KSI apologises for racist slur in Sidemen YouTube video and announces 'break from social media'

3 April 2023, 12:39 | Updated: 3 April 2023, 13:22

KSI has apologised for using a racist slur in a recent YouTube video, announcing he will be "taking a break from social media".

The 29-year-old, whose real name is Olajide William Olatunji, used the offensive word during a video with YouTube collective The Sidemen.

During a Countdown-style challenge, in which the KSI's team had to come up with the longest possible word from nine letters, he said "P***" as his attempt.

The video, which sparked a backlash online, was removed from the Sidemen YouTube channel the day after it was uploaded last week.

In a tweet addressing the fallout on Monday, KSI said: "I wanna apologise for saying a racial slur in a recent Sidemen video.

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"There's no excuse, no matter the circumstances, I shouldn't have said it and I'm sorry.

"I've always said to my audience that they shouldn't worship me or put me on a pedestal because I'm human.

"I'm not perfect, I'm gonna mess up in life, and lately I've been messing up a lot. So I've decided I'm gonna just take a break from social media for a while."

It comes after KSI was forced to apologised in 2021 for using a trans slur, saying he "didn't even know that t***** was a bad word".

In a follow-up tweet, he said: “My bad for saying transgender slurs. Honestly didn’t even know they were slurs. I know now though.”

KSI found fame on YouTube and is one of the biggest content creators on the platform.

More recently he has embarked on a career in boxing, and launched Prime, a hugely successful energy drink, with fellow YouTube star Logan Paul.