YouTube's biggest star PewDiePie just deleted his Twitter after criticizing the media coverage of his 'break' from posting videos
- YouTube's biggest star Felix Kjellberg, better known as "PewDiePie," deleted his Twitter account after criticizing media coverage of his announcement that he'd be taking a break from YouTube uploads.
- Kjellberg also uploaded a video called "I hate twitter," in which he criticizes how the platform rewards moral posturing, using J.K. Rowling retroactively changing the sexuality of Harry Potter characters as an example.
- He kept his empty "@pewdiepie" account live on Twitter to "prevent fake accounts," according to his new bio.
- Kjellberg announced over the weekend that he was "feeling very tired" and taking a break from YouTube, which some publications mischaracterized as him quitting the platform. He has taken breaks to prevent burnout before.
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After posting a video titled "I hate twitter," 30-year-old Felix Kjellberg, known online as PewDiePie, deleted his Twitter account.
Just hours earlier, Kjellberg had tweeted his frustration with media outlets he felt were mischaracterizing his announcement this weekend that he would be taking a break from YouTube because he's "feeling very tired." Some publications wrote that he was quitting YouTube, when in reality the platform's biggest star has taken at least two separate breaks before to avoid burnout.
Kjellberg has also been vocally critical of both YouTube and Twitter over the past few days, highlighting YouTube's recent harassment rule changes and what he described as being rewarded for meaningless moral posturing on Twitter.
"It explains why the site has become such a cesspool of opinion," Kjellberg said in his "I hate twitter" video, citing J. K. Rowling retroactively changing the sexuality of Harry Potter characters as an example.
"People just can't seem to help themselves from pointing out what is good and what is bad, or others are bad and you are good, to the point where it almost becomes fiction just to satisfy this need."
Kjellberg's account on Twitter is still accessible at the handle "@pewdiepie," but all the tweets are gone. In the new Twitter bio, he says he is leaving it up "just to prevent fake accounts."
A few hours before deleting his Twitter, Kjellberg tweeted about the media coverage of his break announcement. He screenshot a "Mirror Breaking News" tweet that said "BREAKING PewDiePie quits YouTube saying he's too tired to go on" and wrote "Me: Im taking a break for a little while," to show how he was being misrepresented.
The "I hate twitter" video was uploaded just an hour before Kjellberg wiped his account. "By the way, f--- Twitter," he said, closing out the 7-minute video.
In his actual announcement video, Kjellberg said he would be taking the break in 2020 and would provide more details later, but wanted his fans to have a "heads up." He said the stress was starting to get to the people around him, including his wife Marzia, who he recently married.
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