With the allegations and incidents piling up more and more it can be pretty hard to keep track of what's been happening. We've got you covered: here's everything we know about Colleen, and how the whole drama came to be.
Colleen Ballinger rose to fame in 2008, being mostly known for her comedic character Miranda Sings. The YouTube fame led to even more success with her own Netflix show, books and comedy tours. Now her empire is crumbling.
The allegations against her started in 2020 – to no avail. Now they have resurfaced though, gotten worse, and have lead to one of the biggest scandals in YouTube history. Here's everything that happened, how it started and how it's going on.
First Allegations In 2020: Grooming And Manipulating Fans
In 2020, Ballinger's former fan and intern Adam McIntyre uploaded a video to YouTube where he spoke out against her. He accused her of grooming, bullying and manipulating underage fans. He was met with huge backlash by Ballinger's fans and has been ridiculed in her shows ever since.
To make matters worse for Adam, another fan of Ballinger's jumped to her defense. Kodeerants, who Ballinger vented to after the falling out with Adam, uploaded a YouTube video where she painted Adam as the villain. The allegations were basically off the table from that point on with Adam being the bad guy.
Until 2023, that is. That's when Kodeerants uploaded another video titled "why I left the Colleen Ballinger fandom" where she admits that the Adam-Colleen-situation had been quite different from what everyone thought.
She said she needed to come clean and apologized for not coming forward sooner. Providing screenshots between Colleen and her, Kodee was able to clear Adam's name – three years too late.
More And More Former Fans Come Forward
Around the same time, allegations were picking up steam again. Adam McIntyre uploaded more videos on the situation, explaining what happened to him and other fans of her at the time. He shared screenshots from a group chat Colleen participated in with quite disturbing contents.
Keep in mind: Colleen was an over 30-year-old woman at the time, asking minors in a group chat if they were virgins and how their first period has been for them.
Further disturbing stories, this time even with visuals, revolve around a former fan named Becky. As part of Ballinger's tour, she was called on stage to perform in a "yoga challenge". But see for yourself if Ballinger's behavior is appropriate when interacting with a 16-year-old fan.
the whole bit here was that i "farted" while in this position which is 1) really childish and 2) fucking embarrassing when you're already in a vulnerable position. i was only a teenager here and you can see that i had to stop and cover myself up before i even stood up. pic.twitter.com/cPQVKAUMQv
— becky (@noitsbecks) June 10, 2023
Becky said afterwards that she didn't feel safe leaving the venue afterwards, claiming "Coleen exploited [her] minor body for entertainment & money and did not protect [her] safety".
Becky's experience also tracks with the allegations Ballinger's former fan and employee Johnny made on the h3h3 podcast, claiming that girls were lured into dressing "skimpier and skimpier" for a better chance of being called up on stage to be basically shamed by their idol in return.
Colleen Ballinger's Infamous Ukulele Response
Following all these allegations, most of them backed up with proof like screenshots and old videos, Ballinger's response was not what everyone expected. Instead of talking about the situation she busts out her ukulele and starts singing, basically mocking everyone who felt or was victimized by her.
The backlash she faced for that was immense. Not only shocked reactions to her unserious response, but also parodies popped up left and right.
- Make your own response with the ukulele I use myself . It's a good one, trust me.
In hindsight, it's kind of hard to say what the final nail in the coffin of Ballinger's career was. Could be her inappropriate ukulele song or even Trisha Paytas of all people who made her own video, accusing Ballinger of sharing explicit photos of Paytas without her consent – with minors, mind you.
Whatever the last straw was, the rest of Ballinger's tour has been canceled in response to the allegations. The remaining venues where Ballinger was set to do her comedy show all either list the event as canceled or straight-up deleted the page online.
Colleen Ballinger May Be Canceled, But She Still Makes Profit Off The Drama
In her ukulele response, Ballinger sang about how her lawyers told her not to talk about the whole situation, but nobody ever said anything about singing it. What seemed like a stupid thing at the time turned out to be a clever move after all.
The song, now officially titled "Toxic Gossip Train" was uploaded to streaming platforms. This enables Ballinger to copyright claim anyone who uses the video of her response, either getting revenue off of others (who responded to her for example) or even taking the whole video down.
Ballinger's legal team has declined the rumors of her uploading the song herself, whether it be for the purpose of DMCA'ing or not.
The first claim was on the h3h3 podcast which featured her song. That wasn't the only shocking thing the podcast had in store though – three victims came on and talked about their experiences, including slut-shaming and misogyny.
Also, several YouTube drama channels have been DMCA'd by Ballinger, leading to the channgels having to mute parts of their videos reporting on the situation.
That's the end of the situation for now – we'll keep you updated if there's more to come!