YouTube influencer Jenna Marbles has left YouTube after backlash concerning some of her videos from nine years ago.
Marbles, real name Jenna Mourey, said that she is stepping back and posted an apology for her past actions.
What did Jenna Marbles do?
Jenna Marbles is the latest star who has had fans seek out and bring up things from the past to try to “cancel” celebrities.
In the case of Marbles, it was videos from 2011 and 2012. The first saw her don blackface so that she could imitate Nicki Minaj. The second had her do a rap parody song that made a joke about Asians.
She also had another video where she slammed women who had slept around.
In her apology, she touched on the blackface in the Nicki Minaj spoof video.
“I do want to tell you how unbelievably sorry I am if I ever offended you by posting this video or by doing this impression, and that that was never my intention,” Marbles said. “It’s not okay. It’s shameful. It’s awful. I wish it wasn’t part of my past.”
The rap song included the following lyrics: “Hey Ching Chong Wing Wong, shake your King Kong ding dong.” She said in the apology video that these lyrics were inexcusable.
Jenny Marbles removed those videos and others from public viewing.
Marbles then said she was leaving YouTube, possibly forever.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to be. I just want to make sure the things I’m putting in the world aren’t hurting anyone … so I need to be done with this channel, for now or for forever.”
Jenna Marbles has over 20 million subscribers to her YouTube channel and has had more than three billion total views on her videos. She was one of the early YouTube influencers after creating her channel in 2010.
Most of her videos were comedy sketches as well as some satirical how-to-videos. She also recently started doing more serious work, including DIY content.
Fans come to Jenna Marbles’ defense
While Jenna Marbles announced she was leaving YouTube, some fans came to her defense.
YouTube personality, singer Gabbie Hanna, wrote that it is time to stop “normalizing going back through 10 years of somebody’s life hoping you stumble upon a mistake to try and ruin their life.”
Other users came to Jenna’s defense and credited her for taking responsibility for her past, even bringing up things no one else did, to show how much she has changed over the years.
“Y’all know Jenna Marbles left on her own volition, right? Like, she even said no one came for her neck. She added sh*t she did that no one was talking about *on her own reflection.* Y’all don’t know what growth looks like and it shows.”