Colleen Ballinger - who rose to fame as her YouTube character Miranda Sings is cancelled. Fans of the American comedian are coming together to call out problematic behaviour and interaction of not just the YouTuber but also her family and her assistant and best friend, Kory DeSoto. Colleen has been accused of allegedly sharing details of her sex life and marital issues and making several inappropriate comments to fans in individual conversations as well as a group chat, and having parasocial relationships that have left many with a bitter taste in their mouth. But that is not the worst part of this conversation. Several fans have now revealed how Colleen’s assistant and best friend Kory DeSoto, her brother Trent Ballinger and ex-husband Joshua D Evans also have several monsters hidden under their bed. Colleen Ballinger 'Grooming' Allegations EXPLAINED: Gaslighting Kids, Labour Exploitation and Other Accusations Against the Popular YouTuber Who Created Miranda Sings.

Trent Ballinger’s Inappropriate Conversations

Trent Ballinger is one of Colleen’s siblings whose social media presence has been limited. While her brother Christopher and sister Rachel both have multiple YouTube Channels and a strong presence and fan following on social media, Trent’s presence on videos was limited to a few cameos here and there. Colleen has filmed several videos with Trent, including documenting him finally getting Cochlear implants (Trent is hearing-disabled). However, Oliver, a former Ballinger fan, released screenshots of her conversations with Trent from when he was 13. (Oliver, who is trans, identified as a girl then).

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The thread has several problematic messages from Trent Ballinger, including a confession that “he has been told by his family to not talk to people who are under 18,” asking Oliver about his age and commenting that he would turn 18 in “four more years”. Several other fans have also spoken about similar interactions with Trent, which has raised concerns on social media. There is no clarity if any legal complaints or investigations will be made based on these accusations. Lil Tuda, 14-Year-Old Rapper, Shot and Killed in Chicago.

Johnny Silvestri’s interaction with Joshua D Evans & Kore DeSoto

Another fan, Johnny Silvestri, also opened up about his interactions with Ballinger and her family and friends in 2012. Silvestri, who was 15, was part of a few fans who would video chat with Colleen and Joshua for hours. Johnny finally met them in New York, at Ballinger’s Christmas show in NYC, after having virtual conversations with them for almost a year.

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Johnny went on to work on Ballinger’s offline show when he was 16 and has recently spoken out about the environment that was created - which was allegedly toxic and exploitative. Silvestri revealed that he worked as an assistant and made hardly any money for the tour. He was also yelled at and belittled by Ballinger’s friend and assistant - Kory DeSoto. Johnny went on to reveal that Ballinger’s ex-husband Joshua also exploited their relationship by using Johnny for free labour. Joshua, who separated from Colleen in 2016, was the only person who spoke out about the accusations and also issued an apology.

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Several other people have also spoken about Kory DeSoto’s interaction which made them uncomfortable. Additionally, Kory has also been outspoken and gone off at fans on Twitter several times before. While DeSoto has deleted all his tweets, fans distinctly remember Kory responding rudely to fans who expected accountability from Ballinger and DeSoto and asked them to share proof of the donations made after the 2022 annual cancer fundraiser.

Everything in Question!

While DeSoto has also deleted his Twitter and Colleen continues to maintain her silence on this situation, the only Ballinger family member who continues to have an online presence is her sister - Rachel Ballinger. However, far from addressing any of these serious comments, Rachel is continuing to post regular content while completely neglecting this topic. Rachel’s podcast “All Things Internet”, which is supposed to cover internet news, has also maintained radio silence on the topic, with the YouTuber actually revealing that they will focus on just discussing their opinions on 1-2 subjects, instead of covering or talking about weekly online news.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2023 06:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).