"this is highly offensive to any South Asian."
YouTube personality KSI sparked outrage after he used a racial slur during a video.
The British star, who boasts over 24 million YouTube subscribers and is part of the group The Sidemen, made the comment in a video based on the game show Countdown.
The group were tasked with finding the longest word they can from nine letters within a 30-second time limit.
Struggling to find an answer, KSI said:
“We need points and I don’t mean this maliciously, but the word is P***.”
His fellow YouTube stars were seen laughing before KSI admitted he was “sorry” about his attempt.
https://twitter.com/lcfckini/status/1642615325899345922
However, his slur has led to outrage on social media.
One user posted a clip of the moment and wrote:
“Nah KSI you’re not funny man, you cannot say ‘P*ki’ in any context.
“These lot will do anything for content.”
Comedian Guz Khan pointed out that many South Asian-origin people may confront KSI and those in the video as a result, tweeting:
“You see KSI the issue you have here is that a lot of Pakistanis can make things very difficult for you and anyone giggling in this video.
“When they catch up with you, I hope the dead countdown joke was worth it.”
Another commented: “Not just to Pakistanis, this is highly offensive to any South Asian.
“I went to a racist white school and whenever there was a disagreement I was called a p*ki even though I am not from Pakistan and was treated differently from the pupils and some teachers.
“This will probably get pushed under the rug as there’s not many Asian influencers to call it out but good on you Guz brother.
“Just imagine it was the other way round, an Asian saying a certain racial slur. Boy…”
One user said: “Terrible form from KSI. It wasn’t funny as a joke and there is a massive amount of pain attached to that word.”
Some users were angry that Vikkstar – whose real name is Vikram Singh Barn – was seen laughing after the slur was made.
The backlash has led to the video being set to private.
I wanna apologise for saying a racial slur in a recent Sidemen video. There’s no excuse, no matter the circumstances, I shouldn’t have said it and I’m sorry.
I’ve always said to my audience that they shouldn’t worship me or put me on a pedestal because I’m human. Im not…
— ksi (@KSI) April 3, 2023
Meanwhile, KSI issued an apology. He wrote:
“I wanna apologise for saying a racial slur in a recent Sidemen video. There’s no excuse, no matter the circumstances, I shouldn’t have said it and I’m sorry.
“I’ve always said to my audience that they shouldn’t worship me or put me on a pedestal because I’m human.
“I’m not perfect, I’m gonna mess up in life, and lately I’ve been messing up a lot.
“So I’ve decided I’m gonna just take a break from social media for a while.”
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