UPDATE: As The Wrap reports, Ballinger was wearing green face paint, not black face paint as previously presumed. Ballinger’s attorney told The Wrap, “What you don’t see in the clip that was posted online is that Colleen was performing a song from ‘Wicked’ with Oliver Tompsett, a star from the show. She painted her face green like the witch [Elphaba].”
Previously reported:
Popular content creator Colleen Ballinger (aka Miranda Sings) is in hot water after an old video resurfaced of her wearing what many thought was blackface while performing Beyoncé‘s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” Influencer Paige Christie posted the clip on Twitter, saying “I’m gonna need someone to explain the black on her face…”
The video, which was first posted on Ballinger’s YouTube channel in 2017, still remains on the site, but it’s posted as “unlisted.” Christie assumes that the clip was recorded around 2010 when Ballinger performed at a show in London. The influencer also revealed that the link for the video is found with a QR code in a book published by Ballinger.
Ok and this is where it’s located in the book – she performed this on the west end, I have reason to believe due to the shows on for “naked boys singing” that the video was from around summer of 2010 & posted unlisted to accompany the book in 2018 https://t.co/KmWX4Z7dxA pic.twitter.com/w7hvprKMmq
— Paigey🥢 (@PaigeChristieUK) July 5, 2023
According to Variety, Ballinger faced more trouble recently when she was accused of having inappropriate relationships with children. The YouTuber denied the allegations in song form.
“I’m sure you’re disappointed in my s**ty little song/ I know you wanted me to say that I was 100% in the wrong/ Well I’m sorry I’m not gonna take that route/ Of admitting to lies and rumors that you made up for clout,” she sang in a video she posted on June 28. “The only thing I’ve ever groomed is my two Persian cats/ I’m not a groomer, just a loser/ who didn’t understand I shouldn’t respond to fans/ and I’m not a predator even a lot of you think so/ Because five years ago I made a fart joke.”
Ballinger also posted an apology video in 2020 after she was blasted for impersonating a Latina woman.
“It is not funny, and it is completely hurtful,” she said in the video, according to Variety. “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.”
Ballinger, who is known on YouTube for performing as her character Miranda Sings, has over 10 million subscribers on the platform.
