PewDiePie has admitted his donation to ADL (Anti-Defamation League) was a ‘mistake’ and has apologised to his audience for ‘messing up’.

The Swedish YouTuber, who recently hit 100 million subscribers, left fans confused when he donated $50,000 (£40,200) to the organisation which had previously slammed him and accused him of ‘anti-Semitism.’

Although PewDiePie – real name Felix Kjellberg – explained his donation in a statement on Twitter, he’s now taken to YouTube to admit it was a ‘mistake.’


Elaborating on his choice to contribute to a charity, he said: ‘I made the mistake of picking a charity I was advised [to] instead of a charity that I’m personally attached to, which is 100 per cent my fault.

Felix admitted the donation was a ‘mistake’ (Picture: YouTube/PewDiePie)

‘Usually when I pick a charity, I take my time, I find a charity that I’m really excited about, and actually passionate to donate to.



‘So when I uploaded the video talking about the charity, it was very brief and people could tell something was off. The whole internet just didn’t believe it.’

The 29-year-old went on to describe the internet going into ‘full conspiracy mode’ before laughing: ‘It was very interesting to watch that unfold.’

‘To be fair, I saw it as an opportunity to put an end to the alt-right claims that have been thrown against me,’ Felix continued.

He previously defended the donation (Picture: Twitter/pewdiepie)

‘It wasn’t to try and clear my name or save grace – if it was, I would have done it years ago. But after the Christchurch tragedy, I felt a responsibility to do something about it because it’s no longer just about me, it affected other people in a way, and I’m not okay with that.’

Admitting the process was ‘all very rushed’, he added: ‘It really doesn’t feel genuine for me to proceed with the donation at this point and instead I want to take my time…doing it with the right charity.’

The CEO of ADL previously slammed the YouTuber (Picture: Twitter/JGreenblattADL)

He finished his statement by explaining: ‘I’m sorry for the confusion and I’m sorry for messing up.’

An ADL spokesperson told Metro.co.uk in a statement: ‘ADL learned about the potential donation from Felix Kjellberg when everyone else did: when he made the announcement on his channel earlier this week. We have not received any communication from him beyond that.’

Back in 2017, ADL took a public stance against Felix after he uploaded a video which saw him paying two Indian men to hold up a sign saying ‘Death to all Jews.’

ADL slammed PewDiePie for the video, accusing him of anti-Semitism and commending Disney for parting ways with him.

The CEO of ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, tweeted a statement, captioning it: ‘Thank you, @Disney, for severing ties with #PewDiePie.’

The YouTuber later apologised for the video, saying: ‘I was trying to show how crazy the modern world is, specifically some of the services available online.

‘I think it’s important to say something and I want to make one thing clear: I am in no way supporting any kind of hateful attitudes.’

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