YouTube star Colleen Ballinger has finally responded to fans’ allegations that she interacts with underage fans in toxic and exploitative ways. However, instead of posting a written statement or a somber apology video, the comedian pulled out a ukulele and played a stereotypical song – explaining that his “team” had “strongly advised” him not to “say what I wanted,” against his stated wishes. to say.”
“I’ve noticed lately that they never said that I couldn’t say what I wanted to say,” she adds with a smile.
Fans, including Adam McIntyre, now 20, allege in private group chats that Ballinger acted inappropriately as a teenager. In a YouTube video, McIntyre asked Ballinger to the group, “Are you a virgin?” and “What is your favorite position?” The allegations against Ballinger and others around him made headlines in various media, including: rolling rock and HuffPost.
McIntyre first spoke out in 2020, and at that time Ballinger posted an apology video in which he denied being a “groom” or a “monster”. He also admitted to sending McIntyre, who was 13 at the time, an unused set of underwear “as a joke” during an on-air giveaway.
Although Ballinger reportedly lost at least two of her sponsorships, she hadn’t posted on YouTube for weeks after the allegations. On Wednesday, he finally returned to address the allegations – but not in the way his former fans had likely hoped.
In a video simply titled “hello”, Ballinger sitting in her seat with her uke sings without jumping in: “Hey, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen my face. I wasn’t doing well, so I took a break. A lot of people are saying some things about me that aren’t quite right. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, but… As long as it entertains you.”
“Right?” Ballinger snarls, as if communicating with the audience on a live show. Are you having fun?
In another pantomime interaction with his audience, Ballinger said, “Oh, you don’t care?” Ok.”
HuffPost reports that the messages shared details about Ballinger’s romantic life, as well as body-shaming comments with fans. HuffPost also reported that Ballinger participated in rumors about his own fans. However, the chorus of his song denounces “the toxic train of gossip running on the tracks of false information”.
“Tie me on the rails and harass me for my past,” Ballinger says. “If you don’t mind the gaps, these rumors seem to be true. I won’t survive the crash but hey. At least you’re having fun.”
Ballinger claims he’s messaging his fans “not in the creepy way most of you are trying to suggest” but more “in a losing way that I’m trying to be besties with everyone.” He also compared himself to a “weird aunt”.
“I’ve been sharing my life online for over 15 years,” Ballinger said. “I poured all my heart out to you and that’s why I feel like I’m talking to my friends. But at the beginning of my career, I didn’t really understand that there had to be some boundaries.
Ballinger claims she’s changed her behavior over the past few years and taken responsibility. “But that’s not very interesting, is it?” she is singing.
At many points in his song, Ballinger compares the loss of dignity to death. Beyond the railroad metaphor, he says, those who believe in the allegations will one day “understand that the train is made of lies and that the person you despise maybe doesn’t deserve to die.” He then challenges his supposedly perfect audience to critique him – “take out the daggers made from your perfect past and stab me in my bony little back over and over.”
As Ballinger predicts in her own song, the comments made on her song claiming that her accusers are making up their accusations “for power” are not pleasant at all. While some users were hesitant to choose to apologize in the song, another said that most of his video was “textbook manipulation!! Everything from vilifying himself by saying “I’m not doing well” to blaming the victim by saying “all the rumors are made for influence.”
“But what do I know?” Ballinger says at the end of the video. “Fuck me, right?”
McIntyre and other ex-fans have already started responding on Twitter. “He did this to me in 2020,” McIntyre said. Wrote. “I can deal with this again but I can’t believe how bad this woman is, I’m so sorry.”