YouTube Star PewDiePie Apologizes for Gay Jokes in Early Videos

YouTube's PewDiePie is calling out himself and his "bros" for his old style of video-gaming videos that included some "that's so gay" jokes.

Felix Kjellberg posted a video this week for his 43.5 million subscribers where he reacted to the original "let's play" video games series that catapulted him to Internet fame. He chides himself on the choppy editing or his nervous jokes, but he gets serious in his "Happy Wheels" series where he makes a gay joke.

"I really don't like that," he said. "But I feel like back then I didn't understand. I was so immature, and I thought things were funny just because they were offensive."

This is a big admission from the star of YouTube's No. 1 channel. Kjellberg made at least $4 million in 2013, according to The Wall Street Journal. The show "Scare PewDiePie" is among the starting lineup for YouTube Red, the video-sharing site's attempt at video-on-demand. He made this year's Time magazine 100 Most Influential People.

South Park co-creator Trey Parker--whose show has lampooned PewDiePie in a recent season--described Kjellberg in Time magazine as "the pied piper of YouTube" and responsible for "the birth of a new art form."

The success had led to a lot of personal growth and a little bit more sensitivity from the 20-something web sensation.

"I would say a lot of stupid shit," he said. "I'm not proud of it. I'm really not. But I'm also glad I've grown past it."

Watch the apology video below: