--- description: The 27-year-old Swedish YouTuber, real name Feliz Kjellberg, has been accused of using a racial slur while live-streaming a game. title: PewDiePie 'Used Racial Slur' While Live Streaming: Report image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ac3b59f66cceba9/6988dd30196cf46948041dcd/gettyimages-494848194.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # PewDiePie Is Being Accused of Using a Racial Slur While Live-Streaming a Game by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 11, 2017 9:38 AM CUT  PewDiePie at a book signing, Oct. 29, 2015 in New York. PewDiePie at a book signing, Oct. 29, 2015 in New York.John Lamparski—Getty Images by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 11, 2017 9:38 AM CUT [PewDiePie](http://time.com/4348958/pewdiepie-2/ "undefined") may be in hot water again, more than six months after [Disney cut ties with him](http://time.com/4670095/disney-pewdiepie-youtube-antisemitism-felix-kjellberg/ "undefined") over comments deemed anti-Semitic. The 27-year-old [Swedish internet personality](https://www.youtube.com/user/PewDiePie/featured "undefined"), otherwise known as Felix Kjellberg, appeared to have used the a racial slur while streaming a video game session online — [according](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-41222593 "undefined") to the BBC. Purported [footage](https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/6z8xv0/pewdiepie%5Fsayed%5Fthe%5Fn%5Fword/ "undefined") of the moment, posted Sunday to Reddit but unconfirmed by TIME, appears to show Kjellberg using the offensive term while playing a video game, after which he seems to offer an apology. “I don’t mean that in a bad way,” says Kjellberg, once the world’s [highest-paid YouTube star](http://time.com/3950603/felix-kjellberg-pewdiepie-youtube-earnings-criticism/ "undefined"), while struggling to contain a laugh. The news led to a gaming developer [taking aim](http://www.avclub.com/pewdiepie-did-something-racist-again-indie-developer-d-1803104399 "undefined") at Kjellberg’s popular YouTube channel, A.V. Club reports. “We’re filing a DMCA \[Digital Millennium Copyright Act\] takedown of PewDiePie’s Firewatch content and any future Campo Santo games,” tweeted developer Sean Vanaman. “I am sick of this child getting more and more chances to make money off of what we make.” Kjellberg is [no stranger](http://time.com/4671429/pewdiepie-disney-youtube-antisemitism/ "undefined") to controversies based on race and ethnicity. In February this year, revelations that several of his YouTube videos contained offensive content led to Disney [terminating](http://time.com/4670095/disney-pewdiepie-youtube-antisemitism-felix-kjellberg/ "undefined") commercial relations with him. YouTube at that time also withheld new episodes of _Scare PewDiePie_, Kjellberg’s video show on the platform, and removed him from its top-tier advertising service. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4935548/pewdiepie-racial-slur-live-streaming-youtube/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4935548/pewdiepie-racial-slur-live-streaming-youtube/"},"headline":"PewDiePie Is Being Accused of Using a Racial Slur While Live-Streaming a Game","datePublished":"2017-09-11T09:38:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:47:07.258Z","description":"The Internet personality is no stranger to controversies based on race and ethnicity.","url":"https://time.com/4935548/pewdiepie-racial-slur-live-streaming-youtube/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Internet","Race","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ac3b59f66cceba9/6988dd30196cf46948041dcd/gettyimages-494848194.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ac3b59f66cceba9/6988dd30196cf46948041dcd/gettyimages-494848194.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"PewDiePie Signs Copies Of His New Book \"This Book Loves You\"","caption":"PewDiePie Signs Copies Of His New Book \"This Book Loves You\"","creditText":"John Lamparski—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4935548/pewdiepie-racial-slur-live-streaming-youtube/","name":"PewDiePie Is Being Accused of Using a Racial Slur While Live-Streaming a Game"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Disney Cuts Ties with PewDiePie for Anti-Semitic Content","description":"Disney released a statement saying they plan to cut ties with YouTube personality PewDiePie.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/sttohur9/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-02-14T16:46:35.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/sttohur9.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4935548/pewdiepie-racial-slur-live-streaming-youtube/","duration":"PT1M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4935548/pewdiepie-racial-slur-live-streaming-youtube/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```