Colleen Ballinger’s family speaks out amid backlash toward JoJo Siwa
YouTube: Howie Mandel Does Stuff, Colleen VlogsColleen Ballinger’s family have spoken out amid the ongoing backlash against JoJo Siwa, who notably defended Ballinger from grooming accusations during Howie Mandel’s podcast.
Colleen Ballinger is an OG YouTuber who is best known for her comedic character named ‘Miranda Sings.’
Ballinger has been making YouTube videos since 2008 and boasts over 22 million subscribers across three channels… but in 2023, the creator was hit with multiple accusations of grooming young fans, prompting her to put her content on pause.
Although the accusations were first made by former fan Adam McIntyre back in 2020, they resurfaced in 2023, with multiple fans speaking out about alleged inappropriate behavior from the YouTube star.
Ballinger infamously responded to the allegations in a ten-minute video where she sang along while playing a ukulele, and has had yet to speak out about the situation since then — but now, her family is taking a stand.
Colleen Ballinger’s family speaks out amid JoJo Siwa backlash
Months after Ballinger’s ukulele apology video went viral, fellow YouTube star JoJo Siwa opened up about her friendship with Colleen during an episode of Howie Mandel’s podcast.
In the podcast, JoJo defended Ballinger, saying the controversy surrounding the YouTuber is “based off of lies.” JoJo has since come under fire for her remarks, with other major influencers like Trisha Paytas and even MoistCritikal calling her out over the situation.
Now, Colleen Ballinger’s family is publicly commenting on the backlash toward Siwa, opening up about the ordeal in a seemingly-deleted YouTube comment from the ‘BallingerFamily’ account.
“It is sad to me to see how caught up people get in online gossip,” their comment read. “JoJo is a lovely person. She has a huge heart, a dedication to bringing joy to others, and an absolutely brilliant mind.”
“We have entered into a sad new era, where it is more profitable to complain about and destroy other humans than to lift them up. …instead of being concerned about all the people supporting JoJo, perhaps consider that they know her on a human level (rather than parasocial opinions).”
YouTube: ballingerfamilyThis is the latest news to come from Ballinger after her lawyers denied that the YouTuber copyright striked any videos using her ukulele apology song back in July.