Bryan Le, a popular Asian American YouTuber who goes by RiceGum, is on the receiving end of mass backlash after he vlogged a trip to Hong Kong earlier this month.
In one scene, his traveling companion, Mourad Kadmiri, a YouTuber who goes by “M2thaK," touches people's hands as they pass him on the escalator. The two of them then laugh.
In another scene, Le and Kadmiri approach a man and offer him a half-finished ice cream. "Hey, can you eat this for my friend?" Kadmiri asks. The stranger puts his hand up seemingly to refuse the suggestion.
"Please, please, please," Kadmiri insists, putting his hand on the man's shoulder. "For you," he says. The man then takes the ice cream and begins to eat it.
Le also approaches strangers, asking them where he can find "dogs" and "cats."
"Hey, ma'am, where can I find a doggie?" Le asks one woman, who appears to be less than amused by his question.
"Yo, where are the dogs?" he asks these passersby. "Where are they?"
He then says that he's sick of stereotypes. "Yo, I'm tired of all the stereotypes talking about 'All we eat is dog.' That's not true. I'm going to show you guys what we eat out here," he says.
He then cuts to some shots of food:
But near the end of the vlog, they ask this woman about "happy endings."
People are responding to Le's YouTube video in the comments section in both English and Chinese to express their distaste and anger for his "ignorance."
"You are such an idiot it’s ridiculous. I just feel like you are such a lowly human being and have no matters. Hey! Fucking guy! Don’t come to HK again! Everybody please report him,” a Chinese user wrote.
Some are calling him downright stupid.
The video is being directly compared to Logan Paul's infamous trip to Japan earlier this year, where he berated locals with similarly unfunny, trolly questions.
Logan Paul: No one can be more disrespectful to Asian countries and other cultures than me!! Ricegum: Bet
Others are accusing him of adopting ignorant tendencies of non-Asian folks toward Asian cultures — and they're refusing to give him a "pass" for it just because he is of Asian descent himself.
I’ve always thought Ricegum was a white man’s puppet but I didn’t think he rode their dicks so hard to be this fucking disrespectful to an Asian country. You don’t get a free pass to be racist just because you’re Asian too. https://t.co/CqoeP2EFzt
"Asian kids look up to you because of your influence," one person tweeted directly @RiceGum. "How do you think they feel when you're blatantly being racist to people that look just like their parents ... and friends?"
@RiceGum This is a pretty disappointing display from you. Asian kids look up to you because of your influence; how do you think they feel when you're blatantly being racist to people that look just like their parents (and yours) and friends? #AsianTwitter https://t.co/7yWMPyErzr
On Wednesday, Keemstar, a prominent and divisive YouTuber who documents YouTube drama, decided to weigh in on the blowback against Le. "RiceGum is Asian I’m 99% sure he’s allowed to joke about Asian stereotypes," he tweeted.
RiceGum is Asian I’m 99% sure he’s allowed to joke about Asian stereotypes.
Others — some fellow Asian Americans — disagreed.
@RiceGum and dude, you can’t pull the “It’s not racist I’m Chinese and making fun of my own culture” when you are: A. Not actually funny at all B. Show zero actual connection to your culture. C. Care more about views and money than anything else
Asia makes up for 60% of the world's population which means you can't really say an Asian person can't be racist about another other Asian person, Ricegum isn't Chinese (the nationality he was making fun of), don't think this is a very good point mate https://t.co/FpR7rChYh7
Following backlash, Le posted a video called "Why Everyone In China Hates Me..." in which he said that he's "allowed" to make the jokes he did because of his race.
View this video on YouTube
"I was joking because it's like such a random question to ask like an elderly person," he said of his asking people, "Where the hoes at?"
The YouTuber also addressed the backlash to him walking around asking people where he can find "dog."
“Chinese people out there that are hating on me right now. Like, yo, I’m Chinese also, right,” Le said.
He said that in US culture, black comedians routinely joke about black stereotypes, "like they eat fried chicken." He also said white and Hispanic comedians make jokes about their cultures and races.
"I thought since I was Asian I was allowed to make these Asian stereotype jokes," Le said.
While Le apologized to "all the Chinese people," he also defended some of his actions.
Still, his apology did not impress everyone.
“I’m Asian so I’m allowed to be racist to all other asian’s” -Ricegum, not sorry