Swedish YouTube star PewDiePie has come under fire for using the n-word during a gaming live stream.
The 27-year-old, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, is the world’s highest-paid YouTuber with more than 57 million subscribers and is reported to have made $15m (£11m) through the video giant last year.
He was playing the multiplayer online shooting game Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds when he made the racial slur.
Swedish YouTube star PewDiePie has come under fire for using the n-word during a gaming live stream
‘What a f****** n*****. Oh my god, what the f***?’ Kjellberg said in the video.
After uttering the racial term, he said: ‘I don’t mean that in a bad way.’
The live stream, titled CALIFORNIA ROLL, has now been removed from his account.
The offensive language was quickly criticized by the gaming and technology community online.
Gaming designer Jennifer Scheurle said: ‘RT if you have never used the N-word while gaming, even in a “heated gaming moment”. Like if you think PewDiePie is a racist poop person.’
He was playing the multiplayer online shooting game Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds when he made the racial slur
Software engineer Brianna Wu added: ‘RT if unlike PewDiePie, you don’t start randomly screaming racial slurs while playing videogames.’
Game developer Sean Vanaman, who helped create Firewatch, even filed a DMCA takedown of any videos featuring content from his game.
He said on Twitter: ‘There is a bit of leeway you have to have with the internet when u wake up every day and make video games. There’s also a breaking point.
‘I am sick of this child getting more and more chances to make money off of what we make.
The offensive language was quickly criticized by the gaming and technology community online
‘He’s worse than a closeted racist: he’s a propagator of despicable garbage that does real damage to the culture around this industry. I’d urge other developers & will be reaching out to folks much larger than us to cut him off from the content that has made him a milionaire.
‘Furthermore, we’re complicit: I’m sure we’ve made money off of the 5.7M views that video has and that’s something for us to think about.’
Not everyone agreed with the criticism of PewDiePie, however.
Twitter user Imran Said said: ‘Do I think PewDiePie is inherently a racist? No. Do I think it was an incredibly dumb, childish move on his part? Absolutely.’
Game developer Sean Vanaman, who helped create Firewatch, even filed a DMCA takedown of any videos featuring content from his game
This is not the time the YouTuber has courted controversy.
Earlier this year he was dropped from Disney’s Maker Studios and YouTube cancelled his reality series following a Wall Street Journal report that he made anti-Semitic videos.
Maker Studios said in a statement at the time that Kjellberg built his following by being ‘provocative and irreverent,’ but ‘clearly went too far in this case and the resulting videos are inappropriate.’
Kjellberg has yet to comment on the controversy on his social media channels.
MailOnline has contacted YouTube and Kjellberg’s representatives for comment.