In a segment that the YouTube star was eventually forced to delete, PewDiePie stated that Pakistan was on his side in the battle against rival Indian music channel T-series, striking a nerve with some of his fan base.

PewDiePie, aka Felix Kjellberg, has been locked in a dead heat for the highest subscriber count on YouTube with the Bollywood label for some time, but many felt he took the rivalry too far in a recent episode of his web show.

@TeamYouTube A YOUTUBER name pewdiepie is promoting terrorism between india and pakistan . pls delete his video or take any serious action https://t.co/LiKyCgH64v — Tushar (@tush27072001) March 13, 2019

“Basically what happened was that after the Pulwama terror attack, T-Series removed Pakistani singers’ songs,” he explained, implying that T-series had discriminated against artists from Pakistan as a result of the current crisis.

India blamed Pakistan for the attack, but Pakistan condemned the attack and denied any connection to it… But the most important thing out of all of this, is that the Pakistanis are on our side. Pakistan is on our side, T-Series. You’ll regret making this enemy.

Whereas the YouTube kingpin claims his comments were only about Pakistani artists and their relationship to T-series, a considerable number of people felt the content-creator was making an unwelcome dip into the countries’ bilateral relations. PewDiePie eventually edited out the segment, and offered an apology.

Edited out the last bit of pew news, I think its clear that I didnt mean anything in a bigger sense of what goes on between India and Pakistan. I was strictly speaking in the context of Tseries and artists getting screwed over, just want to make that clear here. ✌️ — ƿ૯ωძɿ૯ƿɿ૯ (@pewdiepie) March 12, 2019

Nonetheless, the blowback on Twitter was significant, with many saying the comments were so insensitive that they were unsubscribing altogether. Some used the incident as an excuse to rally subscribers for T-series.

Pewds you should stay away from any countries politics... you don't intentionally F*** up but you should be more careful while talking😅. You should have done more research boiii — Manthan Tupe ❁ (@manthantupemt) March 12, 2019

Pewdiepie mocking Indian soldiers Martydom and supporting Terrorists supporters to gain subs from Pakistan.. Its time now India stands with Tseries.. SUBSCRIBE TO TSERIES 🇮🇳🇮🇳#BharatWinsYouTube#makebharatwinyoutube#SUBSCRIBETOTSERIESpic.twitter.com/KUrCKik143 — 🇮🇳Siju Chacko🇮🇳 (@c_simoju) March 13, 2019

Others felt that people were being a bit sensitive regarding the segment, and that heightened emotions around the international crisis had caused people to misinterpret the comments.

You don’t need to apologize or even edit any part. You said the truth which comes from common sense. No pakistani artists or cricketers had anything to do with Pulwama. To some indians which r crying after this, this world doesn’t revolve around u. It’s time to grow up. — N.K (@expertsleeper2) March 12, 2019

It's crazy that you have to double back like this and "cover yourself" from something you didn't even mean or say :/ people be thirsty for controversy. Good on you for approaching it openly though, even if it's ridiculous 👏 — TomatoBisquette🍅 (@TomatoBisquette) March 12, 2019

Regardless of his intentions, damage was definitely done. A live counter which tallies the rival channels’ subscribers shows that the gap is steadily closing, with T-series only a couple thousand subscribers away from dethroning the king and taking the coveted top spot that PewDiePie has held fairly consistently since 2013.

Also on rt.com ‘Meme review!’ Elon Musk backs PewDiePie in epic battle against Indian T-Series for top YouTube spot

Tensions between India and Pakistan reached a critical point after New Delhi claimed Islamabad had been complicit in a terrorist attack at the beginning of the year that left some 40 Indian soldiers dead. Tensions have mounted to the brink of war, with the long-time enemies resorting to military action.

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