PewDiePie banned in China after criticizing Blizzard, Xi Jinping

Olivia Richman Published 25/10/2019

“Well boys, we did it. I’m banned from China. That’s right.”

That was YouTuber Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg’s first statement on his video appropriately titled, “PewDiePie is BANNED in China.”

The Swedish YouTube star goes on to explain that he found out he was banned in China after he spoke up about not only the Hong Kong protests, but also compared the Chinese president to Winnie the Pooh, who is also banned in China. 

PewDiePie went on to say that fans won’t be able to find him on any website in the Asian country, including Reddit and YouTube. PewDiePie seemed to think it was amusing, even adding that he had already known this was going to happen since music artist Zedd liked a tweet from South Park’s official Twitter page. 

“I’m laughing, but yeah I’m sorry if you are in China and try to watch my videos. That kind of sucks. It’s just kind of funny,” he added.

Continuing to let everyone know how little he apparently cares about being banned in China, PewDiePie took to Twitter to continue his rant. 

“Just found out I’m banned in China. Shit sucks so fucking hard, dude,” he tweeted, accompanied by a photo of a hole punched in a wall. 

According to the thread, PewDiePie was copyrighted by China in 2017.

“I wasn’t able to stop them anyway,” he continued. 

He shared a screenshot of the tradmark registration in China, which was oddly registered as Class 25, covering goods such as clothing, gloves, and wedding dresses. PewDiePie then joked that nobody in China would be selling PewDiePie wedding dresses anymore. 

In response, most of his fans posted memes. 

The original video that finally got PewDiePie banned from China was a meme review from last week. It currently has over 101 million views. In it, the YouTuber addresses Blizzard’s reaction to Ng “blitzchung” Wai Chung calling for Hong Kong’s liberation in a Hearthstone Grandmasters interview. 

“China is like that one person on Twitter who can’t take any criticism and just blocks everyone. Blizzard, to appease China, fires the host and bans the winner, taking away all his prize money. Because Blizzard needs China’s money obviously,” PewDiePie said. 

PewDiePie then reminded his fans of the time that Blizzard announced Diablo’s mobile version, which enraged many hardcore Diablo fans in North America. 

“From a business standpoint, it made perfect sense to get to that Chinese mobile market. That’s all they care about. It’s important to remember this. […] At the end of the day, their goal is to make money. They don’t care about you. They don’t care about freedom,” PewDiePie said. 

He also told his fans that they will continue to get away with it if nobody fights back. 

PewDiePie then went on to show a bunch of memes about Blizzard and China, including one that compared the president to Winnie the Pooh. He called the resemblance “uncanny,” winning him no more favors with the Chinese government.

While PewDiePie has made it clear that he doesn’t care about China banning his content, it does concern a lot of 12-year-olds. Without the country giving PewDiePie views, how will he stay ahead of T-Series in their never-ending battle to be the most subscribed channel on YouTube? 

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

View full profile

Read Also

Dota 2

Who will prevail?: BLAST SLAM VIII Playoffs preview, predictions, and more Michael Hassall After a week of intense Group Stage, Last Chance and Seeding stage matches, and a few days of rest, BLAST SLAM VIII returns tomorrow (Oct. 8) with the Playoffs. If we’re honest, there haven’t been too many surprises. We’d liked to have seen a BetBoom or Team Liquid make the cut, but ultimately these aren’t the teams of earlier in the year, and with new rosters comes new uncertainty. That's ...

Kick

Kick Surpasses 1M Average Live Viewers, Claims 35% Market Share Khizar Mundia Kick co-founder Bijan Tehrani has celebrated Kick crossing another major milestone, joking on X that “more people watch Kick than flying on a plane every night.” The platform has increased its market share by 10 percentage points in 2026 while surpassing 1 million average live viewers. It’s not a secret that Eddie Craven and Bijan Tehrani initially launched Kick in 2022 in large part as a direct competitor to Twitch. ...

Dota 2

Dota 2’s new Tidehunter Arcana is mind-blowing, but prepare to spend $200+ to get it Michael Hassall Night owls in North America and early risers in Europe woke up to a brand new Dota 2 Arcana, the first new release of Dota’s rarest and most-coveted cosmetics since 2024. The recipient? Tidehunter, whose Maw of the Megladon Arcana transforms the already selachian sea-dweller into a full-blown shark. But while Arcana’s have traditionally been part of big events in Dota 2, either the now-discontinued Battle Passes, or most recently, ...

Movies & TV

Oscars 2027 — Will the Odyssey Earn the Most Nominations? Zachary Roberts The Odyssey came out in July, and it somehow delivered on all the hype and anticipation that Christopher Nolan's latest film had. Will that translate to Oscars? It can be impossible to predict how a body of voters will lean after an entire year of film releases. However, Polymarket traders think this year will be pretty easy win for Nolan and leading man Matt Damon. The Odyssey was a massive ...

Esports Betting

LeBron James will earn more from prediction markets than basketball this year Michael Hassall Superstar basketball player Lebron James will earn more from prediction markets this year than from playing ball thanks to his mind-blowing 15 million dollar Polymarket sponsorship. The deal has highlighted both the contentious issue of prediction markets and sport (and the true market value of a 41-year-old player) as one of the NBA’s biggest stars now clearly has more cultural cache off the court than the value of a teammate ...

Esports Betting

Polymarket bank failure predictions could force UK intervention Michael Hassall Crypto-based prediction market Polymarket has drawn the ire of the United Kingdom's (UK) establishment after several markets emerged predicting the downfall of British high street banks HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group. The prediction market, which also has markets tracking the downfall of the likes of JP Morgan, US Bank, and BNP Paribas, also included markets predicting the failure of several UK banking institutions. The markets, mainly “Which banks will fail ...

Twitch

What Is Twitch Spendable Balance and How To Use It? Khizar Mundia Twitch is adding another way for viewers to manage their subscriptions, with recurring subscriptions now available through Spendable Balance. But what exactly is Twitch Spendable Balance, and how can creators use it? Here’s what you need to know. Many creators livestream on platforms such as Kick and Twitch full-time and rely on their earnings to pay for basic necessities. This was recently seen on Kick, when the platform’s KPP glitched ...