YouTube influencer PewDiePie has lashed out at the media over his involvement with Warner Bros.’ and recent disclosure issues around Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor promotional videos.
“A lot of YouTubers were involved in this sponsorship,” said PewDiePie, real name Felix Kjellberg. “But since my name is the biggest YouTuber, my name is the only one that pops up.”
Kjellberg was one of many YouTube stars that were paid by Warner Bros. to positively promote Shadow of Mordor on the popular media platform. His videos alone accounted for 3.7 million of 5.5 million total views.
“Yes, I could have disclosed [the sponsorship arrangement] better,” he said. “I could have put it above the fold [rather than underneath the videos’ descriptions requiring a user to click “Show more. So basically, all of these news articles are using me as a clickbait, putting my name to shame, when I didn’t even do anything wrong.”
Despite the admission of a clear lack of transparency, Kjellberg maintains his innocence.
“If I did something wrong, I should be paying the consequences,” he concluded. “In this case, I don’t think I did anything wrong.”
What do you think of Kjellberg’s response?
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