YouTube says it has 'suspended' the ability of a star with millions of fans to make money from his videos, following a huge backlash

Screenshot / YouTube

Steven Crowder

• A day after YouTube publically refused to take action against one of its most popular stars, Steven Crowder, for making consistent homophobic and racist comments about Vox journalist, Carlos Maza, the company has reversed its decision. 
• YouTube said on Tuesday that although Crowder's language was "clearly hurtful," it did not constitute a violation of its policies.
• On Wednesday, YouTube said that "because a pattern of egregious actions has harmed the broader community," it has demonetized Crowder's channel.
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YouTube has said that it's "suspended" monetization for popular star Steven Crowder, chalking up the decision to a "pattern of of egregious actions" that "has harmed the broader community." 

The decision comes just a day after YouTube faced a major backlash after it publicly declined to take action against Crowder after it came to light that the star had made consistent homophobic and racist comments about Vox journalist Carlos Maza.

Crowder - who has 3.8 million subscribers - frequently refers to the Maza's sexuality and ethnicity on his show, using phrases like "lispy queer" and a "gay Latino" to describe the journalist.

YouTube said on Tuesday that although Crowder's language was "clearly hurtful," it did not constitute a violation of its policies.

On Wednesday, however, YouTube seemed to indicate that while Crowder's videos may not have violated the site's terms of service, it was found to be against its partner program policies - the rules that govern the ability of top YouTubers like Crowder to take a slice of the advertising revenues generated by their videos.

The terms of this suspension are not immediately clear. We've reached out to YouTube for more context and clarification, and will update if we hear back. 

This story is developing....

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