While the 33-year-old YouTube star isn't sure if she will be gone from the video platform 'forever,' Jenna shares her desire to 'move on from this channel for now.'
- Jun 26, 2020
AceShowbiz - YouTube star Jenna Marbles a.k.a Jenna Marley announced on Thursday, June 25 that she's stepping down from the video platform. In a tearful video that she uploaded on her channel, the 33-year-old famous YouTube star told her fans about her departure which was driven by her past use of blackface.
"I feel like we're at a time where we are purging ourselves of anything and everything toxic, and I am being requested that I address things that I've done in my past. I also get a lot of tweets from people that are saying like, 'We love you, you unproblematic queen,' which always makes me uncomfortable," she shared in the clip, which she said she might delete later. "I've definitely done things in the past that weren't great and I'm not completely unproblematic."
"That being said, I privated a lot of my old content. Because I just don't want anyone to feel upset about anything. I don't want to contribute to that…I don't want someone to watch something and feel hurt or offended now for any reason," Jenna explained, before coming clean that she previously did a blackface to impersonate Nicki Minaj.
"The first two things I'd like to address is the fact that people were offended that I did blackface as Nicki Minaj in 2011 and I'll show you the clip," she explained before playing the clip, which had already been non-accessible to the public for a while. "And I do just want to tell you that it was not my intention to do blackface... this is the end of the video where I take my wig off. I don't know how else to say it, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is that people were offended and it hurt them and for that, I am so unbelievably sorry. This isn't OK."
Later, Jenna showed another offensive video that she made in 2011 titled "Bounce That D**k". The video, which was previously privated, the YouTube star wore rice hat and rapped, "Hey ching chong wing wong, shake your king kong ding dong. Sorry that was racist, I'm bad at rap songs." Admitting that it was offensive to Asian cultures, Jenna said, "It's awful. It doesn't need to exist. It's inexcusable….I shouldn't have said that, ever. It's not cool, it's not cute, it's not okay. I'm embarrassed I ever made that, period."
"I don't want to hurt anyone, I don't want to offend anyone. I don't. In case you guys haven't noticed, there's no sponsors on this channel, I'm not trying to sell you anything," Jenna said while crying. "I don't think I'm having a good time. It seems like other people aren't having a good time...for now, I just can't exist on this channel..hopefully I've taken down anything that would upset someone and I hope you know that's just not my intent, that's not what I ever set out to do."
While she wasn't sure if she would be gone from YouTube "forever," Jenna shared, "I think I'm just gonna move on from this channel for now. I just want to make sure that the things I'm putting out into the world aren't hurting anyone."
In response to Jenna's announcement, fans took to social media to express their disappointment. "i'm devastated. i watch jenna marbles videos every night. i rewatch tons of times. the fact that she may never return to her channel/post content there anymore breaks my heart. i look up to this woman so much. i'm just so f***ing sad right now-," a fan wrote on Twitter.
Applauding Jenna for her decision, another fan added, "I want to remind people that Jenna Marbles is a prime example of a human being that has taken accountability for their actions, grown as a person, and applied the lesson they learned from that moment on."
