PewDiePie slammed for appearing to mock deaf person’s voice and signing

Scarlett May has described his actions as ‘weird’ and ‘unnecessary’


PewDiePie has come under fire for appearing to mock a deaf person’s voice and use of sign language in a recent video.

The Swedish YouTuber, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, filmed himself watching Scarlet May’s TikTok before impersonating her with a the help of his pet dog.

Scarlett May has described the now-deleted video as “weird” and “unnecessary”.

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PewDiePie via Instagram

On Tuesday, PewDiePie uploaded a YouTube video entitled “My Dog Cringes at TikToks”.

One of the TikToks was by deaf content creator Scarlet May, who regularly uploads videos featuring different versions of sign language.

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Scarlet May via Instagram

In the video mocked by PewDiePie, May sports elaborate acrylic nails, and talks us through an encounter she had at a drive-thru.

PewdiePie films himself reacting to the clip, cutting it short and saying: “I’m not listening to this.”

He then holds up his dog, Maya, waggling her paws and appearing to imitate May’s sign language. “Sorry, are my nails distracting you guys?” PewDiePie says.

Here’s the full video:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Def Noodles (@defnoodles)

Scarlett May has since uploaded a TikTok, in which she claimed PewDiePie was “making fun of my nails, making fun of my signs with his dog and I guess at one point, mocking my voice.”

Although May found the video “weird” and “unnecessary”, she wan’t shocked. ” I wasn’t surprised, I’m used to it,” she said. “I’ve been trying to normalise it and put it out that using nails while signing is normal, it’s okay. But then a big creator comes on here and puts us like a million steps back. It’s very frustrating.”

 

Now, May wants PewDiePie to admit he made a mistake and apologise. “You donā€™t just get to, like, mock deaf people who have already been struggling for years with people like you and then go about your day like nothing happened,” she said.

PewDiePie has since deleted the video but has not responded to requests for comment.

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