Electronic musician Nick Bertke, a.k.a. Pogo, whose video detailing why he hates gay people and cheered after the Pulse nightclub massacre went viral yesterday, is addressing the outrage he’s caused.
Just to recap: Bertke made a name for himself on YouTube remixing classic Disney movies into euphoric electronic soundscapes and has racked up over 110 million views on his channel.
Related: Video surfaces of popular musician explaining why he hates gay people & celebrated Pulse shooting
In the shocking video released yesterday, the musician said:
I’ve always had a very thorough dislike of homosexuals. I’ve never liked a grown man acting like a 12-year-old girl. I’ve always found that to be quite disgusting. And so I thought to myself, how best can I express to the world that gays are just an abomination?
Oh, but he didn’t stop there.
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I think nothing encapsulates the sissiness of a guy quite like the word ‘f*ggot’…I have a fairly robust resentment of the gay community. I don’t want to really get into this, but when there was the Orlando shooting and the guy was shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ or something I was like (pumps fist). But yeah, I’ve got to be a bit careful with that because well, you know, I don’t like gays, but I don’t want to see people getting killed in nightclubs either. But still, I mean, it’s just fantastic.
https://youtu.be/v-THMK6_JPM
After uploading the video to his YouTube channel, it quickly went viral. Naturally, people were pretty upset about the whole thing. And an international backlash ensued.
Now, in a new video published today, the musician claims it was all one giant social experiment/joke and that he was “just being an a**hole.” Also, he says he’s bicurious, bipolar, and has Asperger’s, which sometimes affect his ability to make good decisions. Or something.
“The things I said in this video I think have deserved the reception that the video has had,” Bertke says in his latest video. “I love confusing people…Then I took it too far.”
Um, ya think?!
He continues: “There is no pinch of salt big enough to be taken with what I have said. It’s all good and well for me to open a valve and to draw people out into the open–people I don’t like, you know, hypocrites et cetera–but I feel very strongly that it’s been very naive behavior on my part.”
Bertke goes on to say he made the video “for the sake of being edgy” and that it has “never been my intention to hurt people.”
“It’s a part of me that I think is slowly growing up,” the 29-year-old concludes. “If you have recognized the jokes you have my deepest appreciation.”
In text accompanying the video, Bertke offers a slightly differently excuse. Not only does he claim to be bicurious himself, but he says he suffers from Asperger’s and bipolar disorder, which affect his sense of humor and ability to empathize with others:
I don’t hate gays. I am in fact bicurious myself, and it has not been easy within the culture I have been raised. The 2016 video circulating was a satirical sh*tpost made in bad tastes and I never intended for it go public. I have Asperger’s and Bipolar disorder so my sense of humour and empathy for people is often very muddled. It’s a condition I’ve struggled with for many years as an artist who feels passionately about things and who faces the public eye every hour of my life. The internet has taken the video very far out of context and proportion, but I am very sorry to the people who I the video has hurt or confused.
Watch Pogo’s latest video below. Or don’t.
https://youtu.be/Br3kba-S4fk
Don't forget to share:
Heywood Jablowme
Bicurious? Prove it!
idkmank
Asking someone to prove their bi curiosity is kind of asking someone to do nothing. Also asking some man being bi-curious to prove that they like men is disgusting and is very offending to bi-curious people.
Chrisk
Yeah I’m sure he didn’t realize what a shitstorm he caused. Some of his friends that had some common sense talked him back to reality though.
Chrisk
I do love watching him flailing about. His first video response was well I’m a artist and that’s what artists do. If you were offended sorry for you. Now it’s ya sometimes I’ve thought about sucking c#ck myself and I think I’m just not right in the head. Haha
Donston
What a mess.
Josh447
It seems he has two accounts one called Pogo and one called Nickmix. As of this morning Pogo has 708,000 subscribers and Nickmix has 30,000. Not sure of previous numbers.
Harley
It had to be the ambien.
alllowercase
I love how “celebrities” use the excuse of how stressful it is living your life in the spotlight. Here’s an idea… Don’t post your life online! If it is so stressful that you do a fist pump when talking about people dying at Pulse, you need to stop.
DCguy
He said “Bertke goes on to say he made the video “for the sake of being edgy” and that it has “never been my intention to hurt people.””
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Sorry, there is plenty of homophobia in Australia so that somebody making a homophobic video isn’t not “Edgy”. Let me guess, next he’s going to make a video attacking black people and call it “edgy”. Yeah, Nice try.
batesmotel
He’s young. And I thought he seemed gay to begin with. And he’s also wrong anyway. Not all adult males act like 12 year old girls. More stereotypes. At least he apologized. He truly was that angry against gays and hated them, then he wouldn’t have apologized.
Donston
While I’m all about just not giving a sh*t about the stupid sh*t people say and about not holding on to grudges, you tend to make a lot of odd defenses of people and just odd observations in general. Also, yes, people do give insincere apologies all the time just to get people off their back.
Tête Carrée
Why don’t you just go lick his unwiped a-hole? That’s right, breeder boys don’t wipe, even cowardly ones who opportunistically call themselves “bi-curious” (which only means he likes looking at the fake lesbians in Penthouse). That’s why they go straight from mommy to wife. Someone has to scrape the sh-t off their undies.
Silent_Joe
You can’t shake the Devil’s hand then say you’re only kidding.
scooter12
If he never intended for it go public, why did he make it? For his own amusement? If he really didn’t intend for it to go public, why would he say things he didn’t mean? Makes no sense at all.
Tête Carrée
Because he’s a moron and professional POS.
LibraOracle
I love how they always blame their bigotry on mental illness or meds, bi-curious people are just straights who are curious about homosexuality and has nothing to do with LGBT, don’t let this bigot fool you.