PewDiePie Takes A Shot At YouTube Apologies
Ever since PewDiePie began making regular live broadcasts on his YouTube channel, he has taken to tackling some of the more dramatic sides of the YouTube and streaming world. During a broadcast over the weekend, PewDiePie specially took aim at so-called "apology videos." Specifically, he made fun of the types of videos that have become quite common among YouTube personalities that have found themselves embroiled in a scandal.
In the past, internet personalities like Jake Paul and gaming pros like TmarTn have uploaded infamous videos attempting to either explain their side of a story or to apologize to their audiences. In TmarTn's case, his apology video was even parodied by Pokimane, which resulted in a bit of bad blood between the two.
However, PewDiePie cast a bit more of a broad net in mocking YouTube apologies. In a clip shared by YouTube channel Streaming Disease, we can see just how far Pewds is willing to go to troll apologetic content creators.
While PewDiePie took very few specific shots in this livestream, it seems like the very concept of the "apology video" rubs him the wrong way. Multiple times during this broadcast, PewDiePie also made a point out of showing different tactics that are typically used during a typical "apology" video. At one point, he tells the audience that he "forgot to sigh," stopping himself in the middle of a sentence to sigh dramatically. After a quick sigh, he continued on with his fake apology. He even went as far as to use an eyedropper to add fake tears to his face. In other words, Pewds really wanted to hammer home how manufactured he feels these apology videos can be.
In between the prop work, PewDiePie made sure to hit several points over and over again. He told viewers, "I just care about you guys so much, and I miss you so much ... I'm so sorry; this livestream is a mess ... I will work on bettering myself. Do you understand? I will do better. I try my best, but I'm just human, you know?"
After rambling on a bit longer, PewDiePie finally broke character and started giggling. He then leveled with the audience at last, saying, "It legit looks convincing. It's that easy to fake an apology, guys!"
PewDiePie is no stranger to controversy, having found himself involved in plenty of feuds over the years. However, according to a recent upload to his YouTube channel, PewDiePie is actively trying to avoid controversy in the future. He claims that he is trying to stay out of involving himself in anyone else's drama. In other words, this must be something that he has pretty strong feelings about, otherwise it's hard to believe that he'd go through all the trouble of lampooning it on his channel.
At one point, PewDiePie even faked crying as he evoked the name of the Cocomelon channel, which he has previously made fun of for its bizarre programming. In other words, this stream was a bit of a "greatest hits" package for Pewds' fanbase. It just also happened to have a message that he wanted to get across.
This isn't the only time that PewDiePie has used his live broadcasts to comment on YouTube and streaming drama in recent weeks. Just last week, he weighed in on Alinity's emotional broadcast in which she told her fans that she'd been struggling with depression. He also went down the rabbit hole that is Dr Disrespect's mysterious Twitch ban. While Pewds' uploaded videos tend to be more heavily edited, it seems as though his regular live broadcasts are giving him a bit more of an opportunity to ruminate on topics at length.
If there's one thing that PewDiePie's various feuds have taught viewers in the past, it's that he's a master at trolling his critics and other Internet personalities. It appears as though that's exactly what he set out to do here, showing his viewers how manipulative he seems to believe others have been. He doesn't appear to have a problem with apologies in general, but he takes issue with the ones that don't hold up under scrutiny.
Fans seem to be responding well to Pewds' message here, as well. In response to Trisha Paytas (with whom PewDiePie has feuded in the past), one fan tweeted, "Yall should listen to Pewdiepie more often. An apology should be short, sweet and to the point. No excuses, no bulls—t."
It will be interesting to see what kind of response this livestream brings from the YouTuber community, if any. In the meantime, Pewds seems to plan on keeping it real.