YouTuber Jenna Marbles quits platform after blackface videos resurface

YouTube star Jenna Marbles announced Thursday evening she is leaving the platform due to controversial videos that have resurfaced, including one of her in blackface.

Marbles, whose real name is Jenna Mourey, apologized for several videos that date back to 2011 and 2012.

In one video, Mourey is in blackface impersonating rapper Nicki Minaj. In another, she made offensive remarks about Asians, later saying in the video, “Sorry that was racist, I’m bad at rap songs.”

“It was never my intention to do blackface,” Mourey, 33, said Thursday in an 11-minute video post. “But it doesn’t matter, because all that matters is that people were offended and it hurt them. And for that, I’m so unbelievably sorry.”

She said the other video, with her rap lyrics, was “inexcusable” and “doesn’t need to exist.”

Mourey got her start in 2010 and has since amassed more than 20 million subscribers.

“I’ve tried my best to grow up and to be a better person,” she said. “And first and foremost, I want everyone to know that I’ve always been a two-way street, and that anytime that you criticize me and tell me that you would like me to do better or to do something differently, that I always try to do that.”

The videos, along with other content, have since been privatized on her channel.

“Hopefully I’ve taken down anything that would upset someone and I hope you know that’s just not my intent,” Mourey said.

The removal of Mourey’s videos follows similar moves by other media groups in the wake of George Floyd’s death during an arrest in Minneapolis last month that sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice.

Hulu removed three episodes of the TV sitcom “Scrubs” from its platform because they included blackface. And late-night host Jimmy Kimmel recently apologized for his use of blackface in his Comedy Central show “The Man Show,” which ran from 1999 to 2004. 

“I feel like we are at a time where we are purging ourselves of anything and everything toxic,” Mourey said.

“I think I’m just going to move on from this channel for now,” she added. “I don’t know if that’s forever, I don’t know how long that’s going to be, I just want to make sure that the things I’m putting into the world are not hurting anyone.”

Her video has received more than 4 million views and was trending atop the platform on Friday.