Famous YouTube vlogger Jenna Marbles, who boasts 20.2 million YouTube subscribers, abruptly announced that she’s leaving the social media platform, citing several controversial videos between 2011 and 2013 where she dressed in blackface to impersonate Nicki Minaj and “slut shamed” other women.

Jenna Mourney, Marbles’ real name, had one of the most popular YouTube channels in the world.

“I’ve spent the last few days privatizing almost all of my old content,” Mourney said. “I’m sorry if any of that holds any nostalgia for you, but I’m literally not trying to put out negative things into the world.”

The 33-year-old’s tearful 11-minute farewell video shows some of the offending clips that led to her leaving the platform. The first is an impression of Minaj, where she mimics her singing style and looks. Mourney, who is white, wore dark makeup as part of the impersonation.

“It was not my intention to do blackface,” Mourney tried to claim, despite the obvious evidence to the contrary. “I haven’t done anything remotely like that, because I heard people say ‘This is blackface’ and ‘I don’t like that.”’

Another video entitled “Bounce That D*ck” is a music video that features racist language against Asians, using the phrases “ching chong” and “King Kong ding dong.” After uttering several racist phrases, Mourney claimed she “wasn’t a racist” in the video.

Mourney also acknowledged that her vlog personality reinforced gender stereotypes saying, “I don’t think making jokes about your gender is funny.”

After announcing her departure, a group of YouTubers showed their support for Mourney while others called on more YouTubers with racist histories to leave the platform.

“I think there was a time when having all of my old content exist on the Internet showed how much I have grown up as a person, which I’m very proud of. ” Mourney said. “I don’t want someone to watch something and feel hurt or offended now for any reason at all.”

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/2ZdzWWT