Emily Brown
The woman who brought the world 'Miranda Sings' has denied allegations that she 'groomed' and formed inappropriate relationships with young fans.
Colleen Ballinger shared her public response on YouTube after accusations about her 'inappropriate' behaviour first came to light three years ago.
Fellow YouTuber Adam McIntyre, 20, shared a video in 2020 which accused Ballinger, who is currently 36-years-old, of having formed an 'inappropriate personal friendship' with him, starting when he was 13-years-old.
McIntyre claimed Ballinger had sent him lingerie 'as a joke', and that they had exchanged text messages for years.
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Ballinger created a musical response to the allegations and rumours that began after McIntyre's claims, strumming on a ukulele as she addressed what she dubbed 'lies' and 'gossip'.
In the video, titled 'hi', Ballinger said: “Some people are saying things about me that just aren’t true. Even though my team has strongly advised me not to say what I’m going to say, I realized they never said I couldn’t sing about what I want to say.”
The YouTuber admitted that she 'used to message [her] fans' early in her career, which took off in the late 00s.
However, Ballinger insisted it was 'not in a creepy way, like a lot of you are trying to suggest'.
She continued: "It was more of a loser kind of way. I was just trying to be besties with everybody.”
Ballinger recalled 'oversharing' in some DMs, but that she later 'changed [her] behavior and took accountability'.
The YouTuber accused people of having a 'mob mentality' with a goal of 'ruin[ing] the life of the person you despise'.
She sang: “I’m sure you’re disappointed in my sh**ty little song / I know you wanted me to say that I was 100 percent in the wrong / well I’m sorry I’m not gonna take that route / of admitting to lies and rumors that you made up for clout.”
Ballinger acknowledged 'jokes in poor taste' and 'dumb mistakes', but insisted: “Was it my intention to manipulate? No.”
In another section, Ballinger sang: “The only thing I’ve ever groomed is my two Persian cats / I’m not a groomer, just a loser / who didn’t understand I shouldn’t respond to fans / and I’m not a predator even a lot of you think so / because five years ago I made a fart joke."
The YouTuber also thanked those who have supported her throughout her career, and said she 'never had any bad intentions'.
After she shared the video, McIntyre responded in a tweet, writing: “as much as colleen discredited & made fun of me, im glad her video did ONE thing, show you all EXACTLY the type of evil woman she is, that a lot of us have experienced over the past few years behind the scenes, the mask has slipped…everyone meet the REAL colleen ballinger.”
UNILAD has reached out to representatives for Ballinger for comment.