Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie on YouTube, recently announced his plans to step away from the platform. His channel held the record for most-subscribed on the website for over five years from 2013 to 2019.
PewDiePie currently has over 102 million subscribers making him one of YouTube’s most popular vloggers. Earlier this year, he was overtaken by Indian record label T-Series. The channel now has around 120 million subscribers as per The Guardian.
Kjellberg rose to popularity for his comedic videos and video-game commentary. The Swedish vlogger is currently under hot water as he faces accusations of racism and antisemitism according to multiple news outlets.
He opened up about his decision in a recently uploaded video saying:
“I am taking a break from YouTube next year. I wanted to say it in advance because I made up my mind. I’m tired. I’m feeling very tired. I don’t know if you can tell. Just so you know, early next year I’ll be away for a little while. I’ll explain that later but I wanted to give a heads-up.”
Back in 2017, PewDiePie was the center of controversy after using the word “n***a” against an opponent while he live-streamed one of his games. He apologized later on claiming that he “didn’t mean that in a bad way”.
That same year, Kjellberg’s joint venture with Disney ended after antisemitic references surfaced in a handful of his videos. A disturbing one included people holding up placards that wrote: “Death to all Jews.” Kjellberg acknowledged that these jokes had gone too far.
