Elon Musk claims to have joined forces with PewDiePie in an attempt to help the latter fend off Indian music company T-Series for the coveted title of YouTube channel with the most subscriptions worldwide. Does that read like a MadLib? Yes. Would you like some of the proper nouns explained? Great.
Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla founder whose greatest hits include a beef with Azealia Banks and calling a heroic rescue diver a “pedo” after the diver hurt Musk’s feelings, tweeted on Monday that he “did meme review” over the weekend with Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland. Meme Review is a video series by Swedish YouTuber Felix Kjellberg, a.k.a. PewDiePie. (PewDiePie’s greatest hits include getting dropped by Disney after multiple instances of anti-Semitism were uncovered in his content.)
For years, PewDiePie has been the most followed YouTuber on Earth. But in recent months, T-Series, a music company based in India, has been creeping up on the top spot. PewDiePie’s fans have been out in full force trying to keep him on top, with some going so far as to campaign with billboards. (Yes, really.)
If it turns out Musk really did host a Meme Review video — PewDiePie has not posted or commented — it would certainly aid in that fight. That’s good, because PewDiePie is just a person — certainly not a brand with a net worth in the millions — while T-Series is a corporation. The Independent called it a “David vs Goliath–style contest,” where David is a millionaire YouTuber and the other is India’s largest music record label. And the slingshot David is going to use is a tech giant worth billions, with 25 million Twitter followers. Congrats to little guys everywhere. If PewDiePie can do it, so can you.
