Miranda Sings YouTuber Colleen Ballinger Breaks Silence on Grooming Allegations With Ukulele Song
Colleen Ballinger is singing her side of the story.
The YouTuber, best known for her awkward alter ego Miranda Sings, refuted allegations of grooming and forming inappropriate relationships with underage fans in musical vlog on June 28. While strumming a ukulele, Ballinger likened the accusations to a "toxic gossip train" headed for "manipulation station" as the rest of the internet "tie me to the tracks and harass me for my past."
"Some people are saying things about me that just aren't true," she said in a sing-song voice. "Even though my team has strongly advised me not to say what I'm going to say, I realized they never said I couldn't sing about what I want to say."
Ballinger, 36, went on to explain how she used to message her fans "to be besties with everybody" earlier in her career, but "didn't understand that maybe there should be some boundaries there."
As a result, according to the Haters Back Off star, there were "times in the DMs when I would overshare details of my life—which was really weird of me—and I haven't done that in years because I changed my behavior and took accountability."
Earlier this month, Ballinger was accused of grooming her fans when YouTuber KodeeRants shared screenshots of an alleged text exchange between actress and her fans. Per NBC News, the unverified group text was named "Colleeny's Weenies," with Ballinger allegedly asking fans their "favorite position" during one conversation.
In her ukulele video, Ballinger addressed the recent online chatter over her past, singing, "I thought you wanted me to take accountability, but that's not the point of your mob mentality. Your goal is to ruin the life of the person you despise while you dramatize your lies and monetize their demise."
"I'm sure you're disappointed in my s--tty little song, I know you wanted me to say that I was 100 percent in the wrong," she continued. "Well, I'm sorry I'm not gonna take that route of admitting to lies and rumors that you made up for clout."
And while Ballinger confessed to making "jokes in poor taste" and "lots of dumb mistakes," she denied ever sending inappropriate messages to teenage fans with the intention of grooming them.
"I just wanted to say that thing I've ever groomed is my two Persian cats," Ballinger added. "I'm not a groomer. I'm just a loser who didn't understand I shouldn't respond to fans."
Allegations over Ballinger's behavior previously surfaced back in 2020, when fellow YouTube star Adam McIntyre accused her of putting him in uncomfortable situations between the ages of 13 and 16. In a video titled "colleen ballinger, stop lying," he specifically called out a past livestream where Ballinger sent him lingerie.
At the time, Ballinger responded to McIntyre and acknowledged that the underwear stunt was "completely stupid," saying in a separate apology video, "I should have never sent that."
"I don't know what part of my brain was missing at the time that I thought, 'Oh, this is a normal, silly thing to do,'" added Ballinger. "But I am not a monster."
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
