Colleen Ballinger was accused of 'grooming' fans. She denied it in a 10-minute song.

YouTuber Colleen Ballinger, who is best known for her internet character Miranda Sings, is facing a number of accusations from former fans who allege inappropriate behaviour. 

On June 29, Ballinger shared a 10-minute video to explain her absence on social media and the allegations that have been made against her.  

Here's what we know.

Who is Colleen Ballinger?

Colleen Ballinger has been a YouTuber for more than a decade, and is best known for her Miranda Sings character.

Miranda Sings was born in 2008 out of Ballinger satirising people who uploaded singing videos to YouTube, despite being unable to sing.

The character is an untalented woman who believes she is destined for superstardom.

Watch: Colleen Ballinger transforms into Miranda Sings on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Post continues below video.

For the character, Ballinger wears lipstick across her face and talks with a specific inflection. Miranda is also known for sharing inappropriate or offensive points of view.

Since 2009, Ballinger has also presented as Miranda Sings in live shows and one-woman shows, earning a dedicated fanbase she calls Mirfandas.

In 2016, Miranda was the main character in the Netflix original series Haters Back Off (2016–2017), and she also released a Netflix comedy special in 2019.

The Miranda Sings YouTube channel has received more than 2.3 billion views and has more than 10 million subscribers.

What are the allegations against Colleen Ballinger?

Fan Adam McIntyre first alleged Ballinger had acted inappropriately with young fans in 2020, but his claims were largely drowned out by defence from the Miranda Sings fandom.

Now, inspired by another YouTube video 'exposing' Ballinger and her fandom, he has spoken out again.

3 years ago i posted a video titled, “colleen ballinger, stop lying” in which i described the emotionally abusive end to my ‘friendship’ (not real one…in theory) with youtuber colleen ballinger. the video response was quickly turned against me & i was villainized & bullied for 3… pic.twitter.com/kJnTFmsjvI

— adam mcintyre (@theadammcintyre) June 4, 2023

On June 7, McIntyre, 20, accused her of 'grooming', 'using' and 'manipulating' him, beginning when he was 13.

He also claimed Ballinger would regularly mock her fans after meeting them.

His video includes screenshots of alleged texts, group chats and DMs, as well as audio clips, he says he received from Ballinger.

Among the claims, he said he acted as an "unpaid intern" for the YouTuber for four years, ghostwriting and coming up with ideas for viral content.

He said he also wrote and posted to the official Miranda Sings account from 2017 to 2020 without payment. 

He stopped after one of the tweets, which Ballinger approved, received backlash and he felt like a scapegoat for her anger.

He also said he had been included in a group chat with other teenagers where Ballinger, now 36, asked inappropriate, sometimes sexual questions about virginity and sex positions.

"Tell me all the thoughts you had when you first got your periods. Please and thank you. Example: I thought I sh*t myself cuz the blood was so dark in my underwear," she allegedly wrote, addressing teenage girls in the chat.

in the new list of dms sent to me from my group chat days with colleen, here’s an interesting one… pic.twitter.com/LjvS8Oma77

— adammcintyre (@theadammcintyre) June 6, 2023

In his initial 2020 video, McIntyre said Ballinger had sent him lingerie as a gift after noticing him being funny during a live stream.

She responded to the allegation in a video called "addressing everything", where she claimed the lingerie was a joke.

Another YouTuber, known as KodeeRants, published a video titled 'Why I left the Colleen Ballinger fandom...', where they allege they were also part of Ballinger's 'inner circle' and witnessed inappropriate behaviour.

Kodee also alleged Ballinger manipulated them into making a video against McIntyre's claims.

In the past week, major YouTubers have picked up the story. As the jokes, skits and tweets from Ballinger's past have resurfaced, many have questioned how appropriate the Miranda Sings character is for children.

A former Miranda tour employee has even alleged Ballinger told him Miranda Sings was inspired by one of her relatives, who has a disability.

What has Colleen Ballinger said? 

After remaining quiet for a number of weeks, the YouTuber returned with a 10-minute-long clip in response to the allegations levelled against her. 

Instead of speaking with her audience, she decided to sing.

While strumming a ukulele, Ballinger compared 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 suggested in her song. "Even though my team has strongly advised me not to say what I'm going to say, I realised they never said I couldn't sing about what I want to say."

Ballinger said she "didn't understand that maybe there should be some boundaries" between herself and fans. Image: YouTube.

Ballinger said she mistakenly took time to message her fans so she could "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 comedian, 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 behaviour and took accountability." 

In her ukelele video, Ballinger also addressed the level of criticism she is receiving online. 

"I thought you wanted me to take accountability, but that's not the point of your mob mentality," she sang. "Your goal is to ruin the life of the person you despise while you dramatise your lies and monetise their demise."

Ballinger admitted to making "lots of dumb mistakes". Image: YouTube.

"I'm sure you're disappointed in my s****y little song, I know you wanted me to say that I was 100 per cent in the wrong," she continued. "Well, I'm sorry I'm not gonna take that route of admitting to lies and rumours that you made up for clout."

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."

This article was published on June 14, 2023 and has since been updated with new information.

Feature image: YouTube/Getty.