Current:Home > NewsMiranda Sings YouTuber Colleen Ballinger Breaks Silence on Grooming Allegations With Ukulele Song -Horizon Finance Path
Miranda Sings YouTuber Colleen Ballinger Breaks Silence on Grooming Allegations With Ukulele Song
View
Date:2025-04-19 00:52:32
Colleen Ballinger is singing her side of the story.
The YouTuber, best known for her awkward alter ego Miranda Sings, refuted allegations of grooming and forming inappropriate relationships with underage fans in musical vlog on June 28. While strumming a ukulele, Ballinger likened the accusations to a "toxic gossip train" headed for "manipulation station" as the rest of the internet "tie me to the tracks and harass me for my past."
"Some people are saying things about me that just aren't true," she said in a sing-song voice. "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."
Ballinger, 36, went on to explain how she used to message her fans "to be besties with everybody" earlier in her career, but "didn't understand that maybe there should be some boundaries there."
As a result, according to the Haters Back Off star, there were "times in the DMs when I would overshare details of my life—which was really weird of me—and I haven't done that in years because I changed my behavior and took accountability."
Earlier this month, Ballinger was accused of grooming her fans when YouTuber KodeeRants shared screenshots of an alleged text exchange between actress and her fans. Per NBC News, the unverified group text was named "Colleeny's Weenies," with Ballinger allegedly asking fans their "favorite position" during one conversation.
In her ukulele video, Ballinger addressed the recent online chatter over her past, singing, "I 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."
"I'm sure you're disappointed in my s--tty little song, I know you wanted me to say that I was 100 percent in the wrong," she continued. "Well, I'm sorry I'm not gonna take that route of admitting to lies and rumors that you made up for clout."
And while Ballinger confessed to making "jokes in poor taste" and "lots of dumb mistakes," she denied ever sending inappropriate messages to teenage fans with the intention of grooming them.
"I just wanted to say that thing I've ever groomed is my two Persian cats," Ballinger added. "I'm not a groomer. I'm just a loser who didn't understand I shouldn't respond to fans."
Allegations over Ballinger's behavior previously surfaced back in 2020, when fellow YouTube star Adam McIntyre accused her of putting him in uncomfortable situations between the ages of 13 and 16. In a video titled "colleen ballinger, stop lying," he specifically called out a past livestream where Ballinger sent him lingerie.
At the time, Ballinger responded to McIntyre and acknowledged that the underwear stunt was "completely stupid," saying in a separate apology video, "I should have never sent that."
"I don't know what part of my brain was missing at the time that I thought, 'Oh, this is a normal, silly thing to do,'" added Ballinger. "But I am not a monster."
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (5)
Related
- Have Dry, Sensitive Skin? You Need To Add These Gentle Skincare Products to Your Routine
- Thousands of fans in Taylor Swift's São Paulo crowd create light display
- Digging to rescue 41 workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in India halted after machine breaks
- Steelers players had heated locker-room argument after loss to Browns, per report
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Derek Chauvin, convicted in George Floyd’s murder, stabbed in prison
- Supporting nonprofits on GivingTuesday this year could have a bigger impact than usual
- WWE Survivor Series WarGames 2023 live results: CM Punk returns, highlights from Chicago
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- A high school girls basketball team won 95-0. Winning coach says it could've been worse
Ranking
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Mega Millions winning numbers for Black Friday drawing; Jackpot at $305 million
- Teenage murder suspect escapes jail for the second time in November
- Israeli military detains director of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- Bradley Cooper says his fascination with Leonard Bernstein, focus of new film Maestro, traces back to cartoons
- Former UK leader Boris Johnson joins a march against antisemitism in London
- Shania Twain makes performance debut in Middle East for F1 Abu Dhabi concert
Recommendation
How to watch the 'Blue Bloods' Season 14 finale: Final episode premiere date, cast
Plaquemine mayor breaks ribs, collarbone in 4-wheeler crash
A high school girls basketball team won 95-0. Winning coach says it could've been worse
One of world’s largest icebergs drifting beyond Antarctic waters after it was grounded for 3 decades
Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
The body of an abducted anti-mining activist is found in western Mexico
Destiny's Child Has Biggest Reunion Yet at Beyoncé’s Renaissance Film Premiere
4 found dead near North Carolina homeless camp; 3 shot before shooter killed self, police say