"Didn’t even know that tr***y was a bad word" - When KSI went viral for using transphobic slurs on social media

Popular YouTuber Olajide "JJ," aka KSI, has become a global sensation as a content creator, boxer, singer, and entrepreneur. And while he enjoys a massive following of millions of people who adore him, his rise to the top has not been without controversies. One of which is the topic of this article as it delves into the YouTuber's past usage of transphobic slurs on social media.

As a creator, Olajide's content has varied over the years, and has included several controversial things in his career that have drawn criticism. Transphobic and queerphobic comments were one such controversy that KSI was subject to back in March 2021, when he publicly apologized for his comments that used slurs that denigrated people from the marginalized community.

Ironically, while appearing to apologize to the trans community, the YouTuber had used the same slur that he was apologizing for. This started after a Twitter user called him out for allegedly misgendering a trans person on camera and he replied by saying:

"And I honestly didn’t even know that tra**y was a bad word. What’s the correct term to use?”

The full thread can be seen below where the viewer appears to have gotten the message across:

The controversial tweet thread (Image via Twitter)

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"My bad": Revisiting how KSI apologized for using transphobic slurs on Twitter two years ago

As mentioned before, KSI's rise to fame is littered with a bunch of controversies that he has been associated with. These include using highly problematic edgy jokes, the recent South Asian racial term that caused a lot of backlash, or nonchalantly using transphobic words that have been historically used to denigrate an entire community because of their gender identity.

That said, the content creator-turned-boxer appeared to be quite upfront with his mistake and announced that he had no idea the word "tra**y" was a transphobic slur. After he started getting a lot of flak from his followers on Twitter, he was stunned to see people calling him transphobic.

One of the tweets where he uses the slur has been showcased above, but that wasn't the only instance as KSI also used the word again while trying to apologize for offending people. Of course that was highly inappropriate too, leading him to delete the tweet which initially read like this:

"My bad for saying tra**y and other transgender slurs. Honestly didn’t even know they were slurs. I know now though. Mans educating himself haha."

Despite his attempt at lightening the mood by saying he was educating himself, many protested to him using the word so casually in the same sentence where he was apologizing for it. The only apology tweet from that day that is still up, which is this one where he chose to omit the offensive language.

The post had received quite a few likes with many of his supporters rallying behind him. That said, KSI has seen quite a few scandals over the years and interested readers should definitely check out this list of some of his biggest controversies.