Warning: This story contains discussion of grooming and inappropriate conduct.
Colleen Ballinger is a 36-year-old YouTuber who has played the character Miranda Sings on the platform for 15 years, securing herself a huge fanbase that largely consists of young children and teenagers.
In 2020, some of her former fans came forward to accuse Colleen of engaging in inappropriate behavior with them as minors. Adam McIntyre claimed that she’d sent him underwear when he was 13 years old, which Colleen admitted was true in a response video.
She maintained that while sending the underwear was “completely stupid,” it was only a “joke” and there was nothing “creepy” or “gross” about her actions.
The scandal quietly disappeared at the time, but last month various new claims about Colleen’s behavior with her young fans started to come to light. Huffington Post reported on several of these allegations, with Adam speaking to the publication about his experience.
He said that Colleen, then in her late 20s, would repeatedly talk about sex in a group chat called “Colleeny’s Weenies” that consisted of him and other teenage fans. She allegedly asked Adam if he was a virgin and what his “favorite position” was.
Adam also told the publication that Colleen would regularly “trauma dump” on him and the other minors, specifically about her divorce from fellow YouTuber Joshua Evans in 2016.
He said that he spent entire school days messaging Colleen, adding: “I was so involved in this woman’s life that it’s embarrassing to look back on. There were some days, on a school night, I would be up until like 4 a.m. trying to calm her down or try to give her advice. It was a private thing.”
Colleen told her “Weenies” that Joshua was abusive, which he has vehemently denied, and they recalled feeling obliged to mobilize other fans online to defend Colleen and bring down Joshua.
On Twitter, two of Colleen’s former fans posted screenshots of alleged texts they’d received from her as minors that feature pornographic videos of influencer Trisha Paytas. Despite promoting body positivity in public, Colleen bodyshamed Trisha and made fun of her nude photos and videos with her underage fans.
Meanwhile, old clips from Colleen’s live shows and YouTube videos as Miranda Sings began to resurface online, with many viewers left horrified by the inappropriate nature of the character.
One particularly controversial video shows Colleen as Miranda inviting a 16-year-old girl on stage for a yoga skit. The young fan is wearing a short romper with no pants, and Miranda lays the girl on her back and spreads her legs while fart noises play.
And now more unsettling videos of Colleen as Miranda have resurfaced online, this time with former child star JoJo Siwa, who was just 9 years old when she shot to fame on Dance Moms.
Colleen has collaborated with JoJo on multiple YouTube videos over the years, with the first one created six years ago.
Uploaded in October 2016, Colleen would have been almost 30 years old when it was filmed at her home, and JoJo was 13. The video begins with Miranda chastising JoJo’s outfit consisting of shorts and a long-sleeved top.
“You’re not supposed to dress porn when you are dancing, I can see her entire legs,” Miranda shouts. Once JoJo has changed into trousers, Miranda says: “I’m just now realizing that your shirt says ‘milk’ all over it. You drink milk? You know that comes from a private part?”
When JoJo replies that Miranda also would have had milk as a baby, Miranda retorts: “No I did not. When my mom tried to make me drink I’d be like: ‘Get away, pervert! I’m not drinking that out of your private!’”
Later in the video, JoJo does the splits and Miranda gasps: “Woah! Did you hurt your tookie?”
JoJo asks what a “tookie” is and Miranda gestures to her crotch. When JoJo does the splits for a second time, Miranda says to the camera: “We need to stop before she hurts her tookie permanently.”
“You need to protect your tookie,” she warns JoJo. Rounding off the video, Miranda adds: “I’m pretty positive that I won the dance-off because now you have no more tookie left.”
Colleen and JoJo filmed a separate video for JoJo’s YouTube channel on the same day, and in this clip JoJo teaches Miranda how to twerk.
When JoJo begins to demonstrate, Miranda yelps: “You can not do that! You will entice all the people, you can’t be twerking out the body like that, you’re popping the booty.”
She then asks the child star: “Have you ever taken the pants off and seen what’s inside?” audibly confused, JoJo replies: “In public, no. On the toilet, yes. In my own privacy, yes.” To which Miranda asks: “And?” before the scene cuts.
JoJo later tells Miranda about her weekly “JoJo Juice,” saying: “Every week I film a video and then I pour a juice on my head,” before suggesting that she pours one on Miranda’s head in the video.
“I don’t trust your juice, I don’t trust any of your juices, JoJo,” Miranda exclaims. “I don’t trust your juices, I don’t want your juices on me, JoJo, who taught you that you can pour your juices on other people, JoJo? It’s not appropriate.”
Ending the video, Miranda tells viewers that JoJo is “a naughty little girl who keeps twerking and hurting her tookie.”
In other videos together, Miranda has a “slime war” with JoJo, where the two’s chests get stuck together by slime in a scene that Colleen dramatically slowed down before uploading.
Later, Miranda and JoJo are fighting fully clothed in a swimming pool and playing with a variety of inflatables — including a large banana.
In another clip, they play a game of Never Have I Ever, with many of the prompts revolving around kissing, boyfriends, crushes, and body parts.
Compilations of all of the “disturbing” videos have been circulating on TikTok, and many viewers have been horrified by 29-year-old Colleen’s interactions with the youngster.
“Bruh asking her if she’s checked out downstairs is a wild question to ask a 13 year old on camera,” a comment on one of the videos reads. Another viewer added: “What the f. It keeps getting worse. How was this allowed to happen for so many years?!?!?”
Someone else wrote: “literally no other almost 30 year old are doing videos with young teens.” One more said: “it's so much worst than I thought.”
“i always thought her relationship with jojo was so weird and inappropriate. im glad everyone is finally talking about this,” another added. While somebody else observed: “This is terrifying..”
“jesus this is such an hard watch,” one more comment reads.
Others praised JoJo for the way she handled the awkward situation at such a young age, with one writing: “Even at 13 Jojo handled it so well but Jesus Christ this is scary.”
Someone else echoed: “Poor Jojo and she was so mature about it. 🥺” while another user concluded: “So many adults owe jojo an apology.”
Colleen directly addressed the “grooming” allegations against her in a YouTube video last week, where she received widespread criticism for seemingly making light of a very serious situation by performing a song on her ukulele.
In the song, she calls the claims “hateful accusations” and “misinformation,” while repeating the line: “You got a one-way ticket to manipulation station.” She also admits that “many years ago” she used to message her fans but in a “loser kind of way” because she was “just trying to be besties with everybody.”
Colleen goes on to acknowledge that “millions of people” now believe she’s someone who “manipulates and abuses children” and sings: “The only thing I’ve ever groomed is my two Persian cats. I’m not a groomer, I’m just a loser who didn’t understand I shouldn’t respond to fans.”
Viewers were flabbergasted by Colleen’s musical response, with one person commenting: “she's obviously not taking this situation seriously if she's singing this in a SONG.”
“colleen ballinger, what in the actual fuck did i just watch- this was so, so much worse than fake crying on camera. this was so insensitive and invalidating, i feel sick on behalf of everyone involved,” another said.
Colleen’s ex husband Joshua, as well as Adam, also responded to the video at the time. Adam tweeted: “as much as colleen discredited & made fun of me, im glad her video did ONE thing, show you all EXACTLY the type of evil woman she is, that a lot of us have experienced over the past few years behind the scenes, the mask has slipped…everyone meet the REAL colleen ballinger.”
While Joshua claimed: “This behavior was my reality anytime I spoke up & disagreed with her actions & rhetoric during 2009-2016. I was gaslit too. I was made to feel like I was always the problem. Any pain I felt was an inconvenience and was belittled.”
“I have no desire to use this as a catalyst for a YouTube comeback. It’s not a safe place for me. I’m past that,” he later clarified. “My voice is only here to help validate those that are hurting, nothing more. I have no need to make any money off of this. That is gross & not in my heart, whatsoever.”
