Indian men five dollars to hold a banner reading “Death to all Jews” while they laugh and dance.
“I was trying to show how crazy the modern world is, specifically some of the services available online,” Kjellberg said in a Tumblr blog post on February 12.
“I picked something that seemed absurd to me — that people on Fiverr would say anything for 5 dollars,” referring to a Tel Aviv-based website that helps freelancers receive part time work.
— AFP contributed to this report
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