ONE of YouTube’s most successful creators, PewDiePie, has received backlash after he mocked a deaf woman using sign language by imitating her with his dog.
He has removed the clip from his video titled “My Dog Cringes at TikToks”.
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The video which is still available to watch, contains PewDiePie reacting to TikTok videos with his dog which he thinks are “cringe”.
The clip in question features a popular TikToker named Scarlet_May.1 who has over 6million followers on the platform.
The video PewDiePie was reacting to is a TikTok where Scarlet describes an encounter she had in Starbucks.
She talks about signing to her brother that the barista was too close to her, before the barista reveals that she can understand sign language too.
However, it was not the embarrassment that Scarlet felt that PewDiePie was reacting to.
Instead he mocked Scarlet’s use of sign language throughout her video, saying that her long nails were too distracting and he couldn’t watch the video.
Further he used his dog, which also has long nails, to mimic her use of sign language.
He also used a fake voice for the impression which some believe was mocking Scarlet’s uncommon accent due to her deafness.
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PewDiePie removed the clip from his video saying that he thought Scarlet was doing a TikTok dance and did not realise she was using sign language.
He commented about the removal under the video saying he “had no clue she was deaf”.
He didn’t apologise, but ended the comment with “Anyway honest mistake, my bad.”
Scarlet responded to the video saying she was disappointed by the lack of ownership for his mistake.
She starts off the video by claiming “I wasn’t surprised. I’m used to it.”
Scarlet also says that she has been using her platform to spread acceptance of deaf people signing using long nails, and PewDiePie’s video is a “step back.”
She believes that if she didn’t need her hands to communicate, the creator would not have mocked her nails.
The video also originally featured Scarlet in the thumbnail using her image to gain views.
Making these changes to the video without an apology, Scarlet believes is PewDiePie’s attempt at sweeping his mockery “under the rug”.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.
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