YouTube/PewDiePie
YouTuber PewDiePie released a video calling for the "subscribe to PewDiePie" meme to end.
- PewDiePie released a video on Sunday asking his fans to end the "subscribe to PewDiePie" meme.
- The meme began as a way to keep him ahead of Indian music video channel T-Series in the battle to be the biggest channel on YouTube.
- The Christchurch shooter referred to the PewDiePie meme during his livestream of the attack in March.
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YouTuber PewDiePie - real name Felix Kjellberg - has released a video calling for his fans to end the "subscribe to PewDiePie" meme, which he himself started.
The "subscribe to PewDiePie" meme began as the result of the YouTuber's struggle to defend his title of most-subscribed YouTube channel against Bollywood music channel T-Series.
In an unusually sombre video, PewDiePie addressed the fact that since then, the slogan "subscribe to PewDiePie" has appeared in two abhorrent acts.
First was in March when a World War II memorial in New York was defaced with graffiti reading "subscribe to PewDiePie." Later that month, the Christchurch shooter referred to the meme during his livestream of the attack, in which the suspect killed 50 people in two mosques.
PewDiePie released a short tweet at the time condemning the act, and in his video said he didn't say anything more out of respect for the victims and their families.
"I just didn't want to address it right away, and I didn't want to give the terrorist more attention. I didn't want to make it about me, because I don't think it has anything to do with me. To put it plainly, I didn't want hate to win," he said. "But it's clear to me now the 'sbscribe to PewDiePie' movement should have ended then."
PewDiePie also addressed criticism of the two "diss tracks" he released mocking T-Series, which an Indian high court ruled must be blocked in the country because they contain racist jokes. PewDiePie said the tracks were meant "in fun, ironic jest," but said that he would keep the videos blocked.
"This was made to be fun, but it's clearly not fun anymore. It's clearly gone too far," PewDiePie said.