"It's Really Embarrassing" — Colleen Ballinger Admits Ukulele Video in Response to Grooming Allegations Was "Not a Great Idea"

In 2023, Miranda Sings and Haters Back Off star Colleen Ballinger was under fire for allegations of grooming underage fans. She allegedly sent inappropriate messages in chats that included teenagers, and interacted with fans in ways that made them uncomfortable on stage at her live shows.

These are serious allegations. Instead of apologizing, Miranda posted a video of herself playing a ukulele song she wrote about how the "rumors" about her have ruined her career. It was a bad choice, to say the least.

Two years later, she went on Raven-Symoné and Miranda Perman-Maday's podcast, Tea Time, to talk about her mistakes. Here's what she said.

Raven asked what happened with her, personally, that inspired her to react in the way that she did. Colleen admitted, "I was so caught up in the things that weren’t true that were being said about me that I feel like I wasn’t listening to the things that were true."

"I don’t blame anyone but me. It was like a part of my brain was missing. People do make mistakes. And people can learn and grow and change," she continued.

Colleen said, "My intention wasn’t to hurt or do anything negative ever. That doesn’t mean that people weren’t hurt. And that’s the part that I wish I had paid more attention to. But I obviously didn’t handle the situation the way that I should have. And it’s really embarrassing. I wish that I could handle it a lot differently than I did."

Miranda asked what she was referring to, and Colleen clarified that she was talking about the ukulele video.

Raven said, "Just so you know, that was crazy, Bro."

"I'm absolutely aware," Colleen confirmed.

She spoke a lot about the fact that the video was a poor choice, but squirmed a bit when she was questioned about the actual grooming allegations.

"[Being accused of grooming] was devastating and shocking because I know that my intention and my actions had never been fueled with a desire to manipulate or ‘groom’ anybody ever. That has never been something I have done or will ever do. It's a very serious accusation."

She said, "My intention was being decided for me by people talking about it. My intention was never to hurt or do anything negative ever. Now that doesn't mean people weren't hurt, right? That's the part I wish I paid more attention to."

She said she wished she had handled the apology in a better way. "That was so awful because not only did I not … dispute the lies that I wanted to dispute … I just made things worse."

Colleen said she didn't realize she would make young fans uncomfortable with some of the jokes that she made. She would make jokes where her character, Miranda, would say something inappropriate but not realize that it was inappropriate.

She thought that because Miranda the character didn't realize it was inappropriate, it would be OK to do with kids.

Overall, Colleen admitted that she got validation and self-worth from her fans. She said she knew there were minors in group chats she was involved in when she made inappropriate jokes, but thought it was OK because "they all know I'm just joking around."

She said she shouldn't have done it, but that it wasn't in a "grooming fashion," it was in a "stupid fashion."

She said she feels guilty for making people uncomfortable and wishes she had thought more about how her actions affected others. It seems that the need for validation from her fans overrode common sense about what is appropriate to say and do around minors.

"I feel terrible that I made anyone feel anything other than happy and safe in our community online. I feel so terrible that I disappointed so many people," she said.