Colleen Ballinger was one of the first individuals to attain widespread fame on YouTube. She gained popularity for portraying internet character Miranda Sings, an eccentric and narcissistic woman with a bad lipstick job who dreams of stardom despite having no talents. The character is meant to be satirical; a way of poking fun at people who are overly confident in their ability to get famous through YouTube. However, some have criticized Ballinger’s Miranda Sings personality for being a caricature of a neurodivergent individual.
Still, Ballinger managed to make a breakthrough in the YouTube realm. Her YouTube career later gave way to a book deal, a one-woman comedy act, and even a Netflix series. Considered one of the “OG” YouTubers, Ballinger boasts almost 11 million subscribers on her Miranda Sings channel and another 3.35 million on her personal channel, Colleen Vlogs. However, her stardom is finally starting to show cracks as numerous disturbing allegations have arisen about her inappropriate behavior toward fans. While the allegations are finally starting to receive wider coverage, they were first brought to light three years ago.
YouTuber Adam McIntyre levied accusations against Ballinger back in 2020 in a video titled “Colleen Ballinger, stop lying.” Despite the seriousness of his allegations, a mere apology video from Ballinger largely swept the situation under the rug. Three years later, though, the allegations have flared up again with McIntyre’s account being corroborated and more former fans coming forward with their own accusations. Here’s a breakdown of the allegations and controversy surrounding Ballinger.
Adam McIntyre speaks out against Colleen Ballinger
As mentioned above, the first allegations against Ballinger arose in 2020 with McIntyre’s video. McIntyre, who was 17 years old when he made the video, revealed that he’d begun interacting with Ballinger on a “personal level” when he was only 13. McIntyre was a fan of Ballinger and ran several fan pages dedicated to her. Ballinger started reaching out and talking to McIntyre after they met during a live stream. This was problematic from the onset, considering that Ballinger was 30 years old and was privately messaging with a 13-year-old fan. Things got even stranger when she began confiding in McIntyre about her divorce from then-husband Josh Evans and directing him to probe gossip sites and report information to her.
McIntyre went on to claim that Ballinger made him her unofficial social media “intern” and allowed him to post to her Miranda Sings Twitter account and create content for her. However, Ballinger allegedly blamed McIntyre for the backlash she received after he posted a coming-out joke that she approved. In addition to not paying McIntyre for the work he did for her, Ballinger and her friend Kory Desoto sent him a lingerie set in the mail when he was 14 years old.
At the time that McIntyre’s video came out, Ballinger was already under fire for allegations of racism and fatphobia. A video resurfaced in which Ballinger and her sister, then in their teens, impersonated Latina women using blatant racial stereotypes. Another video showed Ballinger making derogatory comments about a plus-size woman she was seated next to on a plane. Additionally, fans were disturbed when a video resurfaced of Ballinger bragging and laughing about getting her dog put down as a child after she provoked it into biting her and then lied about the circumstances of the bite.
After receiving backlash for McIntyre’s story and the resurfaced videos, Ballinger posted an apology video. Most of her excuses for the resurfaced videos were that she was “a sheltered teenager” and was a completely different woman now, or that people didn’t understand her humor. Ballinger did admit to sending McIntyre the lingerie but insisted it was a “joke” and that it was normal for her to send “weird things” to her fans. Ballinger also claimed that she gave McIntyre access to her social media for only one day as a “test run” and took responsibility for the ill-received coming-out joke.
New allegations surface against Ballinger
After her apology video, Ballinger’s career largely carried on as before. She continued with her YouTube channel and went on tour as Miranda Sings. Additionally, some of her skits started revolving around being “canceled” and having to apologize, seemingly poking fun at the whole incident. Things flared up again, though, when former Ballinger fan Kodee Tyler, who had attempted to discredit McIntyre’s allegations in 2020, came forward with a now-deleted video corroborating McIntyre’s account. This led many to take a closer look at McIntyre’s allegations against Ballinger, which expanded after 2020 and also inspired several fans to come forward with stories of their own.
The most disturbing allegations against Ballinger arose from her former group chat, dubbed “Colleeny’s weenies.” This was a Twitter group chat created by Ballinger’s fans, including McIntyre, most of whom were minors. Eventually, Ballinger was added to the group chat and would pop in to converse with her fans. Screenshots of the group chat have been circulating online and appear to show then-30-year-old Ballinger sending highly inappropriate messages to her underage fans. These include asking for butt pics, asking them about their sex lives, making sexual comments and jokes, “trauma dumping” on them about her divorce, calling them her “friends,” saying that she loved them, and even expressing a desire to have a sleepover with all of them.
These messages were not only inappropriate, but they can also be seen as evidence of Ballinger grooming her minor fans. As happened last time, these new allegations resurfaced all of Ballinger’s past problematic behavior, too. Twitter users started sharing videos in which Ballinger (as Miranda Sings) would have children come on stage to humiliate and objectify them, going so far as to ask them to hold poses with their legs spread or to re-enact giving birth. Her book Selp-Helf and Netflix show Haters Back Off have also come under scrutiny for being littered with incest references and sexual innuendo. One Haters Back Off assistant writer came forward to accuse Ballinger of racism and of being obsessed with including an incestuous relationship as a major plot point, despite acknowledging that her fanbase was composed largely of children.
Colleen Ballinger issues bizarre response to controversy
While the allegations show no signs of slowing down, Ballinger has issued a response. In a bizarre 10-minute video posted to her Colleen Vlogs channel, Ballinger delivers her response via song while playing the ukulele. Ballinger seems to make light of the accusations, and many found it appalling that she’d release a video jokingly singing about the “toxic gossip train” instead of issuing a genuine apology. In her song, Ballinger admits to trying to be “besties” with her fans and although she says it was “weird,” she maintains that it wasn’t anything “creepy.” Meanwhile, she denies everything else, chalking it all up to the “toxic gossip train” while calling herself a victim for being labeled a “predator” and “groomer.” Ballinger asserts that she did nothing wrong aside from not knowing she shouldn’t respond to fan messages.
Of course, the video hasn’t gone over well: Ballinger comes across as gaslighting and narcissistic, which is what she predicts viewers would think of her song. She doesn’t acknowledge or provide an explanation for the countless disturbing screenshots of evidence against her or videos from her skits. She does mention that Miranda Sings is “PG-13,” but that doesn’t explain why children are allowed at her concerts and called onstage. Even Ballinger’s controversial “bestie” Trisha Paytas has jumped ship, expressing concern and shock about the accusations and Ballinger’s response. She also shared even more disturbing allegations that Ballinger sent Paytas’ NSFW content to the Weenies group chat.
Paytas says she is “embarrassed” to be associated with Ballinger now. The two influencers recently ran a podcast together and boasted other similarities, such as garnering fame for being “trolls” and stirring controversy. Additionally, both have somehow managed to maintain a fanbase despite accusations of racism and queerbaiting. Still, even Paytas acknowledges the severity of the accusations against Ballinger due to the involvement of minors.
Another racist video resurfaces
On July 5, another old video of Ballinger performing in character resurfaced on social media. It’s unclear when the video was recorded, but as Variety notes, it was added to the Miranda Sings YouTube channel in 2018. Although unlisted, the video is viewable and depicts Ballinger performing Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” while wearing what appears to be Blackface:
Ballinger has yet to respond to any allegations since posting the ukulele video. She has also continued her most recent tour as Miranda Sings despite the ongoing controversy.
(featured image: Colleen Vlogs / YouTube)
