In his recent video “Unboxing 100 Mil YouTube Award”, controversial content creator Pewdiepie (AKA Felix Kjellberg) announced his intention to donate a sum of 50,000 dollars to the Anti- Defamation League (ADL). This promise was shortly broken on Wednesday when Kjellberg announced – through a now-deleted tweet – that he was planning on donating to a different charity. As of now, any mention of this donation has been edited out of the original announcement video.

Fans and critics of Kjellberg quickly scrutinized his choice to donate. The ADL, whose mission is to end “the defamation of the Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all” has vocally criticized Kjellberg due to risqué content he has produced in recent years. The production of this content caused major advertisers, such as Disney, to cut ties with him. As a result, doubt has been cast on the sincerity of his decision, with some fans claiming that he was coerced to make this decision rather than personally making the choice. Critics were quick to accuse Kjellberg of reversing his decision to appease fans accusing him of giving in to outside pressure.

Kjellberg has defended this decision in a new vlog. In the video “My 100 MIL Award BROKE” he stated: “I made the mistake of picking a charity that I was advised instead of picking a charity that I’m personally passionate about.” He also claimed that he saw this donation as an opportunity to distance himself from claims that he supports the alt-right, but that he did not want to “save grace.” As of now, Kjellberg has not announced a new charity, which has drawn further criticism. The ADL has also stated that they have never received any communication from Kjellberg regarding his decision.