Colleen Ballinger: All about 'grooming' allegations, YouTuber's response to them
What's the story
American YouTuber, singer, actor, and model Colleen Ballinger has dominated the news for the past few months, albeit for the wrong reasons. She has been entangled in controversies and accused of grooming minors—a claim that first emerged in April 2020 and continues to haunt her since then. Now, she has tried to shut down the allegations through a recently released YouTube song.
New YouTube video
She weaved her apology in a song
In her new YouTube video, Ballinger sang: "Everyone just believes that you are the type of person who manipulates and abuses children— I just wanted to say that the only thing I've ever groomed is my two Persian cats." "I'm not a groomer, I'm just a loser who didn't understand I shouldn't respond to fans. And I'm not a predator...," she added.
Allegations
Fan-turned-social media influencer Adam McIntyre was first to lambast her
The allegations were first leveled by influencer Adam McIntyre. Through a video, he claimed that she developed an "unhealthy" relationship with him when he was 13, and in 2016, she reportedly sent him a set of her underwear. He also accused her of passing uncomfortable sexual remarks, asking for private pictures, and being a member of "Colleeny's Weenies"—a Twitter chat with her selected fans.
'Trauma dumping'
Ballinger was also accused of 'trauma dumping' on teenagers
McIntyre further spoke about how she regularly "trauma dumped" on him. "There were some days, on a school night, I would be up until like 4 am trying to calm her down or try to give her advice." Several other former fans also came out and revealed how they spent a lot of time discussing her problems with her then-partner Joshua Evans.
Apology
In 2020, Ballinger apologized for her actions
In 2020, the YouTube star posted an apology video, titled "Addressing everything." Though she admitted to sending her undergarments to McIntyre, she defended herself by saying, "I don't know what part of my brain was missing at the time. But I'm not a monster, I am not a groomer, and I shouldn't kill myself." She also addressed multiple past controversial sketches in this video.
Career
Career: What's Ballinger's claim to fame?
Ballinger is best known for creating the popular internet character Miranda Sings. She has been a part of shows such as How to Makeup, Prank Academy, Live With Kelly and Ryan, and Escape the Night Season 3. She also created and starred in Netflix's show Haters Back Off. She is married to actor Erik Stocklin since 2018 (Lucifer, Good Trouble).