Youtuber KSI announced he will take a hiatus from social media after he was criticised for using a racist jibe in a recent spoof video.
KSI, the pseudonym of Olajide William Olatunji, gained popularity as one of the Youtube group The Sidemen, whose sketches and challenges have earned them over 18million subscribers on their channel.
A recent Sidemen Sunday video saw the troupe of internet personalities take on a ‘Countdown challenge’ in which they attempt to come up with a nine-letter word like on the Channel 4 show.
KSI, whose team named themselves ‘N******’, struggled to come up with a word before offering ‘P***’, adding: ‘We need points and I don’t mean this maliciously.’
Fellow hosts Chunkz and Filly appeared open-mouthed as they laughed as KSI’s answer, while he jokingly said ‘sorry’.
Fellow hosts Chunkz and Filly appeared open-mouthed as they laughed as KSI’s answer, while he jokingly said ‘sorry’
KSI has since announced he will take a break from social media, while apologising for the language used in the video
The video prompted anger after it was shared online, with health presenter Dr Ranj Singh branding it ‘simply unacceptable’.
BBC presenter Bobby Friction posted: ‘I had this racial slur thrown at me & got physical beats by racists for my entire childhood.
‘Genuinely upset that KSI (a guy my children love) did this & thought it was funny. The rest of them laughing can go f*** themselves too. People dehumanising brown people like it normal.’
Social media influencer Kavos wrote: ‘Fans are angry at KSI for saying “P***” in a sidemen video for “points”. Don’t think there’s any excuse to be saying that at all.’
KSI – which stands for ‘Knowledge, Strength, Integrity’ – has taken to Twitter to apologise for the words used in the video, which has since been removed.
He said: ‘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. I’ve always said to my audience that they shouldn’t worship me or put me on a pedestal because I’m human.
‘I’m 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.’
The video was met with anger online, with many users describing their own experiences of having the racist slogan thrown at them
But this is not the first time the YouTuber has been forced to apologise.
In 2013, KSI was heard asking women at a gaming conference ‘what STIs they have.’
He was also accused of trivialising sexual assault by pulling a ‘rape face’ in his online videos.
The Youtuber, rapper and boxerbreportedly earns £2.9million ($4.5m) a year from his work on YouTube. But his pay will fluctuate as he is paid based on his activity, sponsorship and advertising revenue, rather than a salary from the video-hosting website.
Forbes listed KSI at No 5 in their ‘World’s Highest-Paid YouTube Stars’ list in 2015, but has since been overtaken by the Paul brothers, Logan and Jake.
And the British YouTuber isn’t shy about flaunting his wealth.
KSI moved into a £4.5million mansion in 2016 with three of his close friends, who were all part of ‘The Sidemen’, and splashed out on a Lamborghini Aventador back in 2014.
When KSI quit £23,000-a-year Berkhamsted School in Hertfordshire after AS-levels to become a YouTuber, his mum, who wanted him to be a doctor or lawyer, was furious.
‘My parents lived in Nigeria and worked hard to get to this country, and put all their effort into making sure I was able to go to private school. They’ve taken out loans. Been in enormous debt. You can understand how frustrating it was when I said, ‘Nah, I want to do YouTube,’ ‘ he said.
Yet his online following helped him became a successful boxer — bizarrely, YouTubers have a habit of challenging each other to boxing duels — and rap star, and he is now said to be worth £16 million.
