Pewdiepie, at one point in the above video, implies that Elon Musk hosting a Meme Review show could be the final nail in the coffin for his viewer war with.
This must be what an internet fever dream feels like.
Elon Musk, SpaceX and Tesla CEO, teased back on Jan. 27 that he was open to hosting Meme Review, a recurring video series hosted by YouTube personality Felix Kjellberg on his channel, PewDiePie.
Now this absurd internet crossover has become a reality with PewDiePie uploading a video Thursday titled 'Will Smith hosts Meme Review' featuring the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.
Over the last few months, PewDiePie has been locked in a battle to hold onto the title of the video streaming platform's 'Most Subscribed'. His only rival is Indian music platform T-Series, which has been trailing PewDiePie by fewer than 100,000 subscribers for the past month. Spurred by the attention the race has been getting, PewDiePie recently surpassed 86 million subscribers, but T-Series remains close behind.
PewDiePie's new reinforcements might open up a bigger gap than ever before.
Musk also brought a guest along: Rick and Morty mastermind Justin Roiland. The two are featured in the back half of the video, from 13:30 onward, discussing the hilariousness of various memes including one about the Queen and debating whether or not you would step on Stuart Little for a grand sum of money.
Musk is no stranger to the YouTube scene; his infamous interview on the Joe Rogan podcast where he smoked weed landed him in some hot water with NASA. Aligning with PewDiePie, who has stirred controversy in recent times, seems like it could end in disaster, but in equal measure, it also seems like a perfect fit.
Musk has deftly commanded attention from journalists, fans and detractors alike for his use of Twitter, even capturing the eye of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who has lauded Musk as the one of the service's most influential users. That is, despite calling a diver during the Thai Cave rescue in 2018 a 'pedo guy' and tweeting that he was taking Tesla private, which spurred an investigation by the SEC. He's brash and unfiltered -- so we might have to wait and see whether the meme review tweet holds true in a few days' time.
2019 on the internet is a fever dream, and I'm not sure how we wake up.
For its part, T-Series has just quietly gone about its business, amassing a staggering 86 million subscribers on its own. While some question the legitimacy of those followers, as of writing, the channel trails PewDiePie by just over 10,000 subscribers. Have Musk and Roiland changed PewDiePie's fate? Momentarily. The most likely scenario though, is that his fall from the top spot, like a SpaceX Crew Dragon launch, has only been delayed, ever so slightly.
Originally posted on Feb. 18
Updated on Feb. 23 1:45 p.m. PT: Added Elon Musk and Roiland hosting video
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The battle between PewDiePie and T-Series to be the world's most popular YouTube channel has taken a bizarre turn, after billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk revealed he hosted PewDiePie's 'meme review'.
PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Kjelberg, has been the top channel on the world's most popular video-sharing platform since 2013. His dominance has been challenged in recent months by the Indian channel, which posts Bollywood film trailers and music videos.
The rise of T-Series has proved controversial within some corners of the YouTube community, seen as a David vs Goliath-style contest between an independent creator and a major corporate brand.
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For PewDiePie supporters, T-Series' popularity reflects a perceived shift in YouTube's focus towards larger brands that have more potential for generating revenue.
Many of the Swedish star's fans have lobbied Elon Musk on Twitter to join the battle and on Monday it appeared the Tesla founder finally relented.
'Did meme review last night with Justin Roiland from @RickandMorty,' Musk tweeted.
T-Series was set to take over the top spot in October, however a sustained campaign has allowed PewDiePie to remain the number one channel.
Last month, PewDiePie became the first YouTube channel to pass 80 million subscribers and currently has 86.1 million subscribers – just 9,000 more than T-Series.
PewDiePie has previously stated that he 'doesn't really care about T-Series'. But he has also made calls to his legions of followers across social media to 'do their part' in stopping the T-Series takeover.
Some fans have gone to extreme measures to support PewDiePie, with one US-based YouTuber coordinating a guerilla advertising campaign that saw him hire billboards, bathroom adverts and radio ads to promote PewDiePie.
'T-Series is growing four-times faster than PewDiePie and if I don't do anything PewDiePie won't be the number one most-subscribed-to YouTuber in the world,' the YouTuber, who goes by the name MrBeast, said in a video. 'Therefore, I spent all my money on ads so he can remain as the number one most-subscribed-to channel in the world.'
Another PewDiePie supporter defaced a section of the Wall Street Journal website with messages of support for PewDiePie. The same hacker also took over internet-connected printers to spread the message.
The message stated: 'PewDiePie is in trouble and he needs your help to defeat T-Series.'