Logan Paul’s YouTube redemption seems to be complete, and to PewDiePie, that seems awfully unfair. Almost a year after he shocked the online world by posting a video of a dead body in a Japanese forest, Paul surprisingly announced last week that his new YouTube Premium movie was available for streaming.
Ten months after Paul had been ostracized by the community, YouTube, unbeknownst to most, had given him yet another huge platform with the release of The Thinning: New World Order. PewDiePie, whose YouTube Premium series Scare PewDiePie was shelved for good in 2017 after he used anti-Semitic humor and Nazi imagery in his videos, is not pleased with what he sees as a double standard.
In a video titled “LOGANS SHOW RETURNS. SCARE PEWDIEPIE, WHEN?” PewDiePie—the world’s most popular YouTuber who is about to be overtaken in subscriptions by an Indian music label—said the decision was unfair to him, his fans, and the community in general.
He also bemoaned the quick decision YouTube made to cancel his show while taking a much more measured approach around Paul’s project.
“I was asleep when they canceled my show,” he said. “They canceled it just as the news broke. There was no question about it. It took no hesitation on that one.”
With Paul’s affiliation, though, YouTube took several days to decide whether to put Paul’s movie on hold. Then, less than 11 months later, YouTube released it.
“It’s kind of amazing how a billion-dollar company can be so inept at leadership,” PewDiePie said. “If you want to be taken seriously, you need to apply the same rules for everyone. You can’t just nitpick whatever you want. Then, you just look like an idiot, and people will be upset.”
PewDiePie said he had no insight into the idea that Scare PewDiePie’s second season could be reinvigorated, though he said the episodes had been shot and could be released. Meanwhile, YouTube told the Verge in a statement that it decided to release The Thinning sequel because “the entire cast and crew worked extremely hard to complete this film last year. In fairness to all of them and the fans who have been asking for the sequel, we decided to release The Thinning: New World Order.”
PewDiePie took issue with that explanation because of all the people who worked hard on his series and because his fans have made noise that they want more Scare PewDiePie. PewDiePie also seemed to be sincere when he said he was happy for Paul that his project ultimately was released.
“This is why when Logan Paul’s controversy broke, despite me clearly not liking him, I said I didn’t think his show should be canceled. I meant that. Punish Logan for what he did. Punish me for my mistakes. But to punish everyone involved on this project—these projects are so massive—it just doesn’t make sense. It’s not fair.”
