Colleen Balliger’s texts about Trisha Paytas have added to the increasing controversy surrounding the behavior of the once-popular social media entertainer.
Ballinger, better known as her Internet/on-stage persona Miranda Sings, became well-liked on YouTube in the early 2010s as she regularly posted skits and vlogs. Donning the signature red lipstick, Ballinger toured the world as Miranda Sings for her fans across the globe. However, her videos and behavior have been met with a lot of controversy in the past couple of years; among them, racism and Blackface allegations, as well as accusations of grooming minors in the 2010s.
Paytas is also a popular YouTuber, media personality, and singer. Her YouTube channel consists of a wide variety of content including lifestyle-oriented vlogs, music videos, and mukbangs (eating shows), with more than 5 million subscribers and 1 billion lifetime views. She and Ballinger had been friendly for years, even co-hosting a podcast Oversharing with Colleen Ballinger & Trisha Paytas in May 2023. The show ran for three episodes, concluding on June 6, 2023.
Most recently, Ballinger has come under fire from Paytas and Ballinger’s former fan, Johnny Silvestri, for a series of not-safe-for-work texts that suggest Ballinger was making fun of Paytas. Here’s what we know about Colleen Ballinger’s texts about Trisha Paytas.
Colleen Ballinger’s texts about Trisha Paytas
In a series of unverified and since-deleted tweets posted on July 3, 2023, Johnny Silvestri alleged that Ballinger used to send him nude photos and videos of Paytas to make fun of her and her body. The images are believed to have been taken from her OnlyFans account.
Silveretti claimed in one tweet that Ballinger held “viewing parties” for Paytas’s porn, with one text exchange reading: “Is she pulling on her vagina?? What is happening?? Why is only one titty out?? I have so many questions”.
In a lengthy YouTube shared on July 3, Paytas responded to the text leaks. “I do not condone, at all, unsolicited nudes—sending unsolicited nudes to anybody, sex worker or not,” Paytas said in her video. “I think using someone’s nudes as a way to hurt them, make fun of them, make light of them, be mean, is the lowest form of human.” She continued, “These weren’t a long time ago. This is someone well into their 30s who just gave birth, sending nudes. And a month prior, I was in [Ballinger’s] house, meeting her newborn and doing a Mukbang with her.”
She added: “It’s a lot. And it wasn’t just one occasion. There was multiple times that she sent different photos and different positions of me,” Paytas added. “I think that’s so inhumane, I think that’s so disgusting for anyone.”
Paytas also questioned why someone would send texts like this in the first place. “Sending these to fans unsolicited, the context of which she was sending these, I don’t get the purpose. I don’t know if there was an inside joke that I’m missing,” later adding that “a lot of those images and videos were behind a paywall that requires someone to be 18 and over.”
When Paytas approached Ballinger about the alleged texts, Ballinger denied them. “I did ask her about these a couple of weeks ago,” Paytas claimed. “She assured me that she had never sent photos of me, [and] that this one fan who was underage at the time would send photos to her.” Silvestri said it wasn’t his intention to “be mean” by sharing the texts, but to “show people who these people truly are.”
With regard to allegations against Balliger, it certainly doesn’t stop here. On July 5, 2023, Twitter user Paige Christie posted a clip from a live Miranda Sings show with the caption, “I’m gonna need someone to explain the black on her face…” In the clip, which was apparently bonus content for the 2018 Miranda Sings book My Diarrhe, Ballinger as Miranda Sings is dancing to “Single Ladies” by Beyonce while wearing dark paint on her face. People reacted online such as Dr. Shola Mas Shogbaminu an academic, activist and author of “This Is Why I Resist: Don’t Define My Black Identity,” who tweeted, “Colleen Ballinger tells the world she’s a racist with her full chest. Imagine doing a Beyoncé song in Blackface and the audience are laughing & being entertained. These White people know what they are doing. Racists be racizisming.”
Law firm Berk Brettler, which represents Ballinger, told Variety that prior to the “Single Ladies” performance, Ballinger performed the song “As Long as You’re Mine” from Wicked with Oliver Tompsett, a star from the show, and that she painted her face green like Elphaba who is the main character of the musical.
On June 7, 2023, Adam McIntyre posted a video titled “my relationship with colleen ballinger.” In the nearly 2 hour video, Adam alleged that Colleen “groomed” him along with several teenagers back in the 2010s while she was in her 30s.
McIntyre brings up several screenshots of group chats and direct messages that involved Ballinger. She allegedly opened up about her marriage problems, sex life and trauma. In one alleged instance, Ballinger asked him about his virginity and asked the group cha to send inappropriate videos.
McIntyre later posted a video of Ballinger inserting a tampon in her mouth on Twitter with the caption, “the ‘weenies’ groupchat consisting of mostly 13-17-year-olds i was a part of with colleen all had an inside joke colleen started to do with periods or some shit and she sent us this video and all of us had to go out and buy tampons and re-enact it for the group chat it was so fucking weird.”
What Happened to Colleen Ballinger? Youtube Controversy, Explained
Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission from the sale.
Sophie Hanson
Source link
