Nash Grier, the most followed person on Vine with 8.7 million followers, has apologized for a Vine video he posted in April that shows him yelling a homophobic slur.
In the Vine video, 16-year-old Grier screams "fag!", following footage of a TV commercial for oral HIV test OraQuick. Grier deleted the video shortly after posting, but it was re-uploaded by Vine user MuneraIsFab.
Warning: The Vine video below contains strong language.
The video has recently resurfaced because another social media star, Tyler Oakley, commented on the video, calling it "extremely dangerous" to spread a "false stereotype" about HIV.
Promoting a false stereotype that HIV only affects gays to his millions of teen fans is extremely dangerous. https://t.co/W6X9MUrgUK— Tyler Oakley (@tyleroakley) July 6, 2014
Call me and people like me, 'fag' all you want, but spreading false information about deadly diseases is next level. https://t.co/W6X9MUrgUK— Tyler Oakley (@tyleroakley) July 6, 2014
Grier apologized on Twitter for his actions, saying he was "young, ignorant, stupid and in a bad place" at the time he made the video.
pic.twitter.com/AiWGMpflAp— Nash Grier (@Nashgrier) July 6, 2014
This isn't the first instance of Grier coming under fire for his homophobic comments. People were quick to bring up Grier's previous (now deleted) tweets against gay marriage and gay rights.
nash apologized for his homophobic tweets but he also said that it was some kid who tweeted it pic.twitter.com/MMlUAT1CJp— lol linda (@Linda_To_The_Le) July 7, 2014
The Vine star has also been criticized for a previous YouTube video in which he and his friends (attempt to) advise girls on how to be more attractive to men. Fans and critics considered the video to be a form of slut-shamming.
Grier has also spent the last few days promoting his new YouTube video, which shows him reading and discussing hate comments targeted at him.