PewDiePie has cancelled a donation of $50,000 (£40,496) to a charity that campaigns to stop hate speech against Jewish people.
Earlier this week, to celebrate 100 million subscribers on Youtubers, he told viewers he would give the money to the Anti Defamation League, a group which has previously criticised the YouTuber.
But he has since reconsidered, saying he was “sorry for messing this up.”
“I made the mistake of picking a charity I was advised to instead of picking a charity that I’m personally passionate about, which is 100% my fault,” Felix, says.
“Usually when I pick a charity I take my time. I find a charity I’m really excited about and actually passionate to donate to, so when I uploaded the video talking about the charity, it was very brief and people could something was off. I saw it as an opportunity to put an end to these alt-right claims that have been thrown against me. It wasn’t to try and clear my name or save grace. If it was I would have done it years ago.”
PewDiePie says he plans to give the money to a different organisation.
“It really doesn’t feel genuine for me to proceed with the donation at this point and I instead wanted to actually take my time, keep the intent that I had but just doing it with the right charity and doing it properly,” he added.
“I’m sorry for all the confusion and I’m sorry for messing this up. That’s what I do.”
The Anti-Defamation League say they have had no contact with PewDiePie about the donation or his change of mind.
“ADL learned about the potential donation from Felix Kjellberg when everyone else did: when he made the announcement on his channel earlier this week,” said the organisation in a statement.
“We have not received any communication from him beyond that.”
Pewdiepie understands some of his jokes are offensive, but they are genuinely nothing beyond a joke. He has been unfairly slandered by the media, WSJ in particular, in response to some of his jokes.
