YouTube star PewDiePie back on Twitter after ISIS joke

ENTERTAINMENT

YouTube star PewDiePie back on Twitter after ISIS joke

The Associated Press Published Thursday, September 1, 2016 10:12AM EDT

In this Oct. 28, 2013 file photo, Felix 'PewDiePie' Kjellberg's arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of 'Ender's Game' at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Invision / Matt Sayles)

Text:

LOS ANGELES -- The most popular YouTuber is back on Twitter after joking that his account became unverified because he joined ISIS.

Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg's Twitter account was briefly suspended this week, and the blue check mark detonating his once-verified status was removed after the YouTube star changed his avatar to an image that could be interpreted as obscene.

Kjellberg posted Tuesday on Twitter that he was unverified because he and a friend joined ISIS. He explained in a video posted Wednesday on YouTube that he purposely unverified his account "as a joke" and because he believes the system is annoying.

The popular Internet personality has more than 47 million YouTube subscribers and over 7 million Twitter followers.

A spokesman for Twitter declined to comment. Kjellberg didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.