YouTuber Tana Mongeau endorses Joe Biden while apologising for 'racist behaviour'

YouTuber Tana Mongeau posted her first video in three months over the weekend, in which she addressed the accusations against her from various Black content creators.

But in a surprise twist, she ended her "long overdue" apology video addressing past behaviour by telling her 5.5 million followers that she will be voting for Joe Biden.

The 22-year-old has been at the centre of numerous controversies including hosting a disastrous convention that was likened to Fyre Festival and being less than honest about the legitimacy of her marriage to Jake Paul.

She has also been accused of committing racist microaggressions by some of her fellow YouTubers, behaviour which she addressed in her 14-minute-long apology video.

I see so clearly now the microaggressions and terrible values that I was enveloped in for fifteen years of my life. I see so clearly now the problem with the things that I grew up thinking were funny and the sense of humour I developed. 

I now realise the content that I put out into the world and who I am has the ability to aid in either positively or negatively shaping this generation. 

Mongeau stated that she's "so sorry" for what she's done, but the apology did not go down well.

Firstly, people were unclear why it took her so long to make it in the first place, and the number of jump cuts and unusual tone (for her) made people question whether it was scripted by someone else. Even her choice of outfit – uncharacteristic pearls and a grey sweater which has become the official YouTuber apology uniform – drew criticism and ridicule.

The video has even been dubbed "the worst apology video ever made".

So Joe Biden may not be best pleased to receive such an endorsement...

What was she apologising for?

Earlier this year, musician and YouTuber Kahlen Barry accused Mongeau of defending her use of the N-word by saying she thought it was okay because it's used in rap songs. He also claimed that she treated him poorly, possibly because of his race.

Barry went on to describe Mongeau's initial attempt at an apology as "gaslighting and invalidating".

In her new video, Mongeau said:

I have had every single resource in the world to become a better person in the last three years. I had people like Kahlen Barry specifically call me out and try to open my eyes and make me better.

But I was so stuck in my narcissistic, egotistical ways that I was convinced that I was a good person and had nothing to learn. To anyone who tried to help me during that time I chose to look the other way, I'm sorry. Especially Kahlen Barry. I'm so sorry.

You would've saved me a whole lot of hell had I listened to you and I want you to know that I know that. I have a lot more to say about the Kahlen Barry situation but I just wanted to say that right then and there because I felt like that needed to be said. 

Other YouTubers, including Nessa Briella, better known as SimplyNessa15, have also called Mongeau out for racism.

What did she actually say?

Mongeau ended her video by saying:

[I'm] going out and registering to vote and voting for Joe Biden and encouraging each and every one of you if you are able to be a part of the change that is so desperately needed in America right now. Everything that every single one of us young people do is incredibly critical to our future.

From this point on I will be using my voice to urge each and every one of you watching and following me to join me in voting to get Trump out of office. The things that he is doing every single day are so incredibly inhumane and I want to use my voice and platform to let every single one you know that if you are watching this that you have a choice to help our future be better. 

People were baffled.

No one understood why a YouTuber who's never really spoken about politics before suddenly endorsed a presidential candidate in the middle of an apology video.

Some thought it was a cynical move to deflect from the accusations levelled at her.

And likened it to a similar move by Jeffree Star, who digressed into talking about Black Lives Matter during his recent apology for past racist behaviour.

Unsurprisingly, Biden has yet to comment on Tana Mongeau's endorsement, but safe to say we don't see her being the face of his campaign any time soon...