Disney, YouTube cut ties with PewDiePie over anti-Semitic videos

Disney dropped YouTube's most popular celebrity over a series of videos depicting anti-Semitic jokes and Nazi imagery.

According to The Wall Street Journal, PewDiePie — whose real name is Felix Kjellberg — posted nine videos on his YouTube channel since August including anti-Semitic jokes. The report says three of those videos have been pulled.

PewDiePie worked for Maker Studios, a distribution network acquired by Disney in 2014 for $500 million. In a statement, Maker Studios confirmed it will cut ties with the YouTube star.

"Although Felix has created a following by being provocative and irreverent, he clearly went too far in this case and the resulting videos are inappropriate," said the studio in a statement. "Maker Studios has made the decision to end our affiliation with him going forward."

In a separate statement, YouTube confirmed it will cancel the second season of his reality show Scare PewDiePie Season 2 and remove his channel from the premium advertising program Google Preferred.

PewDiePie has emerged as YouTube's biggest star, with a channel boasting 53 million subscribers. Forbes ranked him as the highest-paid YouTube star last year, raking in $15 million.

Last month, PewDiePie hosted a video featuring two men holding up a sign reading "Death to all Jews." The men worked for the group Funny Guys, where users can pay money to have them hold up signs and dance.

Freelance marketplace Fiverr banned Funny Guys' page after the video was posted, prompting PewDiePie to plead with the company to restore their account. PewDiePie defended the video in a subsequent piece, but it has been pulled from his channel.

In a Tumblr post published February 12, PewDiePie said he does not support any "hateful attitudes" and created the Fiverr video to demonstrate "how crazy the modern world is" and the variety of gig-economy services people can use online.

"I make videos for my audience. I think of the content that I create as entertainment, and not a place for any serious political commentary," wrote PewDiePie. "I know my audience understand that and that is why they come to my channel.  Though this was not my intention, I understand that these jokes were ultimately offensive."

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.