Two of YouTube’s most well-known personalities have embroiled themselves in a bizarre conflict over the use of “the N word,” with content creators Tana Mongeau and iDubbbz broadcasting their feud on the video-sharing site for their millions of viewers to see.
Tana Mongeau is a pretty big deal on YouTube. With nearly 2.5 million subscribers, she’s amassed a huge following as a result of her “story time” videos, in which she retells stories from her life such as “I GOT BANGED WITH A TOOTHBRUSH” and “UBER DRIVER KIDNAPPED ME.” Needless to say, she’s been accused of exaggerating the content of her videos on a number of occasions, which has led to a feud with fellow YouTuber iDubbbz.
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iDubbbz, best known for his ‘Content Cop’ series in which he deconstructs videos from the site’s most popular content creators, found himself the subject of Tana’s ire as a result of his usage of “the n word.” In videos posted to Snapchat, Tana criticizes iDubbbz’s use of the racial slur in his videos, though stretched it a little too far for iDubbbz’s tastes when she told him to kill himself on Twitter.
In retaliation, iDubbbz decided to feature her on an episode of Content Cop, while also unearthing a few clips of her using the slur in the past. “But she didn’t use the n word in the same way that I used it,” he explained. “She used it in a very mean-spirited way.” The video has been viewed over 8.5 million times now, though the clip of him attending his YouTube rival’s meet-and-greet is what has been attracting the most attention.
iDubbbz bought himself a VIP pass to an event held by Tana in San Francisco, granting him the ability to have his photo taken with her after her Q&A session with her fans. Despite being involved in an online feud with the guy, Tana clearly doesn’t recognize him as he approaches her, up until the point where he encourages her to “Say n*****!” Shocked, she makes her retreat and iDubbbz and his camera guy are escorted out of the building.
Watch the video below (obvious content warning for the use of racial slurs):
Before the video revealing the events that had taken place was uploaded by iDubbbz, Tana uploaded her own video in which she claimed that iDubbbz had “locked his arm” around her neck, and that she was scared for her “life and other people’s lives.”
She continued: “I tried to break free, get his arm away from me, and the first time I tried to he didn’t let go and that’s when my instincts thought “does he have a gun? Does he have a knife?” … and then I pull away harder, and that’s when my brain is like “do I run? Do I scream? Do I cry? Do I cuss him out? Do I ask him what’s wrong?” I don’t know what to do.”
Unfortunately for Tana, iDubbbz’s video confirms that her claims weren’t accurate, and that their meeting at her San Francisco event was fleeting and altogether free of violence.