Perth based electronic music producer Pogo has come under fire from fans after a vile video of him talking about his homophobic attitudes resurfaced on social media.
Pogo, a.k.a Nick Bertke, became a viral star online with his remixes using samples from classic Disney films like Alice and Wonderland and Toy Story. His viral videos have had more than 100 million views.
But in the video, which surfaced on Thursday, Bertke explains the origin of his YouTube channel’s name “Fagottron” and explains he’s “always had a very thorough dislike of homosexuals”.
“I’ve never liked a grown man acting like a 12-year-old girl. I’ve always found that to be quite disgusting,” he said.
“And so I thought to myself, how best can I express to the world that gays are just an abomination?
“I think nothing encapsulates, really, the sissiness of a gay guy quite like the word ‘faggot’, so I’m going to call myself ‘Faggottron’ and hopefully people get it.”
His comments escalate even further when he begins talking about his reaction to the Pulse Nightclub massacre, where he appears to suggest the mass shooting that claimed the lives of 49 people was “fantastic”.
“I have a fairly robust resentment of the gay community,” he said.
“I don’t want to really get into this, but when there was the Orlando shooting and the guy was shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ or something I was like,” he continued, before pumping his fist.
“But yeah, I’ve got to be a bit careful with that because well, you know, I don’t like gays, but I don’t want to see people getting killed in nightclubs either.
“But still, I mean, it’s just fantastic. It amazes me to see the West actually welcoming in a culture through the floodgates that wants gays dead.”
In a later video, Bertke responded that he created the original video to troll and “grind people’s gears.”
He said he was inspired to make his video after watching the work of late comedian Andy Kaufman but admitted he “took it too far” and created the video as a response to “the kind of people who demand safe spaces”.
“It has never been my intention to hurt people, or to offend people. That has never been my intention,” he said.
“There is no pinch of salt big enough to be taken with what I said. It’s all good and well for me to open a valve and draw people out into the open, people I don’t like, hypocrites etc, but I feel very strongly it’s been very naive behaviour on my part.
“If I’m going to tuck my tail between my legs and admit anything, it’s that these posts and these videos and these things I’ve made for the sake of being edgy have not contributed to any productive conversation.”
I’m not done being angry at @NickBertke – he runs his mouth, then when his followers contradict his self righteous rhetoric, he deletes his statements and pretends we don’t know what we’re talking about. You’re not THAT smart Pogo. You’re not post bigotry just cuz you say so.
— Jinkx Monsoon (@JinkxMonsoon) June 1, 2018
If you didn’t already hear, @NickBertke aka Pogo – the man behind the Disney electronic mash-ups – made a video about how much he hates gay men. If you’re like me and been a fan of his music for nearly a decade, please join me and STOP supporting him from now on.
— Sarah Sterling (@SarahSterling_) May 31, 2018
Pogo is cancelled. You don’t cheer for the massacre of innocent gay people and ever be considered a functioning or rational human being ever again.
— Nicole Rodriguez (@Shnikkles) May 31, 2018
well Pogo is fucking cancelled, then, I guess
if Disney wants free brownie points they should cease and desist his ass right away
— jessica 👓👀 (@my2k) May 31, 2018
Hey @YouTube remember when you were (and sometimes still are) restricting LGBTQ content but allowing homophobic content?
Well, this dude hates us queers and cheered over the pulse massacre – and he still has an unrestricted channel…and the verified ✔️https://t.co/CydDqgVd9X
— Lana Del Gay 🏳️🌈👻✨ (@McClellandShane) May 31, 2018
