Three former fans speak to TIME about their experiences with Colleen Ballinger and reflect on how the aftermath of their relationships with her has affected them in their adult lives
Hubert Boesl—picture-alliance/dpa/AP; Phillip Faraone—Nickelodeon/Getty ImagesouTuber Colleen Ballinger, who is best known for her awkward, controversial character Miranda Sings, has recently come under renewed scrutiny for what some fans have said were inappropriate conversations and on-stage interactions beginning in the early 2010s when they were minors.
The recent criticism echoes an online dustup that emerged in 2020 when YouTuber Adam McIntyre shared that he felt he had been used and manipulated by Ballinger from age 13. In a YouTube video, McIntyre accused Ballinger, 20 years his senior, of sharing inappropriate personal details with him and using content he came up with for her YouTube channel and Twitter account without paying him.
This caused some fans to reconsider the experiences they had with Ballinger and determine, in hindsight, that they felt they were inappropriate. Several have since come forward on social media, including one named Johnny Silvestri, who says he had been in group video calls beginning at age 15 with other then-underage fans, as well as with Ballinger, her ex-husband Joshua David Evans, and sometimes her brother Trent Ballinger .
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