YouTuber and performer Colleen Ballinger, best known as the creator of Miranda Sings, is the target of new criticism over a years-old video in which she sings Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” while wearing makeup that some observers have perceived as blackface.
It’s not clear when the video was shot, but it was shared February 2018 on her Miranda Sings YouTube channel (where it remains viewable but is unlisted). In the video, Ballinger — as her Miranda Sings persona — has some kind of dark-colored greasepaint on her face as she performs the Beyoncé hit.
A clip from the video was shared Wednesday by social media influencer Paige Christie on Twitter, who wrote, “I’m gonna need someone to explain the black on her face…” Christie said it appeared that Ballinger performed the Beyoncé song at a show in London’s West End around the summer of 2010.
However, several commenters on Reddit in the r/ColleenBallingerSnark subreddit suggested that Ballinger is actually wearing green face paint after performing “Defying Gravity” as Elphaba, the protagonist from the musical “Wicked.”
The resurfacing of the video comes after Ballinger last week publicly responded to accusations that she formed inappropriate relationships with teenagers, denying that she had “groomed” fans who were children. In a June 28 video, she denied the “lies” and “gossip” about her — partly in song, while accompanying herself on a ukulele.
In 2020, Ballinger had issued an apology for a separate video in which she impersonated Latina women. “It is not funny, and it is completely hurtful,” she said in that apology video. “I am so ashamed and embarrassed that I ever thought this was OK. I was a sheltered teenager who was stupid and ignorant and clearly extremely culturally insensitive… Racial stereotypes are not funny, they’re not a joke, and they should never be joked about.”
