Disgraced YouTuber Colleen Ballinger has broken her months-long silence with a new video addressing her “embarrassing mistakes.”
On Sunday, Ballinger, 36, posted a YouTube video for the first time in four months, since her infamous ukulele apology video went viral in June.
In a new video titled “fall vlog,” Ballinger said, “Obviously, the last video that I posted on here is really embarrassing…I was being accused of some pretty awful things and I just was mad. I should have handled that situation with maturity and empathy, but instead I just let my ego take over and I’m really disappointed in myself.”
Ballinger was referring to a video she posted in which she played the ukulele and sang her way through addressing grooming allegations.
At the time, she was responding to accusations by YouTuber Adam McIntyre, 20, who first claimed in a 2020 YouTube video that Ballinger allegedly formed an inappropriate personal friendship with him while he was 13 to 16 years old.
He alleged Ballinger sent him lingerie, gave him access to her social media and exchanged text messages with him for years.
In June, McIntyre uploaded another YouTube video, “my relationship with colleen ballinger,” in which he accused her of “grooming” him and other teenagers in the 2010s.
In her June video addressing these accusations, titled “hi,” Ballinger strummed the ukulele while saying in a sing-song voice, “Some people are saying things about me that just aren’t true. Even though my team has strongly advised me not to say what I’m going to say, I realized they never said I couldn’t sing about what I want to say.”
“This is the most insanely out of touch ‘apology’ video ever. congrats that’s history made on youtube i guess,” one viewer commented.
At least two companies who pay for ads on Ballinger’s podcast severed ties with her after the June video went viral.
In July, Ballinger was further accused of using blackface in another resurfaced video.
In her new video released on Sunday, Ballinger addressed the grooming allegations by saying, “Over the last 15 years of my career, there have been moments where I was immature and inappropriate with some of my comedy. And there were times when I did not put enough thought into my fan interactions. And because of that behavior, people got hurt, and I am so sorry. I never wanted to hurt anybody, but it’s clear that I did and I feel so terrible about that.”
She said that she plans to continue vlogging on YouTube.
“I am not a perfect person and there are plenty of things in my past that I wish I could go back and redo and fix and change,” she said, without specifying whether she was referring to the grooming allegations or the blackface allegations.
“…I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that I create a positive, kind, inclusive, safe space online with my content,” Ballinger said. “And if you want to be part of my journey online, I would love to have you, and if not I completely understand. I do not expect anyone to welcome me back with open arms, I don’t expect to change anyone’s mind with this video.”
She concluded: “I just wanted to come on here and say that I’m sorry and I wanted to try to show people that it’s possible for someone to grow and learn and be better after making mistakes many years ago.”
The Post reached out to Ballinger for comment.
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