Popular YouTuber Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg surprised fans today when he concluded his most recent “Pew News” video by saying he will be taking a break from the platform starting early next year.
“I think now is a great time as any to announce: I have a special announcement to make,” PewDiePie said. “I am taking a break from YouTube next year. I wanted to say it in advance because I made up my mind.”
PewDiePie has been producing videos on a consistent schedule for years without taking an extended break since 2011 when he temporarily stopped making videos to focus on college. He even managed to regularly publish videos during his wedding and honeymoon with Marzia “CutiePie” Bisognin.
YouTube’s most popular individual content creator explained that his leave of absence won’t be permanent, but he feels that he needs to take a break.
“I am tired. I’m feeling very tired,” PewDiePie said.
This announcement comes at a turbulent time for YouTube. The platform recently released this year’s “YouTube Rewind,” which was met with incredibly negative reactions from the community. Additionally, more and more YouTubers including PewDiePie have been criticizing the website’s new harassment policy which is striking down videos that contain threatening and demeaning language.
PewDiePie said that the problem isn’t the policy itself, but rather how YouTube executes the policy. Another popular YouTuber, Ian “iDubbbz” Carter, recently had one of his most popular videos “Content Cop – Leafy” removed due to this updated harassment policy. Many in the community have been quick to point out that the irony of this situation as iDubbbz’s video sheds light on the YouTuber LeafyIsHere’s bullying of other content creators.
PewDiePie hasn’t gone into detail on why he is taking a hiatus. But considering his own growing critiques of YouTube, one could infer his reasoning may relate to frustrations directed at the platform.
The YouTuber explained that he wanted to give his viewers a heads up and that he would clarify his rationale for the break in the near future.
