Colleen Ballinger, a popular YouTuber, responded to complaints about toxic relationships with her followers by posting a video in which she defends herself through a song while strumming a ukulele.
With her Miranda Sings character from 2008, the American creator achieved fame.
Numerous fans reportedly claimed last week that Ballinger and her team members had bullied, intimidated, and embarrassed them.
She claimed in her video that some people had been spreading rumors that "aren't quite true.".
Five former fans told Rolling Stone stories of how Ballinger befriended them and then engaged them in interactions that they described as "toxic, exploitative, and hurtful," including sending sexually explicit messages and making jokes about them.
Ballinger acknowledged in her 10-minute song that she "used to message my fans, but not in a creepy way like a lot of you are trying to suggest," adding that it was "more of a loser kind of way. ".
During the early stages of her career, she crooned, "I didn't really understand that perhaps there should be some boundaries there. I occasionally shared too much personal information in the DMs, which was very strange of me.
Because I changed my behavior and accepted responsibility, I haven't done that in years. ".
On YouTube, Ballinger has 8.6 million subscribers and nearly 2 billion views, as well as 8.1 million Instagram followers.
She claimed in the chorus that those who had expressed their complaints had gotten on the "toxic gossip train," which was speeding "down the tracks of misinformation," and that she "won't survive in the crash.".
It doesn't matter that these things aren't true, she said, because their "goal is to ruin the life of the person you despise.".
She continued by saying that everyone now thinks she is "the kind of person who abuses and manipulates children.".
I just wanted to clarify that I've only ever groomed my two Persian cats. I don't do grooming. Just a loser who didn't realize I shouldn't reply to fans, that's all I am. Even though many of you believe I am a predator, I am not. ".
She continued, "People can make mistakes sometimes, but that doesn't make them bad people.".
Her response and the unusual format of a music video, however, failed to win over her supporters. Many people criticized and made fun of it on social media for appearing flippant and uninvolved.
