The Colleen Ballinger controversy and ukulele apology song, explained

Colleen Ballinger, a popular YouTuber and comedian known by the character name Miranda Sings, shocked fans with a video posted on June 28. The video was released amid several allegations that its creator used her celebrity to promote toxic, exploitative and hurtful interactions with fans, as described in reporting on Rolling stone and numerous other outlets. However, instead of a traditional apology video, Ballinger pulled out her ukulele and defended herself in an original song.

Ballinger began the video with a spoken introduction: “Hello everyone. I wanted to come online and talk to you about a few things. Although my team has strongly advised me not to say what I want to say, I recently realized that they never said I couldn’t sing what I wanted to say.”

While apologies videos are a dime a dozen culture true creators with online fandoms have often been accused of abuse, this one stood out – not only for its haphazard dismissal of serious allegations and declared disregard for her own team’s apparent advice, but also for how cringe-inducing it is to address these accusations with a corny song. The video caught the attention of the wider internet beyond Ballinger’s own fan base, and it inspired both longtime fans of hers and skeptical viewers to take to social media to drag the video. The 10-minute video was viewed more than 3 million times in one day.

Ultimately, the video propelled the controversy to new levels of notoriety, but there’s a lot behind Ballinger’s response to the allegations and the larger controversy itself. So no matter how familiar you are with Ballinger and her character Miranda Sings, we’re here to explain everything behind the controversy that’s raging on the internet.

Who is Colleen Ballinger and her character Miranda Sings?

Colleen Ballinger is an American actor and comedian who got her start from – and is perhaps best known for – her YouTube channel Miranda sings. In all of her videos, she plays a character named Miranda Sings, a satirical portrayal of young women hoping to use YouTube to become famous. Along with several bits based on the character where she leans towards irreverent humor and tells a lot of fart jokes, she is also known for singing fake covers of songs.

Ballinger’s channel boomed in the late 2000s and early 2010s. At the time of publishing, her vlog channel and her Miranda Sings channel together have more than 13 million subscribers, with her most popular videos having been viewed a whopping 56 million times. Over time, her fame and influence outgrew YouTube. She appeared on the Nickelodeon show Victorious in 2012 and released a New York Times bestseller titled Self-Helf. She later played the character of Miranda Sings in a Netflix show called Haters retreatwhich ran for two seasons starting in 2016.

Ballinger’s sphere of influence is undoubtedly broad, but she’s probably more of a household name among the younger Millennial and Gen Z generations due to her ties to the early days of YouTube and her more recent work on TikTok.

What are Colleen Ballinger’s allegations?

Allegations against Colleen Ballinger were first raised in April 2020 by Adam McIntyre when he shared a video claiming that Ballinger used her fame to take advantage of him and get him to work for her for free. After releasing the video, McIntyre said that Ballinger’s fans harassed and doxxed him for speaking out. Until two weeks ago there were not many further developments. At the time, another member of Ballinger’s fandom, KodeeRants, posted a now-deleted video confirming the existence of a group chat called “Colleeny’s Weenies”, where inappropriate messages were allegedly exchanged between Ballinger and a small group of her fans. Following the KodeeRants video, several fans came forward on social media to share their experiences with Ballinger and her inner circle. These accounts not only alleged misconduct on the part of Colleen Ballinger, but also included stories involving her best friend, Kory Desoto; her ex-husband, Joshua David Evans; and her brother, Trent Ballinger.

Image: Adam McIntyre/YouTube

The most recent spate of allegations was documented and described in a Rolling Stone report published June 21. The report says Ballinger has been “accused of abusing her power and engaging in toxic parasocial relationships with fans,” and it goes on to include specific accounts of misconduct. One reported example was a group chat with McIntyre in which Ballinger apparently asked questions such as “Are you a virgin?” and “What’s your favorite position?” The report also described a fan named Johnny Silvestri who became an assistant on tour; Silvestri told Rolling Stone that Ballinger and Desoto created a toxic work environment that “thrived on parasocial and intensely one-sided relationships between Ballinger and fans.”

A theme in the report is the description of an ongoing dynamic where young people looked up to and trusted Ballinger and, according to Rolling Stone, felt that trust had been betrayed. While some responses to the coverage have characterized the behavior as “grooming,” it’s important to note that the Rolling Stone article, which spoke to several fans, does not use this term, but rather emphasizes a generally toxic environment that allegedly prevailed throughout the fandom. . A source told Rolling Stone that the current allegations “are not criminal,” but instead speak more to the intense emotional impact figures like Ballinger can have on young fans.

What’s the evidence against Colleen Ballinger?

Most of the documented evidence was laid out and vetted in a Rolling Stone report published in June. This report describes screenshots of conversations between Ballinger and her fans that, according to those who spoke to Rolling Stone, contained sexually inappropriate messages from Colleen Ballinger. These conversations unfolded in a Twitter group chat, as well as other direct message sources, shared between fans and Ballinger’s friends and family members. Most of the report’s authority lies in screenshots reviewed by Rolling Stone and the existence of these group chats confirmed by multiple sources.

What is Colleen Ballinger’s ukulele apology song?

In response to the new wave of accusations, Ballinger initially responded by moving away from social media. On Wednesday, however, the maker responded to the allegations in a video on her vlog channel, titled “hello”. In that video, Ballinger addressed the controversy by singing and playing the ukulele. She appeared to deny the allegations as she sang: “A lot of people say some things about me that aren’t quite true. It doesn’t matter if it’s true, as long as it’s entertaining.” The video contains some jaw-dropping moments, including when she says, “I just wanted to say that the only thing I’ve ever taken care of is my two Persian cats. I’m not a groomer. Just a loser.”

The song has inspired a wave of memes and parodies in which people joke about the tone-deaf and cringey nature of the video. Even McIntyre himself responded with his own song, haphazardly strumming a ukulele and responding line by line to Ballinger’s song. And now Ballinger’s decision to share the video seems baffling long-term fans as they share their feelings online.

What are the allegations regarding Trisha Paytas?

On July 2, Silvestri shared a series of tweets alleging that Ballinger sent him nude photos of popular content creator Trisha Paytas. Paytas is a sex worker who shares NSFW content on OnlyFans with a subscription. According to Silvestri, Ballinger hosted viewing parties of Paytas’ NSFW content and sent nude photos of Paytas from their OnlyFans account. McIntyre, who says he was a minor at the time, Ballinger confirmed that shared NSFW images and videos from Paytas as well.

The new wave of accusations has once again rocked fans. This is largely due to the seriousness of the allegations – Ballinger allegedly sent porn to a minor – but also because of the unique relationship between Ballinger and Paytas. Paytas, who has an active online presence on several social media platforms, hosted a podcast with Ballinger in May. The show aired in three episodes; Paytas shared one video on their YouTube channel about these recent allegations where Paytas described Ballinger as a “friend” as Ballinger had reached out after Paytas had a child and the two have occasionally made videos together.

Also in the video, Paytas responded to other claims, such as McIntyre saying that Ballinger had made derogatory remarks to him about Paytas’ body.

“I don’t condone the unsolicited sending of nudes, the sending of nudes, to anyone, sex worker or not, at all. I think using someone’s nudes as a way to hurt, make fun of, mock, or make fun of them is the lowest form of human being,” they said. “I find that so inhumane, so disgusting for everyone.”

Polygon has reached out to Ballinger for comment and will update this article if we hear back.

What are the allegations of racism related to Ballinger’s Netflix show?

On June 30, April Korto Quioh, Assistant Writers and PA at Haters retreat, shared an account of what it was like working on the show with Ballinger. In the long message, Quioh describes a toxic work environment and notes that Ballinger said the n-word. Quioh wrote:

She had a knack for making “funny”, caustic remarks about those around her and since we all owed her a job we were forced to just do it. She didn’t mind commenting on my hair or my clothes or asking questions about my personal life. Her lack of boundaries was remarkable.

Update (July 5): This story has been updated with further allegations about Ballinger from Silvestri and from April Korto Quioh, writing assistant and PA at Haters retreat.