Colleen Ballinger ripped for resurfaced blackface ‘Single Ladies’ performance
Colleen Ballinger, who is known for her performances as the fictional character Miranda Sings, is under fire after a recently resurfaced video appeared on Twitter of her seemingly wearing blackface while singing Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.”
The clip was posted by social media influencer @PaigeChristieUK on Twitter Wednesday, and showed the scandal-plagued Ballinger — as Miranda Sings — performing the 2008 song with what looks like dark paint or makeup smudged all over her face, accompanied by two backup dancers.
The dancers do not appear to be wearing the paint.
On Twitter, Christie further claimed that the video was found through a QR code link in Ballinger’s 2018 book, “My Diarrhe,” authored under her character’s name.
Christie showed a screen recording of someone scanning the QR code in the book, which led them to an unlisted YouTube video that was posted in 2018 and titled “Single Ladies,” in which Ballinger is seen on stage.
Per TMZ, some also claimed that the clip was offered as an “exclusive sneak peek” to people who bought the book.
The influencer wrote on Twitter that she thinks the video could have been taken around the summer of 2010 in London, as the page in the book where the video can be found detailed her performances in the West End.
Ballinger was performing there in May and June of 2010, according to an announcement by Playbill — but it’s still unclear exactly when or where the video was filmed.
However, she did regularly perform the song that early in her career, according to a HuffPost report.
The Post has reached out to Ballinger’s representatives for comment.
In response to the clip on Twitter, many fans could not believe their eyes.
“It just keeps on getting worse and worse,” one user wrote.
Another agreed, saying, “I am baffled anyone, including herself, thinks this woman is entertaining in any capacity. 💀 the second hand embarrassment is so real.”
“Who let her go on stage like that?” someone else asked. “That’s what I wanna know.”
Ballinger has been making videos on YouTube for more than 15 years and went viral for her Miranda Sings character, which turned into a lucrative business as she embarked on many tours over the years.
She also authored many books and was the subject of brand sponsorships, as well as a 2016 TV show on Netflix titled “Haters Back Off.”
This newly unearthed video is just the latest in a string of scandals involving Ballinger.
In 2020, Ballinger was first accused of forming an alleged inappropriate personal friendship with YouTuber Adam McIntyre while he was 13 to 16 years old, which he detailed in a video at the time.
He claimed that the star sent him lingerie as a joke, allowed him access to her social media accounts and exchanged text messages with him for years.
Last month, McIntyre also uploaded another YouTube video, titled “my relationship with colleen ballinger,” in which he accused her of “grooming” him and other teens in the 2010s.
Most of Ballinger’s content is aimed at pre-teens and teens.
Last week, she responded to the accusations in a bizarre song accompanied by a ukelele, where she claimed that in her early career she “used to message my fans — but not in a creepy way, like a lot of you are trying to suggest. It was more of a loser kind of way. I was just trying to be besties with everybody.”
McIntyre subsequently took to Twitter.
“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,” he wrote.
And just last week, April Korto Quioh — who reportedly was a writers’ assistant, a showrunner’s assistant and a writers’ PA on Ballinger’s “Haters Back Off” show — penned a blog post alleging racist behavior by the performer and a desire to put inappropriate content in her shows.
In 2020, Ballinger also came under fire after a sketch video of her and her sister impersonating Latinx women was uncovered, per People.
“It is not funny, and it is completely hurtful,” she said in an apology video, where she also spoke about McIntyre’s claims. “I am so ashamed and embarrassed that I ever thought this was OK. I was a sheltered teenager who was stupid and ignorant and clearly extremely culturally insensitive.
“Racial stereotypes are not funny, they’re not a joke, and they should never be joked about,” she continued.
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