ASMR YouTuber Makenna Kelly, aka "Life With MaK," is responding to an online smear campaign claiming that she's anti-Semitic.
Kelly — arguably one of the platform's most popular teen creators — took to Twitter yesterday to ask her followers to help get a GoDaddy-hosted website and Change.org petition taken down.
Both pages labeled her a "Nazi" while saying that the 14-year-old "hates Jews." They also featured photos of her that were edited to include swastikas and a Hitler-style mustache. In another tweet, Kelly wrote that she believes the website was created by a classmate of her's.
"URGENT: http://GODADDY.com (web host) refuses to take down a site making false claims about me. I am 14, & the website calls me a Nazi & antisemite," Kelly tweeted. "This has impacted me at school & I am scared for my safety. Please help. They said the person is doing nothing wrong."
URGENT: https://t.co/ZUTHnWZFzA (web host) refuses to take down a site making false claims about me. I am 14, & the website calls me a Nazi & antisemite. This has impacted me at school & I am scared for my safety. Please help. They said the person is doing nothing wrong. pic.twitter.com/9UyTlbVEue
— Lifewithmak2005 (@lifewithmak2005) December 13, 2019
Not only that but, in a follow-up tweet, Kelly accused GoDaddy of "brushing off concern" for her safety.
"I am in tears over this & what if someone took this seriously and hurt me? I'm 14. I am scared to go to school," she reiterated, alongside a copy of GoDaddy's response, in which they said they cannot take the site down without a court order. "This needs to be addressed & STOPPED. Now."
Their response (https://t.co/ntjV9mlNAz). How could they seriously brush off concern for my safety regarding this issue? I am in tears over this & what if someone took this seriously and hurt me? I’m 14. I am scared to go to school. This needs to be addressed & STOPPED. Now. https://t.co/rzm1Ub3Jiy pic.twitter.com/j6aQXPApFj
— Lifewithmak2005 (@lifewithmak2005) December 13, 2019
And while both sites have since been taken down, Kelly has continued to express dismay at the handling of this situation by both GoDaddy and the Fort Collins Police Department.
"The real question is WHY & WHAT people need to do to protect themselves?" she wrote. "Talked to the FCPD- it was terrible. Officer Corey Donavan talked only about himself and his sadness about people calling him PIGS. He lectured about freedom of speech."
Awesome news. The website is DOWN! But the real question is WHY & WHAT people need to do to protect themselves? Talked to the FCPD- it was terrible. Officer Corey Donavan talked only about himself and his sadness about people calling him PIGS. He lectured about freedom of speech.
— Lifewithmak2005 (@lifewithmak2005) December 13, 2019
Kelly then went on to ask what would've happened in this scenario if she "wasn't 'YouTube famous,'" before arguing that this is an issue that goes far beyond just her situation.
"Who's the voice for teens in serious danger? If we can't trust the police in our local area what more can we do?" Kelly wrote. "I am crying right now thinking about victims to harassment that could have been stopped with the help of police. It's sickening."
Read everything she has to say about the issue, here.
Photo courtesy of YouTube/@LifeWithMaK