Colleen Ballinger, the YouTube creator behind the character Miranda Sings, has publicly responded to accusations that she formed inappropriate relationships with underage fans.
YouTube content creator Colleen Ballinger, whose character Miranda Sings brought her internet fame, has publicly responded to accusations that she formed inappropriate relationships with underage fans. Ballinger posted a video on Wednesday to her YouTube channel Colleen Vlogs in which she denied the allegations against her — mostly in song while strumming a ukulele.
“Some people are saying things about me that just aren’t true,” Ballinger says at the beginning of her 10-minute video. “Even though my team has strongly advised me not to say what I’m going to say, I realized they never said I couldn’t sing about what I want to say.”
“I used to message my fans — but not in a creepy way, like a lot of you are trying to suggest,” she says about the early days of her YouTube career. “It was more of a loser kind of way. I was just trying to be besties with everybody.”
While Ballinger admitted that “there were times in DMs when I would overshare,” she says she “changed my behavior and took accountability.”
“Thought you wanted me to take accountability / but that’s not the point of your mob mentality / your goal is to ruin the life of the person you despise / while you dramatize your lies and monetize their demise,” Ballinger sings.
“I’m sure you’re disappointed in my shitty little song / I know you wanted me to say that I was 100% in the wrong / well I’m sorry I’m not gonna take that route / of admitting to lies and rumors that you made up for clout,” she sings in another verse.
Colleen Ballinger claims that she makes clear that her Miranda Sings content is “PG-13” in nature, and the videos are unavailable on the YouTube Kids app. She says that it’s the responsibility of parents to decide what is and isn’t suitable for their children.
Meanwhile, allegations against Ballinger first emerged three years ago, as reported by NBC News. In 2020, YouTuber Adam McIntyre made a video alleging that Ballinger “formed an inappropriate personal friendship” with him while he was between the ages of 13 and 16, which he says included her sending him lingerie “as a joke.” He alleged that Ballinger gave him access to her social media, helped her generate content ideas, and that they exchanged text messages for years.
Ballinger acknowledged making “jokes in poor taste” and “dumb mistakes” but adds in her video, “Was it my intention to manipulate? No.”
“For what it’s worth, I never had any bad intentions,” she continued. “But I do feel like shit.”
McIntyre responded to the video in a tweet, writing, “As much as Colleen discredited and made fun of me, I’m glad her video did one thing: show you all exactly the type of evil woman she is, that a lot of us have experienced over the past few years behind the scenes. The mask has slipped; everyone, meet the real Colleen Ballinger.”