PewDiePie apologises to Malaysian and Singaporean fans over ‘harsh’ comments

PewDiePie, only the most-subscribed individual user on YouTube, has cleared the air after reports emerged revolving around his comments made last month about fans in Singapore and Malaysia.

Namely, his remarks about how “hectic”, “scream-ish” they were when they saw the Swedish 30-year-old IRL. To the point that they “lose their minds”, said the world’s most prominent YouTuber, née Felix Kjellberg.

In a video released last Saturday (Jan 4), he reacted to a TODAY article about him (though it was originally published by Malay Mail) and sought to expand on the statements he made about Malaysian and Singaporean fans. Maybe he knows or maybe he doesn’t, but his remarks haven’t exactly been construed as gracious by the wider public. 

“I was comparing fan culture… going in the more Asian region (as) compared to smaller Scandinavian countries. You know, it’s very, very different. That made me think that that’s a trained behaviour,” he clarified. 

The YouTuber went on to elaborate what he wasn’t too pleased with during his 2016 holiday in Malaysia with his former girlfriend and now-wife Marzia Bisognin. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gvxaYH6sO0[/embed]

“The reason I was so annoyed in Malaysia was because people were literally entering our hotel and it felt like we couldn’t leave our hotel because people were just looking for us, and it felt like we were being hunted almost,” said the man who has 102 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. Loud, stalker-y groupies are to be expected with that kind of numbers, really. 

But it was during his Singapore visit in 2013 that Felix first had his eyes opened to just how big of a global following he has. 

“I will say I was being a bit dishonest when I spoke about Singapore because actually the first time I got recognised in Singapore, that was like a huge thing for me because I’ve never been recognised as a ‘celebrity’ before,” he noted. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrhZcucdLH4[/embed]

“It was absolute madness. It’s something that I’ve learned that I personally don’t enjoy, but I would be lying if I said, you know, I hated it the first time it happened.” 

He recalled how it had been pretty cool to see the impact he had on this side of the world, especially back then when YouTube personalities weren’t really recognised by the media.

The YouTuber then ended the segment with an apology to his Malaysian and Singaporean fans over his comments, which he admitted were “a little harsh”. 

“Like, that was fun, I’m not gonna lie. Just to be clear. Sorry!” 

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A lot has changed for Felix since his Singapore visit in 2013, a time when his YouTube channel consisted mainly of Let's Play gaming videos that have endeared him to a young fanbase. The past few years were pretty prickly for him after he stumbled into controversy after controversy, including the times when he used racial slurs, joked about the killing of Jews, and got his name dragged unwittingly into the Christchurch mosque shootings.

These days, he’s gone back to actual gaming videos with Minecraft.

ilyas@asiaone.com