Youtuber KSI Apologizes, Deletes YouTube Video & Plans Social Media Break After Racial Slur Sparks Outrage
KSI, the British YouTuber with more than 24M subscribers, has apologized and said he is taking a social media break after using a racial slur during his latest video.
KSI has become known for being at the forefront of the YouTube boxing craze, but on Sunday evening appeared with his Sidemen friends in a video based on the UK game show Countdown.
In the letters and numbers game, players must create the longest word possible from a string of random vowels and consonants within a 30-second time limit.
KSI, real name JJ Olatunji, created the word “p–i” from his selection of letters, an offensive abbreviation of Pakistan used to describe south Asians.
His Sidemen friends can be seen giggling at his word choice, but others were not amused after a clip KSI’s slur went viral on Twitter, where users voiced outrage.
Bobby Friction, a BBC radio DJ, said: “I had this racial slur thrown at me & got physical beats by racists for my entire childhood. Genuinely upset that @KSI (a guy my children love) did this & thought it was funny. The rest of them laughing can go f**k themselves too.”
Guz Khan, star of BBC comedy Man Like Mobeen, added: “You see @KSI the issue you have here is that a lot of Pakistanis can make things very difficult for you and anyone giggling in this video. When they catch up with you, I hope the dead countdown joke was worth it.”
The Sidemen YouTube account has since turned the Countdown video to private, meaning it can’t be viewed by users. KSI issued an apology on Twitter.
“I wanna apologise for saying a racial slur in a recent Sidemen video. There’s no excuse, no matter the circumstances, I shouldn’t have said it and I’m sorry,” he said.
“I’ve always said to my audience that they shouldn’t worship me or put me on a pedestal because I’m human. Im not perfect, I’m gonna mess up in life, and lately I’ve been messing up a lot. So I’ve decided I’m gonna just take a break from social media for a while.”
deadline.com
