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Google PlayKSI has issued an apology after a video clip went viral that featured the YouTuber using a racist slur.
The clip was cut from a video he’d made with Sidemen based around the long-running UK daytime quiz show, Countdown. In it, KSI—real name JJ Olatunji—creates the word “p**i” from his selection of letters, an offensive abbreviation of Pakistan used to describe South Asians.
The other contestants—which include Chunkz and Fily—are seen giggling and laughing in response. Understandably, it’s left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths and although the original YouTube video has since been switched to private, he’s drawn a lot of criticism over the weekend.
Bobby Friction, a BBC radio DJ, said: “I had this racial slur thrown at me & got physical beats by racists for my entire childhood. Genuinely upset that @KSI (a guy my children love) did this & thought it was funny. The rest of them laughing can go f**k themselves too.”
Guz Khan, star of BBC comedy Man Like Mobeen, added: “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.”
In response, KSI took to Twitter to write the following apology: “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,” he said.
“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 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.”
