u/sylveonstarr

[original post here]

On May 12, VidCon announced Rachel Ballinger as a featured creator at this year’s convention. A week later, they commented on the announcement post that Rachel had been taken off of the creator lineup.

Adam McIntyre—a creator who was invited to be a VidCon Featured Creator and was confirmed a day before Rachel—talked openly with his audience about being uncomfortable with attending an event with a Ballinger, especially since it was unknown if Colleen would be coming as well. He had actually come to the conclusion that he wouldn’t be attending in order to keep his peace. However, VidCon had given him a call to let him know that Rachel was dropped as a creator. He uploaded a vlog in which he announces this as well as discussing his feelings on it, among other things. (The VidCon section runs from about 14:30-36:02.) Adam made an Instagram post confirming her removal and thanking VidCon, uploaded about two days before his vlog.

VIDEO TL;DR: Creator Adam McIntyre is asked to attend Vidcon as a featured creator. One day after he accepts and his flights/hotel rooms are booked, Rachel Ballinger is announced as being a featured creator as well. Adam then talked with the Vidcon organizers who say they "don't want to get in the middle of YouTuber drama". When Adam asks if Colleen is attending, they say Rachel has not invited her as a plus-one yet. Now Adam is unsure whether or not he's like to attend, despite it being a childhood dream of his.

"DRAMA" TL;DR: About six years ago, Adam McIntyre, then 17, came out with a video where he accused Colleen of multiple instances of inappropriate conduct with underage fans. This includes sending him lingerie in the mail, asking fans if they'd had their first times yet and what they were like, and sending videos of herself inserting tampons into her mouth. These claims were later supported with screenshots, most of them taken from "the Weenies" group chat, which was almost exclusively made up of minors. Later, it was also discovered that she would send nude pictures of Trisha Paytas to them unprompted, making fun of her and her body to them. Colleen would also commonly ask Adam and others to do unpaid, uncredited labor for her. For a time, Adam was almost exclusively running the Miranda Sings Twitter account. She lured him into the work by claiming she could help him get online popularity—as he was an up-and-coming creator himself—as well as a panel at Vidcon one day. It is unknown whether or not Ballinger brother Trent, who has been accused of grooming and inappropriate contact with minors, will be attending this year's Vidcon.

MY TAKE: I personally find it quite tasteless that Vidcon would invite both Adam and Rachel to be creators at the same time. While Rachel hasn't personally been accused of any poor conduct (that I know of), she's stood up for Colleen and Trent numerous times throughout the years. Also, the fact that they'd allow her to bring Colleen? Someone who's been inappropriate around children in the past? They HAVE to know about Colleen's actions; her ukulele video was arguably the most infamous YouTube video of 2023. This behavior from Vidcon is quite disgusting and I wish Adam the best in this, no matter if he chooses to attend or not.

Update: Rachel Ballinger dropped as a featured creator at this year's VidCon

Rachel Ballinger invited to Vidcon as a featured creator, alongside Adam McIntyre