Youtuber PewDiePie Apologizes to Deaf Tiktoker He Insulted — 'It Was an Honest Mistake!'
Youtuber PewDiePie is being criticized...After releasing a Youtube video entitled "My Dog Cringes at TikToks." Since the backlash, he already apologized to the influencer he insulted. The question is, is this enough?
PewDiePie is seen giving his comments about every viral video in Tiktok, is asked to apologize for "accidentally" mocking the deaf Tiktoker.
The clip that he was reviewing and giving comments on shows Scarlet May explaining on how do deaf driver drives their cars. In the clip, she is giving her thoughts while wearing a black vest, sitting in her car effortlessly flexing her pink long nails.
After PewDiePie watches different videos and saw Scarlet May Tiktok entry who has more than 6 million followers in the platform and is using sign language as a means of communication, the Youtuber said, "I'm not listening to this! Look, she has your crazy nails, Maya (his dog).
It also appears to the audience that he is imitating the gestures of the Tiktoker when he gets his dog's paws then waved it around while saying, Sorry, are my nails distracting you guys?" (pretending that his dog is the one who is talking)
The video irked a lot of people because being deaf is not something that someone has the right to use as an entertainment.
Someone wrote, "Pewdiepie is 32 years old ... at his big, prehistoric age he should know what sign language is & know not to make fun of someone for signing."
And twitter user also g gives a statement, "Pewdiepie isnt ableist, he just wanted to mock a Black woman for millions of viewers for having long fingernails and speaking in her natural dialect! Its ONLY racism."
But PewDiePie said that he never knew that the tiktoker is deaf.
He said, "Hey, just to clear a few things up: I edited out the clip with the girl that has the long nails," he commented under his YouTube video July 27. "Had no clue she was deaf, but kinda dumb of me to not realize.. Still watching through the clip I only poked fun of her long nails. The voice I did for my dog is the same voice I've given her for years."
The Youtuber apologizes to his rude action saying, Honest mistake, my bad."
Meanwhile the Tiktoker, Scarlet May posted an update to her Instagram in which she tackles about the incident.
"How do I feel? I feel like it was very weird, very unnecessary but at the same time I'm not surprised, I'm used to it," she said.
She also shares that she's been doing a lot of effort to "to normalize and put out [, is that using nails while signing is normal, it's okay. But then a big creator comes on here and puts us a million steps back, so it's very frustrating."
Let this incident be a lesson to everyone. A little respect won't hurt anyone.
