Colleen Ballinger addressed allegations that she engaged in inappropriate relationships with underage fans in a bizarre song on her YouTube channel.
The comedian, actress and internet star, best known for her Miranda Sings character, denied being a ‘groomer’ or a ‘predator’, but instead insisted she was just a ‘loser’ who messaged her fans in an effort to be cool.
She decided to use music to address the allegations and sing her side of the story while playing a ukulele, in a 10-plus minute video she posted on YouTube on Wednesday.
In the clip, which she titled ‘hi’, Ballinger strums her ukulele while addressing what she calls ‘the facts’.
And while her team ‘strongly advised’ her to ‘not say what I want to say,’ she went on to reveal that they never told her she couldn’t sing.
Backlash has been levied against the once beloved YouTube star in recent weeks after a former fan — who goes by the username ‘kodeerants’ — corroborated allegations made by Adam McIntyre, a YouTuber and also a former Ballinger fan.
Musical response: Colleen Ballinger, 36, broke her silence on Wednesday about allegations that she engaged in inappropriate relationships with fans, some of which were underage, by posting a video of her singing her statement on YouTube
In April 2020, McIntyre uploaded an over 25-minute YouTube video alleging that Ballinger had been inappropriately messaging him, as well as other mostly underage fans, in a private group chat.
According to screenshots provided by McIntyre, someone who appeared to be Ballinger asked fans to name their ‘fav [sex] position,’ as well as to share their experience with ‘periods’ and about whether or not they are virgins.
Ballinger also allegedly turned to young fans to dish on the details of her bitter divorce from ex-husband Joshua David Evans in 2016.
McIntyre also recalled receiving a bra and panty set from the YouTube star when he was 13 — something Ballinger later admitted was a ‘silly, stupid mistake’ that occurred during a livestream when she was giving away clothes and items she did not want.
McIntyre — who was 17 at the time of making his 2020 video — alleged that he’d been secretly running Ballinger’s Twitter account and helping with ideas for her Miranda Sings character since 2017.
He said this work was entirely unpaid and that Ballinger had frequently promised she’d hire him ‘if things work out.’
But McIntyre claims that Ballinger ghosted him in early 2020 after he published a tweet as Miranda Sings that some perceived as ‘queerbaiting.’ He insisted that Ballinger approved the tweet before he posted it.
Days later, Ballinger responded to McIntyre’s claims in a nearly 14-minute video, which included her addressing the bra and panty debacle as well as shutting down any notion that she’d crossed the line with minors.
Instead she admitted to sometimes ‘oversharing’ and said that her support for fans was misconstrued.
She also confirmed that McIntyre had been involved with her Miranda Sings Twitter page.
‘I don’t know what part of my brain was missing at the time,’ she said. ‘But I am not a monster, I am not a groomer, and I shouldn’t kill myself,’ she told her audience at the time.
But now, over three years later, the original allegations against Ballinger and more have surfaced, thus calling into question the creator’s character.
TMZ reported last week that Ballinger has been steadily losing sponsorship deals after an old video from one of her popular comedy shows resurfaced.
In the clip, Ballinger — acting as Miranda Sings — is seen standing over a fan with their back lying on the ground and their legs in the air.
She then spreads their legs apart with her hands and a fart noise erupts over the speakers.
A girl by the name of Becky — who claims to be the fan in the viral video — took to TikTok to express how she was left traumatized by the stunt and felt ‘unsafe’ leaving the theater.
So, after weeks of silence, Ballinger took to YouTube on Wednesday to address the controversy through song.
The video begins with a rather sad-looking Ballinger facing the camera but her eyes are staring down. After sitting on her couch in silence for about four seconds she reaches for her instrument and places it in playing position, all while still staring down towards the ground.
By the eight-second mark she finally looks towards the camera, but waits another few moments before she starts to strum her opening chord.
‘Hey, it’s been awhile since you saw my face. Haven’t been doing so great so I took a little break,’ she begins in a talk-sing style, before explaining her reasoning for the video.
‘A lot of people are saying some things about me that aren’t quite true. It doesn’t matter if it’s true though just as long as it’s entertaining to you, right? You guys having fun?’
From here she starts to deliver her lines in a much more traditional singing style.
Silent intro: The video begins with a rather sad-looking Ballinger facing the camera but her eyes are staring down for about 8 seconds of silence
Uncomfortable silence: By the eight-second mark she finally looks towards the camera, waits another few more moments before she starts to strum her opening chord and declare she hasn’t been doing so great of late
Hitting back: In a talk-sing style, the comedian and YouTuber shares: ‘A lot of people are saying some things about me that aren’t quite true. It doesn’t matter if it’s true though just as long as it’s entertaining to you, right? You guys having fun?’
‘All aboard, the toxic gossip train, chugging down the tracks of misinformation. The toxic gossip train, you got a one-way ticket to manipulation station. Toxic gossip train, tie me to the tracks and harass for my past,’ she belts out with more power behind her voice.
‘Rumors look like facts if you don’t mind the gaps that won’t survive in the crash but hey,’ she sings, which is followed by a pause, before adding, ‘at least you’re having fun.’
Dressed in a black tank top and her dark brown locks flowing down over chest and shoulders, the YouTuber then reverts to talking while still strumming her ukulele.
‘Uh hi everyone, I’ve been wanting to come online and talk to you about a few things even though my team has strongly advised me to not say what I want to say. I recently realized that they never said that I couldn’t sing what I want to say I am and today I only want to talk about the facts, so I hope that you’ll be willing to listen. Here we go,’ she announces.
It’s at this point that Ballinger begins to address some of the allegations waged against her.
‘Many years ago I used to message my fans, but not in a creepy way like a lot of you are trying to suggest. It was more of a loser kind of way, but I was just trying to be besties with everybody,’ she said as she continued on with her song. ‘It’s kind of like when you go to like a family gathering, and there’s a weird aunt there that keeps coming up to you and going like ‘hey girl, what’s the tea?’ You’re like ‘um…’ That was me but in group chats with my fans. It was weird,’ she confessed.
After talking while playing, the Santa Barbara, California native goes back to her talk-sing style once again, while also admitting to making mistakes in how she communicated with fans in the past.
‘I’ve been sharing my life online for over 15 years. I’ve poured my heart out to you, and because of that I feel like I’m talking to my friends, but in the beginning of my career I didn’t really understand that maybe there should be some boundaries there. There were times in the DMS when I would overshare details of my life which was really weird of me. I haven’t done that for years you see, because I changed my behavior and I took accountability,’ she confesses that ends with a pause. ‘But that’s not very interesting is it?
She then repeats the ‘the toxic gossip train’ line several times, as if this section is serving as the chorus of the song
‘So let’s go on the toxic gossip train locomotives fueled with hateful accusations. Toxic gossip train steam roll over someone’s reputation. Toxic gossip train, hop aboard but close your eyes otherwise you’ll realize the train is made of lies and that person you despise maybe didn’t deserve to die but hey, at least you’re having fun,’ she sang.
Chorus theme: In what could be considered the chorus of the song, Ballinger calls the backlash and accusations against her ‘the toxic gossip train’
Her take: ‘Many years ago I used to message my fans, but not in a creepy way like a lot of you are trying to suggest. It was more of a loser kind of way, but I was just trying to be besties with everybody,’ the internet star said of the allegations
Taking responsibility: Known to many fans for her Miranda Sings alter ego, the comedian sang: ‘I’ve been sharing my life online for over 15 years. I’ve poured my heart out to you, and because of that I feel like I’m talking to my friends, but in the beginning of my career I didn’t really understand that maybe there should be some boundaries there’; seen in March 2023
For a third time, Ballinger starts to talk her lines out, in what could be a third verse of the song.
‘In all seriousness I do think it’s really important to hold people accountable for their mistakes. We should hope that everyone can learn from their mistakes and grow and change their behavior and be a better person. This is something that I’ve always tried to do when I make mistakes. It’s something that I will continue to try to do. What? Oh you don’t care?’ she reveals, before stopping and starting with more intensity to her delivery.
‘Oh okay I thought you wanted me to take accountability, but that’s not the point of your mob mentality, is it? No, your goal is to ruin the life of the person you despise while you dramatize your lies and monetize their demise,’ she says of her detractors.
‘I feel like I can already hear the comments on this video. She’s gaslighting, manipulating she’s a narcissist and a rat, I would never make a mistake like that. Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that all of you are perfect so please criticize me. Bring out the daggers made from your perfect past and stab me repeatedly in my bony little back,’ she sang, as she turned her right shoulder to emphasize her point.
The actress, comedian and writer directly addresses her detractors again, by assuming most won’t like that she decided to confront the accusation through music.
‘I’m sure you’re disappointed in my sh**ty little song. I know you wanted me to say that I was 100 percent 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,’ she sang with intensity.
Talking in a higher pitch, she continues, ‘Hey everybody, I found someone new to harass. She did some things that I do not like in her past. So everybody gather round because we’re about to attack, but not based on facts,’ she continued.
‘Oh no you’re loaded lethal weapon, it’s your fingers on the keys, you don’t need any armor when you can hide behind a screen. So shoot me down quick with a click and bam,’ she says of her critics, before stopping and adding, ‘My reputation’s deceased.’
‘Sometimes people make mistakes simply because they made a mistake. And that mistake doesn’t make them a terrible human. It just makes them human. But what do I know. F–k me, right?’ she concluded the song.
Wrapping it up: Ballinger ended the video by sharing how ‘sometimes people make mistakes simply because they made a mistake. And that mistake doesn’t make them a terrible human. It just makes them human. But what do I know. F–k me, right?’; she’s seen in March 2023
Following a pause in the song, Ballinger reveals she wants to ‘talk about that girls Miranda Sings,’ which is her famous internet character that she declares is ‘PG-13’.
Ballinger went on to say she ‘didn’t realize it was my responsibility to decide what was appropriate for every kid to see.’
She goes on to put the onus of parenting on parents.
The singer admits to having ‘amazing jokes and poor taste’ who has made lots of dumb mistakes.’
By the end of the song, Ballinger says ‘sometimes people make mistakes simply because they made a mistake. With an occasional strums she continues, ‘A mistake doesn’t make them a terrible human. It makes them a human.
After a several second pause while staring straight towards the camera, Ballinger jokes, ‘What do I know? F**k me, right?’
The bizarre ukulele apology set the internet ablaze, with many turning to Twitter voice their frustrations and shock over the delivery.
