In a new video posted on Thursday, titled “My 100 Mil Award Broke”, PewDiePie gave reasons for his change of heart over the previously made decision to inject money into the ADL:
"I made a mistake of picking a charity that I was advised instead of picking a charity I am personally passionate about, which is 100% my fault", he said Thursday, implying he was set to obey the voice of his own heart.
"This was not the right way to go about it. I knew it wasn't perfect but I also didn't know a lot that surfaced throughout this whole thing about the charity that doesn't fit at all", Pewds remarked.
Meanwhile the original tweet about the donation, although it has since been deleted, was captured in a screenshot by a Twitterian. In it, the Swede says making a donation to the ADL made sense since the Jewish NGO, which seeks to combat anti-Semitism, had spoken against him.
The donation pull, although many remembered the ADL pressing Disney to cut ties with Pewds over what they called “anti-Semitic” videos in 2017, was taken by many with a pinch of salt.
Multiple users inflated the story to the point of dubbing the top YouTuber “a Nazi”, citing an “anti-Semitic Iron cross” on his hoodie.
Racism and being a nazi are fantastic traits to have, aren’t they? What a fantastic role model.
— Demon King Oda 🤟🏻 (@DemonKingOda) September 12, 2019
He literally is wearing a Nazi Iron Cross pic.twitter.com/52S8Iyqj7x
— Prime038 (@Prime038_) September 12, 2019
But, fortunately for the vlogger, many dismissed the claims as absurd:
Me seeing all of the bullshit about Pewdiepie being a Nazi on my timeline.. He’s not wearing an Iron cross what the fuck guys pic.twitter.com/nYwFd3YjxT
— Cupcakes76 (@Cupcakes762) September 13, 2019
Next mf to talk shit on pewdiepie can catch a jutsu pic.twitter.com/q4n1MmaHVI
— dm to talk about golden girls (@CastilloKaeleb) September 13, 2019
Just a quick question, what's wrong with you all?
— Byte_Sized🏳️🌈 (commissions open) (@ByteSized4) September 13, 2019
I found out about Pewdiepie wearing a georgian cross faster than I found out half the planet was on fire, STILL IS BTW.
But no, the important news is that some morons saw a basic shape on a celebrity's hoodie.
Get. Some. Help.
…although some – at the same time – thought he was an “a**” for making the withdrawal move:
Just a heads up. Love or hate PewDiePie...the icon on his shirt isn't .....anti semitic. It's the logo from independent skate. That cross is everywhere. Including PacSun. C'mon people. Sure, he's an ass for what just happened. But his shirt?...........
— THE AT-AT Chat (@NbreckEdit) September 13, 2019
Others rushed to brainstorm their own theories of why Pewds, who recently hit the 100 million subscriber level on YouTube, backtracked on the ADL choice, with one clearly stating that the latter, like “the far left”, “hates him” and that he would naturally pick an organisation that “hasn’t tried to deplatform him”.
This headline is a lie. The ADL hates Pewdiepie and the far left hates them. Even if Pewds donated 10 million that wouldn't change, so now he's going to donate to an organization that HASN'T tried to deplatform him. Simple.
— Eric (@HooovHearted) September 12, 2019
One even made an exhaustive sum-up of the matter:
Pewdiepie pulls 50k pledge to charity organization in which he did no actual research on. He was “advised” to donate to ADL, in a sponsored video, and after the backlash and a bit of looking into it, he decided to pull his pledge. Neither Felix or his fanbase are anti-semitic. https://t.co/VhFjKaiCgy
— andrea | thanks ash (@loveitcurly) September 12, 2019
While a second saw absolutely no reason why anyone should be “mad” with PewDiePie:
So people are mad that PewDiePie dropped out of donating to the ADL?
— BesuBaru Ⓐ 🔞 (@BesuBaru) September 12, 2019
If he donates to something similar that is less fishy, I don't see what the outrage is all about.
It's like donating to PETA or Mermaid. Both have their fair share of issues.
