If you’ve been on social media this last week, you’ve most likely watched, or at least read the news of, Colleen Ballinger’s apology video.
The YouTuber, also known as Miranda Sings, posted a 10-minute video to YouTube where she decided to sing, rather than speak, in response to some serious allegations.
The video by Ballinger has been dubbed by many as YouTube’s worst apology video.
Justin Hill, host of LiSNTR’s The Streaming Service, joins Katrina Blowers on today’s episode of The Briefing to unpack the video and the allegations made against Ballinger.
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The video and allegations:
Allegations of child grooming were first made against Ballinger in 2020 by one of her fans, Adam McIntyre. He posted about allegations of grooming and exploitation that he says happened when he was a minor.
In addressing the allegations Ballinger began the video by singing, “So, a lot of people are saying some things about me that aren’t quite true… all aboard the toxic gossip train”.
She later adds, “I’m sure you’re all disappointed in my shitty little song, oh I know you wanted me to say that I was 100 per cent wrong.”
“I’m not going to take that route of admitting to lies and rumours that you made up.”
Hill explains McIntyre would help Ballinger with her social media before tensions flared between the two of something he had posted. He then went on to say Ballinger used him as an unpaid intern before allegations became more serious.
“She was making crass jokes, and it kind of started, I think, as small, innocent, silly things,” Hill said.
“It very much escalated into he’s now alleging she was grooming him.
“She was sending explicit messages to these people, the screenshots I have seen have been in the case of she was trying to get content.
“Maybe she was trying to get reactions because her character she’s created is very mean. Ultimately, she’s an adult but she has a childlike mind.
“Her mistake there was she thought that what she was saying was perfectly okay… it actually really wasn’t.”
To understand more about the Miranda Sings character, and hear all of Hill’s thoughts on the apology video, listen to today’s episode of The Briefing on the LiSTNR app now.