What Happened to Colleen Ballinger? Youtube Controversy, Explained

July 5, 2023: Colleen Ballinger’s Lawyers Address Blackface Allegations

On July 5, 2023, Twitter user Paige Christie posted a clip from a live Miranda Sings show with the caption, “I’m gonna need someone to explain the black on her face…” In the clip, which was apparently bonus content for the 2018 Miranda Sings book My Diarrhe, Ballinger as Miranda Sings is dancing to “Single Ladies” by Beyonce while wearing dark paint on her face. People reacted online such as Dr. Shola Mas Shogbaminu an academic, activist and author of “This Is Why I Resist: Don’t Define My Black Identity,” who tweeted, “Colleen Ballinger tells the world she’s a racist with her full chest. Imagine doing a Beyoncé song in Blackface and the audience are laughing & being entertained. These White people know what they are doing. Racists be racizisming.”

Law firm Berk Brettler, which represents Ballinger, told Variety that prior to the “Single Ladies” performance, Ballinger performed the song “As Long as You’re Mine” from “Wicked” with Oliver Tompsett, a star from the show, and that she painted her face green like Elphaba who is the main character of the musical. 

June 28, 2023: Colleen’s Ex-Husband Tweets Support For Victims

On June 28, 2023, Colleen’s ex-husband Joshua David Evans tweeted, “This behavior was my reality anytime I spoke up & disagreed with her actions & rhetoric during 2009-2016. I was gaslit too. I was made to feel like I was always the problem. Any pain I felt was an inconvenience and was belittled.”

The two were married from 2015 to 2016. “I have no desire to use this as a catalyst for a YouTube comeback,” he continued. “It’s not a safe place for me. I’m past that. My voice is only here to help validate those that are hurting, nothing more. I have no need to make any money off of this. That is gross & not in my heart, whatsoever.”

June 28, 2023: Colleen Ballinger Posts Youtube Apology Video

On June 28, 2023, Colleen Ballinger posted a video titled hi. on her Colleen Vlogs Youtube channel. “Some people are saying things about me that just aren’t true,” she introduced the 10-minute video. She continued, “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 then sang on her ukulele, “Thought you wanted me to take accountability / but that’s not the point of your mob mentality / your goal is to ruin the life of the person you despise / while you dramatize your lies and monetize their demise.” In the chorus of the song, she referred to the allegations about her as “the toxic gossip train.”

She continued, “I’m sure you’re disappointed in my shitty little song / 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.”

“The only thing I’ve ever groomed is my two Persian cats / I’m not a groomer, just a loser / who didn’t understand I shouldn’t respond to fans / and I’m not a predator even a lot of you think so / because five years ago I made a fart joke,” she continued.

Almost immediately, the video had a lot of backlash on social media. “You mean to tell me, she wrote, rehearsed and rehearsed, sat down to film this, and still thought it was a good idea? Girl… you’re delusional!,” one person commented on the video. “Colleen Ballinger really thought singing “I’m not a groomer I’m just a loser” was a cute way to respond to the very SERIOUS allegations that’ve been levied against her and…it’s beyond sick” writer Franchesca Ramsey tweeted. 

June 16, 2023 — Sponsors Pull Out of Colleen Ballinger’s Podcast

On June 16, 2023, TMZ reported that multiple brands pulled out of sponsoring Colleen Ballinger’s podcast RELAX! with Colleen Ballinger & Erik Stocklin because of the controversies.

OneSkin told the gossip website that they severed ties with Colleen, We were made aware of this previously and have decided to cease the relationship completely. This behavior is appalling and we do not condone or support it in any form.”

Another sponsor, telemedicine company Zocdoc, also said they will no longer run ads on her podcast.

June 14, 2023 – TikTok Of Colleen Ballinger Using Minors In Comedy Set Becomes Viral

On June 13, 2023, A TikTok of Ballinger opening up an audience member’s legs during a yoga challenge. The person named Becky involved in the video made a TikTok explaining how she was uncomfortable and felt sexually violated as a minor on stage. “Colleen exploited my minor body for entertainment and money and did not protect my safety at the show,” Becky said. 

June 7, 2023 – Adam McIntyre Posts Another Video About Relationship With Colleen Ballinger

On June 7, 2023, Adam McIntyre posted a video titled “my relationship with colleen ballinger.” In the nearly 2 hour video, Adam alleged that Colleen “groomed” him along with several teenagers back in the 2010s while she was in her 30s. 

McIntyre brings up several screenshots of group chats and direct messages that involved Ballinger. She allegedly opened up about her marriage problems, sex life and trauma. In one alleged instance, Ballinger asked him about his virginity and asked the group cha to send inappropriate videos. 

McIntyre later posted a video of Ballinger inserting a tampon in her mouth on Twitter with the caption, “the ‘weenies’ groupchat consisting of mostly 13-17 year olds i was a part of with colleen all had an inside joke colleen started to do with periods or some shit and she sent us this video and all of us had to go out and buy tampons and re-enact it for the group chat it was so fucking weird”

May 12, 2020 — Colleen Ballinger Posts First Apology Video

On May 12, 2020, Colleen Ballinger posted a Youtube apology video titled “addressing everything.”

First, she apologized for a 14-year-old video where she and her sister were pretending to be Latinx women, admitting that the characters were “completely based in racial stereotypes.” “It is not funny, and it is completely hurtful. I am so ashamed and embarrassed that I ever thought this was okay,” she says. “I was a sheltered teenager who was stupid and ignorant and clearly extremely culturally insensitive.”

She apologized for how she spoke about an overweight woman who she sat next to on a flight 12 years before the video and said that the comments she made were awful. “That is not the woman I am today.”

Ballinger also apologized about a joke she made about having to put down a dog that bit her as a child and said “still to this day as a 33-year-old woman” she feels guilt for her dog’s death.

“To anyone and everyone who was hurt or offended by the statements I made when I was younger, I am so, so sorry. I hope you all can see that the person I am today is so far from the person I was a decade ago,” she said.

The Youtuber also explained McIntyre’s claims of sending the lingerie saying that she did not immediately address Mcintyre’s concerns “to respect the wishes of the teen’s mother. She shared screenshots of their past interactions but only of the adults involved since McIntyre was a minor at the time. “It was a big joke within the fandom,” she says, later adding, “In my mind at the time, this was no different than all the other weird stuff I send to my fans as a joke. Now in hindsight, I see how completely stupid of me. I should have never sent that.” 

She denied giving McIntyre access to her Twitter account for over a year and he only had her password for a day as a “test run.” A controversial tweet where Miranda Sings pretended to come out as an LGBTQ-inspired tweet only to come out as a Meghan Trainor fan was part of the access, but Ballinger admitted that it was an oversight in the approvals process. “I knew better than to let someone else tweet for me. I should have reviewed closely every single thing that was going to come from ‘Miranda’s’ mouth. I let him know that I loved him, he did a great job. It was my fault, not his,”

She ends the video by promising that she will “continue to learn” as a human being. 

April 28, 2020 – Adam McIntyre Makes 1st Video About Colleen Ballinger

On April 28, 2020, Youtuber Adam McIntyre released a video called “colleen ballinger, stop lying.” In the confessional video, he claimed that Ballinger didn’t pay him for the content he shared on her Twitter account and sent him lingerie as an underage fan.