Internet star Jenna Mourey — known to fans as Jenna Marbles — has announced her decision to quit YouTube following backlash from past, resurfaced seemingly racist videos.
In an 11-minute, emotional message to fans, the creator — who has posted on the video streaming platform for over 10 years — told viewers she has decided to “move on” from her channel. The 33-year-old also apologized for her past problematic videos, which have since “almost all” been deleted, and explained that she wants to step away because “we’re at a time where we are purging ourselves of anything and everything toxic.”
Past videos that came under fire included one which showed her appearing to shame women who “ran around and slept around,” a music video with lyrics seemingly mocking Asian people and a clip of her dressing up as Nicki Minaj — in which she was accused of blackface.
“I do just want to tell you that it was not my intention to do blackface,” she explained in the new video. “I don’t know how else to say this, but it doesn’t matter because all that matters is that people were offended and it hurt them. For that, I am so unbelievably sorry. This isn’t okay and it hasn’t existed on the Internet for a long time because it’s not okay.”
She continued, “I do want to tell you how unbelievably sorry I am If I ever offended you by posting this video or by doing this impression. It’s not okay. It’s shameful. It’s awful. I wish it wasn’t part of my past.”
The YouTuber also opened up about her decision to keep the videos up, until now.
“I think there was a time when having all of my old content exist on the Internet showed how much I have grown up as a person, which I’m very proud of,” Jenna explained. “I think now it’s hard for that content to exist at all because I think people watch it and don’t bother to look at when it was posted or care about what path I took to get to where I am. It offends them now and, if that’s the case, where people will watch something and be offended now, I don’t want it to exist.”
Jenna concluded with a goodbye message to fans.
“Hopefully, I’ve taken down anything that might upset someone,” she said. “I think I’m just going to move on from this channel for now. I don’t know if that’s forever. I don’t know how long it’s going to be. I want to make sure that the things that I put into the world are not hurting anyone.”
She then added, “I want to hold myself accountable, and it’s painful to do it. It’s not fun and it hurts. I’m ashamed of things I’ve done and said in my past.”
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