Jenna Marbles is stepping back from YouTube. The longtime vlogger made the announcement in a video titled 'A Message' posted to her YouTube channel on Thursday (June 25). In the video, Marbles explained to her viewers that after facing backlash for resurfaced videos featuring Blackface, racist jokes and other offensive content she decided to take some time away from content creation.
"I’ve tried my best to grow up and to be a better person. And first and foremost, I want everyone to know that I’ve always been a two-way street, and that anytime that you criticize me and tell me that you would like me to do better or to do something differently, that I always try to do that. And I try to make fun content, inclusive content, things that don’t offend people or upset people, and that’s kind of where I am," Marbles said in the lengthy apology video.
She then went on to address specific videos that were called out for being offensive and racist, including an impersonation of Nicki Minaj involving Marbles wearing Blackface. "It was not my intention to do blackface," she told viewers "I do want to tell you how unbelievably sorry I am if I ever offended you by posting this video or by doing this impression, and that that was never my intention. It's not okay. It's shameful. It's awful. I wish it wasn't part of my past."
Marbles removed any videos that contained any racist or otherwise offensive content from her channel. "Hopefully I've taken down anything that would upset someone and I hope you know that that's just not my intent. That's not what I ever set out to do—to hurt anyone's feelings, to make anyone feel bad," she told viewers.
Taking down the videos wasn't enough for Marbles, however, and she decided to take time away from her popular YouTube channel. "I think I'm just going to move on from this channel for now. I don't know if that's forever, I don't know how long that's going to be, I just want to make sure that the things I'm putting into the world are not hurting anyone," she said.
Photo: YouTube