YouTuber Colleen Ballinger accused of racism following child grooming allegations

Following accusations that she had inappropriate relationships with young fans, YouTuber Colleen Ballinger is responding in a 10-minute ukulele video denying she groomed children.

The famous YouTube comedian is known for her viral character "Miranda Sings," and she has garnered more than 22 million followers across several YouTube channels. Her comedic online persona earned her a large fanbase which included many young children.

Ballinger posted a video titled "hi." on June 29, responding to allegations about her relationships with very young fans. Via ukulele song, she described the allegations against her as part of "the toxic gossip train."

"Some people are saying things about me that just aren't true," the YouTuber said at the start of her video. "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," she added.

Ballinger focused on denying the accusation that she "groomed" young fans, and instead said she messaged her fans in "more of a loser way."

"I was just trying to be besties with everybody," the YouTuber said. "It was kind of like when you go to a family gathering, and there's a weird aunt there who keeps coming up to you and being like 'hey girl, what's the tea?' And you're like, ew. That was me. But in group chats with my fans. It was weird."

"I haven't done that in years, you see," Ballinger then added, "'cause I changed my behavior and I took accountability.

"Let me try to help: Sometimes people make a mistake, and it doesn't make them a horrible person, woah," she continued to sing.

Ballinger also decried the "toxic gossip train" targeting her. "Thought you wanted me to take accountability, but that's not the point of your mob mentality," Ballinger went on throughout the song. "your goal is to ruin the life of the person you despise, while you dramatize your lies and monetize their demise."

"I'm sure you're disappointed" in the song, she added. "I know you wanted me to say that I was 100% in the wrong / well I’m sorry I’m not gonna take that route / of admitting to lies and rumors that you made up for clout."

What are the Colleen Ballinger grooming allegations?

Allegations about Ballinger's relationships with her child fans first surfaced in 2020. YouTuber Adam McIntyre posted a video alleging that Ballinger had an inappropriate personal friendship with him when he was between 13 and 16, and at one point sent him lingerie as a joke.

NBC reported more details about an alleged group chat with fans where Ballinger reportedly asked questions about group members' "favorite position" and advised a teen to talk on his YouTube channel about whether he was a virgin.

Rolling Stone published interviews with a number of Ballinger's fans, including one who described an incident captured on video in which Ballinger allegedly stretched her legs open onstage during a show. The fan, identified as Becky, was 16. HuffPost published a similar report after reviewing screenshots of texts from fans who alleged Ballinger "groomed" them.

After Ballinger uploaded her ukulele video, McIntyre responded in a June 29 tweet. "as much as colleen discredited & made fun of me, im glad her video did ONE thing, show you all EXACTLY the type of evil woman she is, that a lot of us have experienced over the past few years behind the scenes, the mask has slipped…everyone meet the REAL colleen ballinger."

Colleen Ballinger accused of racism in resurfaced videos

Ballinger has come under fire for other reasons as well since posting her apology video, which was widely criticized as insensitive.

The video, titled "Single Ladies," was uploaded to Ballinger's YouTube channel in February 2018 and shows the comedian performing a cover of the Beyoncé song "Single Ladies." Wearing a black leotard and dark face paint, Ballinger appears alongside two gyrating backup dancers as they parody the dance-pop hit's choreography.

Critics took to social media to slam the video, alleging Ballinger was performing in blackface with the dark face paint she wore in the performance.

"So, you’re telling me Miranda Sings (Colleen Ballinger) was doing Blackface at live shows in 2018 and no one said anything????," Twitter user @_strawberrymini wrote. "She was 30 years old in this! It really keeps getting (worse)."

"Growing up is realizing that Colleen Ballinger used Miranda Sings as armor to act on every problematic thought she had without repercussion (at least until now) in the name of ‘comedy,’ " user @ilamiri tweeted.

In a statement to USA TODAY Thursday, a legal representative for Ballinger said the face paint was green, not black, and was part of Ballinger's costume for an earlier parody of the musical "Wicked."

"She painted her face green like the witch," her representative Andrew Brettler said. "After that number, she went right into Single Ladies (while still wearing the green makeup)."

Ballinger was also criticized for alleged yellowface in other resurfaced clips, including one video compilation where the YouTuber seemingly used an East Asian accent and performs a gibberish version of "Gangnam Style" with random words like "sudoku" and "soy sauce" thrown in.

USA TODAY has reached out to Ballinger's representatives for further comment.

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Contributing: Edward Segarra, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Colleen Ballinger accused of racism after ukulele apology video