YouTube Star PewDiePie Slammed For Mocking Demi Lovato’s Overdose
It appears that PewDiePie, famous YouTuber and internet comedian, is in hot water over his comments yet again, according to Hollywood Life.
PewDiePie, real name Felix Kjellberg, is a Swedish internet personality who originally rose to fame in the earliest years of this decade, notable for his “Let’s Play” style videos in which he would take on one of the latest games and add oddball commentary overtop as he did so. Attracting a legion of fans numbering in the tens of millions, PewDiePie — or Pewds as he is affectionally known in shorthand by his subscriber base and greater internet culture — was renowned for his dark sense of humor and screaming, high-profile antics on stream.
Now, Kjellberg has attracted the wrong sort of attention from mainstream media and audiences after having posted an offensive meme to his social media profiles. The joke surrounds the recent, alleged drug overdose of pop music icon Demi Lovato, recently rushed to a hospital for a presumed heroin overdose as previously reported on by the Inquisitr. While Lovato appears to be in stable condition, recovering surrounded by family, friends, and other loved ones, it may be too soon to joke about such a serious matter for many.
The meme in question displayed a poorly cropped picture of Lovato in the first panel asking her mother, “Mom can you give me money for burger,” and in the next panel, her mother responds “To buy burger?” Lovato’s crude caricature responds, “Yeeees,” then follows with, “Actually buys heroin… like a boss” in the final frame, complete with a pixelated image of a hypodermic needle beside her face.
YouTuber @pewdiepie is currently under fire for joking about Demi Lovato’s overdose scare. pic.twitter.com/pAlzAibl2R
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 26, 2018
Twitter users, outraged at the apparent insensitivity on display by PewDiePie, lambasted the internet personality over his posting of the meme. “He’s not funny at all unless you think racism and homophobia and making fun of mental illness/addiction is funny,” one individual responded on Twitter. Another outraged user posted, “Wait, so PewDiePie criticized Logan Paul for being insensitive (which he is) but here he i making fun of Demi who overdosed on drugs? No wonder only 12 year olds watch him.”
Famous for having a young user base that has followed him for nearly a decade since his rise to popularity, PewDiePie’s content has grown along with his subscriber count. Despite having a somewhat acrimonious relationship with YouTube, whom Kjellberg frequently accuses of meddling, censoring, or shadow banning his content in response to some of his more controversial comments and comedic attempts, according to Kotaku, his channel still retains a subscriber count of over 64 million, with his videos attracting about 2 to 3 million hits within 24 hours of him posting them.
His fame has also extended into more traditional media, where he was feted by fellow shock-jocks Matt Stone and Trey Parker in the animated hit series South Park, featuring PewDiePie in two episodes of the 18th season of the satirical comedy show, “#REHASH” and “#HappyHolograms.”
As a provocateur by nature, Kjellberg may be able to trade on his renown for some time, particularly if one abides by the time-honored maxim that “no publicity is bad publicity.” In an age of constant criticism, hypersensitivity, and a 24-hour news cycle, however, PewDiePie may find himself the recipient of additional layers of censure should he continue to prod cultural icons that are beloved by so many, such as Demi Lovato, immediately following their personal and very real tragedies.
https://twitter.com/pewdiepie/status/1022387834580287489
For his part, Felix Kjellberg deleted the offending meme, posting a brief apology to his Twitter account and his 15.7 million followers on that platform.
