The Accusations Against Colleen Ballinger Are Getting Worse
Colleen Ballinger was already in hot water for alleged inappropriate relationships with her fans. But the hits keep coming for the former Miranda Sings YouTuber and Haters Back Off star, who has now been accused of racist behavior including using the N-word and performing a song in blackface.
On Wednesday, one of Ballinger’s unlisted YouTube videos from 2018 resurfaced, in which she performed a cover of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” in what appeared to be blackface. Several Twitter users circulated the clip just a week after Ballinger posted an apology video for earlier accusations of bullying and harassment—ukulele in hand.
“Waiting for the ukulele apology for this one,” one YouTube commenter wrote Wednesday under the unlisted video.
The timing couldn’t be worse for Ballinger. Just days ago, she was accused of using the N-word on the set of her Netflix show Haters Back Off.
April Korto Quioh, a former employee on the show, acknowledged Ballinger’s “remarkable” lack of boundaries and racial insensitivity in an article posted to her blog apologizetome.com.
“I recall overhearing her once brag that a creator was being ‘cancelled’ for saying the n-word (and if you think she went with ‘n-word’ instead of hitting that hard ‘r’ then you haven’t been paying attention) and that she would never be stupid enough to get caught doing something like that,” Quioh wrote.
Quioh also recalled Ballinger’s alleged “insistence” that “limited POC background actors” were used in the show, calling their presence “distracting” given it taking place in Washington State.
“I took note as Colleen was shown an Asian food market that would be re-dressed as a bodega for the show and watched her disgust as she demanded assurance that all the ‘Asian shit’ would be removed before filming,” Quioh wrote.
It’s not the first time Ballinger has faced accusations of racial insensitivity. She apologized in 2020 for a since-deleted older video in which her and her sister impersonated Latina women in a skit that, even Ballinger admitted, was “completely based in racial stereotypes.”
“Racial stereotypes are not funny, they’re not a joke, and they should never be joked about,” Ballinger said at the time.
Ballinger hasn’t commented on the latest accusations of racism. Her “Single Ladies” video is still posted, albeit unlisted, to her Miranda Sings YouTube channel.
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