PewDiePie's PUBG Livestream N-Word Controversy
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Overview
PewDiePie's PUBG Livestream N-Word Controversy refers to the online backlash towards YouTuber Felix Kjellberg, better known by his YouTube alias PewDiePie, for blurting out a racial slur during a livestream of the PlayerUnknown's Battlegounds (PUBG) in mid-September 2017.
Background
On January 5th, 2017, PewDiePie uploaded a video titled “I Won an Award,” in which he jokingly celebrates being ranked #18 in a video titled “100 Most Handsome Faces of 2016,” saying “18 nigga!” (shown below).
On September 10th, 2017, YouTuber Kjellberg broadcast a livestream of himself playing the game PUBG, in which he entered a gunfight on a bridge. After firing at an enemy player, he blurted out the expression "What a fucking n****r" before apologizing and saying "I don't mean that in a bad way" (shown below).
Developments
Online Reaction
That day, NeoGAF Forums[1] member chaobreaker submitted a post about the incident. Meanwhile, Twitter user @gentlemushroom[3] posted a tweet speculating that Kjellberg "wouldn't have accidentally said the n word unless he comfortable says it when he's not on camera" (shown below).
Also on September 10th, YouTuber Scarce uploaded a video discussing the incident, which received upwards of 890,000 views and 26,000 comments within 24 hours (shown below).
"Heated Gaming Moment"
That day, journalist Ian Miles Cheong defended Kjellberg in a tweet referring to the incident as a "heated gaming moment" (shown below).[2]
Additionally, YouTuber Keemstar posted a video framing Kjellberg's slur as being in the "heat of the moment" (shown below).
Thoughts on PewDiePie saying the Nword. pic.twitter.com/HBjYDTmeT8
— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) September 10, 2017
Meanwhile, other Twitter users began mocking the "heated gaming moment" defense (shown below). The following day, Redditor cardiff_3 submitted a post asking "What is going on with PewDiePie" to /r/OutOfTheLoop,[7] where it received upwards of 850 points (86% upvoted) within 15 hours.
A "heated gaming moment" pic.twitter.com/WsbipRt7My
— Project Verrit-Ass (@deportablediz) September 10, 2017
Firewatch DMCA
Also on September 10th, Sean Vanaman, co-founder of the video game company Campo Santo, tweeted that his company would be filing DMCA takedowns for Kjellberg's videos using footage from the game Firewatch (shown below).[5] That day, a post criticizing Vanaman for a filing "false DMCA claims" was submitted to /r/KotakuInAction,[6] where it received more than 4,300 points (80% upvoted) and 870 comments within 20 hours.
News Media Coverage
In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the controversy, including BBC,[8] Rolling Stone,[9] The Daily Dot[4] and The Guardian.[10]
Search Interest
External References
[1] NeoGAF – PewDiePie calls someone a "f****ng n****r" during PUBG livestream
[2] Twitter – @stillgray
[3] Twitter – @gentlemushroom
[4] The Daily Dot – PewDiePie appeared to casually drop a racial slur while gaming
[6] Reddit – Firewatch Dev promises to file false DMCA claims against PewDiePies videos
[7] Reddit – What is going on with PewDiePie
[8] BBC – YouTube star PewDiePie uses racial slur
[9] Rolling Stone via Wayback Machine – Pewdiepie Streams Racist Slur
[10] The Guardian – YouTube megastars N-word outburst sparks developer backlash
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Top Comments
Nedhitis
Sep 11, 2017 at 02:26PM EDT
Bunger, Voiced By Chris Pratt
Sep 11, 2017 at 01:34PM EDT