Ethan Klein blames “white supremacists” for YouTube ban
Ethan Klein of the popular H3 podcast has pointed the finger at white supremacists and conservative commentator Ben Shapiro after he was banned from YouTube for making anti-Semitic remarks.
In comments on Twitter, Klein, who is Jewish, suggested the temporary ban was spearheaded by a legion of racists led by Shapiro.
“Some white supremacists successfully lobbied YouTube to suspend me, a Jewish dual citizen of Israel and the United States, for antisemitism,” Klein wrote. “Ben Shapiro and his friends can do whatever they want, but ultimately they are the ones who create dangerous anti-Semites. I was just pointing that out.”
The problem began this week after Klein stated on an episode of his podcast that he wished Shapiro would be the first to be “gassed” should a second holocaust occur.
“If there’s another holocaust and people start rounding up the Jews again, I hope Ben [Shapiro] is gassed first. Or last,” said the YouTuber.
Klein had discussed the links between rapper Kanye West, who has made numerous anti-Semitic comments lately, and Shapiro’s collaborator, Candace Owens. West has repeatedly cited Owens’ work, leading Klein to believe that Shapiro’s protégé had influenced the rapper’s views.
Conservative opponents of Klein were quick to circulate the clip on social media, accusing YouTube of favoring left-wing YouTubers. But not long after, Klein received a week-long ban.
In a statement to the Daily Dot, YouTube spokesman Jack Malon said Klein’s channel was given a strike for violating the platform’s harassment policy.
“We have cautioned the broadcaster H3 Podcast for violating our harassment policy, which prohibits content that causes physical harm to an individual,” Malon said. “Our Community Guidelines clearly prohibit this type of content, and we remove material or impose other penalties – such as a strike – if it violates our guidelines.”
Klein supporters responded by accusing the Conservatives of hypocrisy for appearing to support the very “cancellation culture” they routinely ridicule.
“The same people rallying to suspend you are the same people whining about culture and free speech on Twitter every day,” wrote one user. “Hypocrisy is out of this world lololol.”
Klein’s critics fired back, arguing that the YouTuber was trying to shift the blame for his own actions.
“To be clear, the white supremacists are the Jews who objected to your saying Shapiro should be gassed if there is another holocaust?” said another.
Klein again accused his critics of being white supremacists who only feigned concern about his comments in order to have him removed from YouTube.
“The people reporting me, with the exception of Ben, are white Christian nationalists who carry tiki torches,” Klein wrote. “They don’t care about anti-Semitism or Jews. They revel in the fact that YouTube and other institutions are so quick to respond to bad faith and malicious outrage.”
Shapiro intervened by stating that while he disagreed with Klein’s suspension, he had no remorse for the YouTuber, having turned against clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson earlier this year after several interviews.
“I don’t think Ethan Klein should be suspended from YouTube for his horrible crap,” Shapiro tweeted. “But I will not shed tears for a person who has routinely dealt with the cancellation of others. The smallest violin in the world.”
Klein later apologized to his viewers for the upset, adding that he “hates that we’re missing a week of the show because of another stupid joke,” but said he’d be back in time for Halloween next Friday.
Neither Klein nor Shapiro responded to requests for comment from the Daily Dot.
Klein currently has more than 3 million subscribers to his podcast channel and another 6 million to his comedy channel H3H3 Productions.
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*Initial Release: Oct 21, 2022 1:35pm CDT
Michael Thalen
Mikael Thalen is a Seattle-based tech and security reporter covering social media, data breaches, hackers and more.
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/ethan-klein-youtube-suspension-ben-shapiro/ Ethan Klein blames “white supremacists” for YouTube ban