Last Updated on December 16, 2019
Felix Kjellberg, a.k.a. PewDiePie, doesn’t believe cultural appropriation to be “a thing” and called atheists who publicly call out religious people “cringe” in a video titled “99.41% Cant Watch This Without Facepalming **super hard**” released on December 9.
PewDiePie’s thoughts split public opinion.
Some agreed with his take, while others criticized him over his whiteness.
okay pewdiepie basically put my thoughts into his words on cultural appropriation PERFECTLY in his latest video
— orby! (@notsykirh) December 10, 2019
https://twitter.com/astrozmbie/status/1204239628607336451
On the whole concept of cultural appropriation, PopBuzz writes:
Cultural appropriation is when members of a dominant culture adopt elements of a minority or oppressed culture. It is considered especially harmful when specific groups are targeted for an element of their culture but it becomes “fashionable” when used by other groups. In recent weeks, rapper Bhad Bhabie has been called out for cultural appropriation for wearing box braids, while YouTuber Patrick Starrr also received backlash for sporting the Nigerian gele.
PewDiePie’s take on cultural appropriation was inspired by a Reddit post which read: “If you are white, you can’t speak Spanish.”
Another user responded to it, writing: “Are you familiar with the entire country of Spain?”
PewDiePie’s reply was: “Cultural appropriation is one of the concepts I refuse to accept ever to be a thing. We should have just thrown it out straight away. What makes the world beautiful is the fact that we can – not steal from cultures – but appreciate other cultures. What’s the problem? We’re one nation.”
He went onto say: “Oh but historically, whites would take from… yeah but that’s not the case 99.9% of the time. Okay?”
In the video, PewDiePie also referred to a post about atheists, saying: “I don’t know what I would consider myself religiously but, regardless, the whole atheist calling out religious people – it’s so fucking cringe.
“Oh yeah? Well if there’s no God then [blowing raspberry] take your fedora and eat it. I don’t want to hear it.”
PewDiePie recently called out several media publications for wildly overstating a planned break from Vlogging the Swedish YouTube superstar had announced.
https://twitter.com/pewdiepie/status/1206563721792958466