Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg is one of the most famous creators on YouTube, with a storied career spanning nearly 8 years on the platform.
In that time, he’s managed to get entangled in a few highly-publicized beefs with other top YouTubers and Twitch streamers, resulting in some hilarious antics that are now archived across the internet.
From his spat with YouTuber-turned-boxer KSI to his callout of popular streamer Pokimane, we’ve gathered the best of PewDiePie’s beefs for posterity – including his epic, seven-month-long race against Bollywood label T-Series.
#5 – Lilly Singh, ‘Supawoman’
YouTuber Lilly ‘Supawoman’ Singh caught major flak from PewDiePie after announcing her hiatus from the platform in November 2018, prompting him to make a scathing statement on YouTube’s widespread “creator burnout.”
Their spat didn’t end there; PewDiePie went on to slam Singh a month later in response to her complaints about Forbes’ list of 2018’s highest-earning YouTubers, where she noted that no women were mentioned in their article.
2 years ago it was almost even between male & female, last year it was just me and this year there are no females at all. Something I predicted in my instagram caption last year. I’m concerned the digital space is going to repeat the mistakes of ancient industries. Hope I’m wrong https://t.co/VmoTMjywGK
— Lilly Singh (@IISuperwomanII) December 5, 2018
PewDiePie argued that adsense pays YouTubers the same way regardless of gender, and even insulted Singh for her thoughts on the matter.
“If you start complaining about this you sound like a crybaby and an idiot, which you are, Lilly Singh, in case you weren’t sure,” PewDiePie said.
[Timestamp: 11:46 for mobile viewers]
While Singh went on to reach out to Kjellberg for a conversation on the issue, it doesn’t look like any common ground was ever reached, as he went on to roast her role in the movie adaptation of ‘Fahrenheit 451’ – and even compared her to the viral ‘Big Chungus’ meme shortly thereafter.
[Timestamp: 4:40 for mobile viewers]
#4 – Pokimane
While Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys is known for her massively popular Twitch stream, she likewise made headlines after being called out for copy striking videos from smaller YouTube channels in January 2018, following her Twitter spat with Drama Alert’s KEEMSTAR.
PewDiePie himself even spoke out on the subject, appearing to take issue with Pokimane’s attempts to cover up the drama.
“I can understand why you want to take down this video, because this selected thing blows up and becomes even bigger… but the problem here… is that you’re just drawing more attention to it,” PewDiePie said of the debacle.
Pokimane later published a statement on the matter, agreeing with PewDiePie’s point -although she buckled down on copy striking videos for using her content in a “non transformative manner.”
#3 – KSI
Before KSI’s beef with YouTuber Logan Paul picked up speed, he got into it with PewDiePie in 2016, after calling Kjellberg a “hypocrite” for criticizing channels like Drama Alert for causing rifts within the YouTube community.
After a series of heated Tweets between the two (which have since been deleted), PewDiePie later called out both KSI and Logan Paul ahead of their 2018 boxing match, accusing KSI of being a “sexist scumbag” who merely created content on YouTube for the money.
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“He has no ground to talk at all,” KSI said in response to PewDiePie’s claims. “He is the person who ruined a lot of peoples’ lives on YouTube, with his comments and his whole anti-Semitic… I can’t even say the word.”
PewDiePie went on to ask KSI for a truce, stating that it was “dumb” to call him a scumbag and even wanted to have a beer with the YouTuber.
“I called them scumbags for being purely money driven… thinking about it, that’s fine, what’s wrong with that?” he said of their beef.
#2 – Alinity
PewDiePie’s spat with Alinity Divine is likely one of his most well-known debacles, after the Twitch streamer took issue with his eye-tracking video in early 2018 – in which he used the term “Twitch thot” in relation to her content.
“Can we copy strike this guy?” Alinity said famously after watching his video on stream, later issuing a takedown of the clip for using her content.
PewDiePie responded to Alinity’s claim by clarifying that he meant no disrespect toward the women featured in his eye-tracking video, and targeted Alinity’s MCN for “abusing their power” in regards to unfair copyright claims.
“Alinity admits publicly to abusing copyright law, basically an illegal act that could hold up in a court of law,” PewDiePie said of the matter. “My videos are 100% protected by fair use.”
Kjellberg later dug up a slew of dirt against Alinity, including her use of a racial slur on stream and apparent favors granted by Twitch – despite potentially breaking the site’s TOS on multiple occasions.
#1 – T-Series
While PewDiePie reigned as YouTube’s most subscribed channel for years, Bollywood label T-Series began vying for his top spot in August of 2018, prompting an all-out war between the channels’ fanbases (which was further escalated by his scathing diss track, ‘Bitch Lasagna’).
Although T-Series was projected to surpass PewDiePie in early 2019, Kjellberg managed to fend off his nemesis for near seven-month-long period, thanks to the help of other top YouTubers in the space like MrBeast and Markiplier.
That’s not all; PewDiePie even invited political commentator Ben Shapiro and Telsa CEO Elon Musk to host his ‘Meme Review’ show, which skyrocketed his numbers following their respective appearances.
[Timestamp: 13:27 for mobile viewers.]
In spite of his efforts, PewDiePie was surpassed by T-Series on March 26, 2019 – and still hasn’t gotten his top spot back as of March 28.
Although he may have lost his crown, PewDiePie continues to reign as YouTube’s top-subscribed, independent creator on the platform – despite his many controversies and dramatic arguments with other creators on the website.
