A couple of big names are severing ties with Felix Kjellberg, otherwise known as PewDiePie on YouTube. The Wall Street Journal reported that Disney's Maker Studios dropped PewDiePie from its company, which had previously partnered with the YouTube creator to make the entertainment network Revelmode. Shortly after that announcement, Variety reported that YouTube cancelled the second season of Scare PewDiePie, the YouTube Red show starring Kjellberg, and dropped PewDiePie from Google Preferred, one of the company's advertising programs for top-tier brands and talent.

All of this follows PewDiePie's video posted last month in which he paid two Indian men to hold up a sign that said "Death to all Jews." He did this using a site called Fiverr, a freelance website that lets anyone pay for a variety of services—including graphic design and programming—for just $5. One of the services listed at the time was for Funny Guys, a comedy duo consisting of the two Indian men who would hold up a sign with anything written on it for $5.

After the initial backlash toward PewDiePie's video, the YouTube creator posted a follow-up video in which he says he didn't think the men would actually hold up such an offensive sign. Fiverr banned Funny Guys after the incident; the duo said they didn't understand what the sign meant at the time. PewDiePie apologized while asking Fiverr to reinstate the men to its website, claiming he felt "partially responsible." He also responded to the controversy on his Tumblr page this weekend, defending his channel as "entertainment, and not a place for any serious political commentary," but he also admitted that his previous actions were "ultimately offensive." PewDiePie is no stranger to offensive content, as most of his videos showcase his bombastic sense of humor, but that hasn't stopped 53 million people from subscribing to his channel.

The original video has been taken down, although it's unclear if YouTube or PewDiePie himself took the action. The damage appears to have been done, though, as both Disney and YouTube aren't letting PewDiePie off the hook. There's no word on what will become of Revelmode, the network created by Disney Maker and PewDiePie that produced "original shows, games, charitable programs, community events," and other similar content. Revelmode is associated with other YouTubers and online creators, so it's possible Disney Maker may try to keep it going without PewDiePie in the mix.

YouTube announced the renewal of Scare PewDiePie last year but never set a release date for the new season. Scare PewDiePie was one of the first produced series to come out on YouTube Red, the online video site's paid subscription tier, and it placed Kjellberg into real-life emulations of some of the scariest situations found in the video games he's played. The decision to remove PewDiePie from Google Preferred will undoubtedly affect his revenue since that program only handles YouTube's biggest creators. PewDiePie will still be able to make money from Google's regular advertising programs (he has the most subscribed-to channel on YouTube and has 14 billion views—he's not going anywhere), but the payout won't be as big as that of Google Preferred.

Ars has reached out to YouTube for further comment on this story.