As you are no doubt aware by now, Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg is in a bit of a controversy. A few weeks ago he posted a video where he paid people on the micro-tasking website Fiverr to do ridiculous things for his channel’s amusement. For the person who posted, “I will do any crazy and bizarre challenge you want” he wrote, “drink bleach.” He asked a guy dressed as Jesus to read a funny script. He asked someone who will play Hearthstone with you for money to play Roblox instead.

And then two guys in a jungle appeared, laughing oddly as they mocked a fight over a scroll. “I paid for this?” said Felix. Then one of the men finally unraveled the paper to reveal a sign saying, “Death to all Jews”. They held it aloft, said, “subscribe to Keemstar!” (another YouTuber) and again laughed oddly, dancing around and smiling at the camera.

As the sign unraveled, Felix had a look of shock on his face. After a minute, he said, “I am sorry. I didn’t think they would actually do it. I feel partially responsible, but I didn’t think they would actually do it.”

The video was published on January 11, and as of today it has nearly 10 million views. Last night, on February 13, a Wall Street Journal report (you have to sign up to read the full article) came out about the incident. Three Wall Street Journal reporters shared a byline, and contacted Disney, one of Kjellberg’s sponsors, about the anti-Semitic prank. Because of these reporters’ inquiry, Disney dropped PewDiePie. YouTube cancelled his premium show and dropped him from their Google Preferred advertiser program.

PewDiePie immediately began trending on Twitter and there are now a million columns about the matter, including this one. Harry Potter author JK Rowling even opined on the matter, linking to an Indepentent column asking, “When did fascism become so cool?”

“A white guy with a net worth of $124m making poor brown people hold up a sign calling for genocide is pure banter, isn’t it?” writes the Independent columnist.

Yes. It is. If those of you decrying this stunt knew anything about internet culture for the past three decades, you would know that. This is a controversy born of ignorance. It’s what happens when internet culture clashes with those only superficially aware of its memes, themes, and subversive humor.

Since Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Spirit of Christmas – the precursor to South Park – released in 1992 and part two in 1995, anti-Semitism has been used satirically as a comic device. Long before that, Mel Brooks was doing the same with The Producers in 1968.

This isn’t fascism – a word now so overused that its definition has been diluted to “someone with whom I disagree” and has little to do with its original descriptor of ultra-nationalism. No one is being harmed by this prank. No kid is out there thinking he should kill Jews because he saw two tiny brown people in a jungle hold up a sign while PewDiePie looked on in disbelief.

Nearly everyone understands that. Everyone, that is, except columnists, who peddle outrage for clicks, and those like JK Rowling, so removed from geek culture that it may as well be a different language.

Disney was probably right to sever ties with Kjellberg. If it wasn’t this prank, there would be some other stunt he performs that corporate and “normie” culture won’t understand. Kjellberg will be largely undamaged from this controversy, though he’ll certainly lose some money, and he will continue to appeal to people that corporate entities will struggle to understand.

I have reached out to one of the Wall Street Journal writers and will update this article if I hear back.