For some reason, a Swedish dude who calls himself PewDiePie has more YouTube subscribers than anybody else on the planet. All I knew about him before today was that he makes millions of dollars by posting videos of himself playing video games, and he has a really annoying voice. As it turns out, he also has a sense of humor that some of you may enjoy, assuming you’re dicks.
Disney-owned Maker Studios said on Monday night that it had cut ties with one of YouTube’s most popular stars after a report that he had posted multiple videos featuring anti-Semitic imagery.
The announcement came after The Wall Street Journal reported that the star, Felix Kjellberg, a Swede better known by his YouTube alias PewDiePie, had posted nine such videos since August.
Yeah, it’s really delightful stuff. Here’s a compilation, courtesy of the WSJ:
My opinion about this is the same as always: Jerks have the right to say stupid, offensive things. Making jokes about Hitler and Jesus and whatever else will piss a lot of people off, but that’s the price of living in a free society. You don’t have the right to not be offended. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.
That said, no company is under any obligation to pay people to say stuff that offends their customers. Firing him isn’t censorship. Disney would be out of their minds to keep throwing money at the guy.
This douchebag gets to say whatever he wants, and nobody is under any obligation to pay him money, or attention, or anything else. That’s how it works. If you don’t like it, start your own company and do whatever you want with it.
I’ve never liked that guy’s videos anyway. The Rad Brad is way better. Disney should hire him.