Internet humorist Jenna Marbles announced Thursday she was quitting YouTube after apologizing for past videos in which she donned blackface and performed racially charged bits.
“I just can’t exist on this channel” Marbles told her 20 million followers in a tearful, rambling video. (Watch above.) “I’m just gonna move on from this channel for now. I don’t know if that’s forever. I just wanna make sure that the things I put out into the world aren’t hurting anyone.”
Marbles, whose real name is Jenna Mourey, added that she was “ashamed of things I’ve said and done in my past.”
Marbles discussed specific examples, such as her 2011 blackface impersonation of rapper Nicki Minaj, and another video from the same year in which she portrayed an Asian stereotype who says “ching chong, wing wong.”
She also apologized for “slut-shaming” content and jokes about gender.
Marbles said she had been blocking public access to potentially offensive performances in her catalog. “It’s hard for that content to exist at all,” she said.
“I’ve tried my best to grow up and be a better person,” she added.
Other prominent white comedians also have faced a reckoning amid rising demands for racial justice sparked by the police killing last month of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Late night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel are among those who have apologized for old performances in blackface.
Marbles’ channel has received more than 1.6 billion views since she joined in 2010.
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