Over the weekend, KSI sparked anger by using a racist slur in a YouTube video. The YouTuber, 29, made the remark on Sunday while appearing in a new video with his Sidemen co-stars.
The group was watching a Countdown-themed game show when KSI, actual name JJ Olatunji, used his letter selection to create the word “p**i.”
KSI’s fellow Sidemen were seen laughing, but it didn’t take long for Twitter users to voice their anger. The video can no longer be watched on the social media site, According to Deadline, because it has been made private.
‘I had this racial slur hurled at me & received bodily beats by racists my entire youth,’ one respondent noted.
‘Genuinely upset that @KSI (a guy my children love) did this & thought it was funny. The rest of them laughing can go f**k themselves too. People dehumanising brown people like it normal.’
Another Twitter user noted: ‘This is unacceptable and racist @KSI You don’t need points, you need to get your priorities in order.’
‘This guy should lose all his sponsorships and step down from @PrimeHydrate and @Sidemen for using this racist slur aimed at Pakistanis and South Asians,’ tweeted someone else.
Other comments included: ‘F**k KSI,’ ‘Is this what “content creating” has come to?’ and ‘It isn’t funny, it’s disgusting.’
In the wake of the backlash, KSI released a statement on Twitter on Monday morning that read: ‘I wanna apologise for saying a racial slur in a recent Sidemen video. ‘There’s no excuse, no matter the circumstances, I shouldn’t have said it and I’m sorry.’
The social media star went on: ‘I’ve always said to my audience that they shouldn’t worship me or put me on a pedestal because I’m human.
‘Im not perfect, I’m gonna mess up in life, and lately I’ve been messing up a lot. So I’ve decided I’m gonna just take a break from social media for a while.’ [sic]
Source My Celebrity Life.