Colleen Ballinger is speaking out in a rare new interview, two years after she faced cancellation because of grooming allegations.
The 38-year-old YouTube star, best known for her Miranda Sings character, appeared on a new episode of Tea Time, a podcast that Raven Symone hosts with wife Miranda Maday.
Raven and Miranda have faced backlash for giving a platform to Colleen, who was accused of inappropriate behavior with her fans back in 2023. She was also accused of racist behavior on the set of her Netflix series Haters Back Off.
In the interview, Colleen denied the allegations of grooming and she explained the intentions behind her behavior with fans.
Keep reading to find out more…
Colleen said that she started off with an older fanbase that eventually shifted to include a lot of teenagers, but she failed to change her own behavior, which she acknowledges.
She said, “When I was interacting with my fans, I didn’t think about a power dynamic that could have been there, I didn’t think about a parasocial relationship, and I should have. I should have been more responsible in thinking about that, but I didn’t even think of myself that way. I was like, ‘Yeah, we are friends.’ I think I felt the same way, and so for me, I was like, I’m just talking to my friends. I talk to all of them like they’re my friends, my sisters, all the fans, and I definitely should have been more careful with the way I was joking with them and the things I was saying to them.”
Buzzfeed reports that Colleen denied that she groomed any fans.
“I know that my intention and my actions have never been fueled with the desire to manipulate or groom anybody, ever,” she said. “That has never been something I have done or will ever do. It’s a very serious accusation.”
Colleen discussed the infamous video in which she played a ukelele for 10 minutes while denying the allegations.
“I obviously didn’t handle the situation the way that I should have, and it’s really embarrassing. I wish I could handle it a lot differently than I did,” Colleen said.
So, did she apologize here? Only after prompted by Raven.
“I agree with you,” Colleen said when told that people want an apology.
She added, “I think they do want an apology, and I am sorry. Here’s the thing, is when you mess up and when you make a mistake and do something wrong, sometimes you gotta keep apologizing for it, and that’s what I should have done. People keep saying [the ukulele video is] an apology song — I didn’t apologize in that thing. There was no ‘sorry’ in that…It’s very clear that I was angry, and that’s why I keep saying I wish that I had just paused for a second and listened to my fans, my supporters.”
After all the allegations, Colleen returned to YouTube in November 2023 and she regularly posts videos, though her view count is much lower these days.
Source: justjared.com
