KSI has issued an apology after making a racist slur in a recent YouTube video.
The rapper, boxer, gamer and Youtube personality – whose real name is Olajide William Olatunji – made the comment in a video with his YouTube group, The Sidemen, and has now said that will he take a break from social media.
The footage saw him and his group play a challenge based on the Channel 4 show Countdown, where they tried to create words from randomly assorted letters. However, the video received backlash from viewers after KSI created a four-letter derogatory word for people of a Pakistani origin.
Following the response, KSI has taken to social media to apologise for the slur and admit that he has been “messing up a lot” in recent months. The footage has since been removed from YouTube.
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
“There’s no excuse, no matter the circumstances, I shouldn’t have said it and I’m sorry,” he tweeted this morning (April 3). “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.”
The 29-year-old also added that he will be taking a hiatus from social media for “a while”. At time of writing, there have been no updates regarding his future with The Sidemen.
Following KSI’s apology, Broadcaster Mehreen Baig also took to Twitter to label the situation as “horrifically disappointing”, saying: “So many of my students look up to these guys and they’re casually throwing around a word that has consistently been used to bully and attack South Asians. This isn’t comedy.”
The group’s YouTube channel has more than 18million followers and each of their videos rack up millions of views. KSI’s channel has 16.2million subscribers.
This is horrifically disappointing from KSI and his crew. So many of my students look up to these guys and they’re casually throwing around a word that has consistently been used to bully and attack South Asians. This isn’t comedy. https://t.co/4A4AROphGU
— Mehreen Baig (@MehreenBaig) April 3, 2023
Earlier this year, KSI spoke out against Andrew Tate – describing his Top G persona as “cringey”.
The comments were made following Tate’s arrest back in December, when the former Big Brother contestant faced charges of human trafficking. “I always say that to my audience: don’t put me on a pedestal. Like I am not the GOAT. I don’t want people to worship me.” KSI told BBC Newsbeat when asked if he’d like to be held in the same regard by his fans.
“Treat women well, treat men well, treat everyone well, and just have the right attitude,” he continued. “I just think it’s cringey. I don’t care about this whole matrix stuff or whatever. For me, I just want to live my life and help as many people as possible and be a good person.”
KSI’s last album came in 2021 in the form of his sophomore effort, ‘All Over The Place‘.
The post KSI apologises for using racist slur in Sidemen YouTube video appeared first on NME.
