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Felix PewDiePie Kjelberghas included an illustrationof Pepe the frog, a meme commonly associated with the alt-right,along with other images co-opted by the deeply controversial group, in a new video that continues his run of appealing to divisive online political groups and figures.

In the video PewDiePie uses the gamePasspartout: The Starving Artist to drawa series of illustrations, including one of Pepe the frog, an image that was recognized by the Anti-Defamation League as having been co-opted by white nationalists into a racist hate symbol. Though there are still those who argue that Pepe is simply an innocuous meme, there is no denying the correlation between the illustration and online hate groups, with even its creator having distanced himself from the cartoon as a result of it being widely used by racists online (via The Guardian).The video of alt-right leader Richard Spencer being punched earlier this year also saw the white nationalist wearing a Pepe pin and explaining how it had become a symbol.

The 27-year-old YouTuber also uses the game to draw the autistic screeching meme, popular among anti-feminists online, though he replaces the head of the figure typically featured in the image with the CNN logo, a reference to the ongoing battle between the news station and Donald Trumps presidential administration. He also included the Kekistan flag, a symbol of a tongue-in-cheek fictional religion conjured up by 4chan users in which Pepe is positioned as a spiritual leader.

PewDiePie is YouTubes most-subscribed creator, with him having over 56 million subscribers on the site and a significant youngaudience. At the start of this year a report from the Wall Street Journal condemning anti-Semitic jokes he had used in his videos led to Disney dropping him from its Maker Studios division, while YouTube also cancelled the second season of its YouTube Red reality show, Scare PewDiePie.

In response to this report, PewDiePie apologized for the offense caused by some of his jokes, though continued to argue against the media reporting upon his actions. This anti-media stance struck a chord with many right-wing figures, who began tochampion the YouTubers complaints regarding the mainstream media, with them having also taken a strong stance against many centrist or left-wing outlets during the Trump 2016 campaign, given the large amount of negative reporting upon the then-presidential candidate. Theracist white supremacist site the Daily Stormer later suggested that he was trying to convert his young audience to fascism, with them featuring him on their cover banner alongside the caption the worlds #1 PewDiePie fansite. PewDiePie refuted any allegiance with the alt-right movement as a result.

But PewDiePies recent actions have led many to grow concerned, with him exposing his huge fan base to talking points from a number of divisive political figures; it has been suggested by his criticsthat he is willfully normalizing divisive political stances to his young audience in his output.In one of his recent videos he discussed the myth of the gender pay gap,leading to him being commended online by right-wing conspiracy site InfoWars editor Paul Joseph Watson and former Rebel Media commentatorLauren Southern. He was also requested by Alex Jones to DM him, with the InfoWars creator being most famous for repeatedly claiming that the tragic Sandy Hook shootings were staged (via MediaMatters). PewDiePie briefly followed Jones on Twitter following the message.

Watch the video below:

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PewDiePie Draws Pepe the Frog and Other Alt-Right Memes in New Video - Crave Online

Another irony is that all of the Boys Club characters are anthropomorphic, abstract creatures, Furie adds. I purposefully turned them into these little Muppets to transcend race, so they have this universal appeal. And its weird how Pepe on the internet evolved to stand for white supremacybecause hes a damn frog.

In a cartoon that Furie contributed to an anthology given out on Free Comic Book Day in May, the artist seemed to have let Pepe go: The strip portrays the frog dead, in an open coffin, while his pals from Boys Club pay their respects.

But rather than admitting defeat and allowing Pepe to drown in the online swamp, Furie has decided to fight back. A hashtag campaign was launched in conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League, but #SavePepe has been predictably fraughtfor every supporter, there seems to be two people vowing to keep Pepe hateful.

In one example among many, a Twitter user employed the hashtag to post an altered picture of Pepes funeral sceneone in which a Hitleresque frog is popping out of his coffin, a green arm raised in a Sieg Heil. One user said, Matt Furie is lucky we do not launch a meme jihad against him for trying to profit off our Prophet. Another user added, Matt Furie doesnt understand how the internet works.

Furie has, meanwhile, maintained his composure. I like the idea of people in their moms basement thinking that theyre controlling the fabric of reality through this frog, he says, and that theyre winning right now.

The cartoonist has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new Boys Club book that aims to refurbish Pepes tarnished image. Its been a long strange trip for Pepe, he tells me, but as his so-called creator, Ive got my own narrative, too. And my narrative has been to continue being creative, and focusing on the positive stuff.

Excerpt from:
Pepe's Creator Is Trying to Save His Lovable Stoner Frog from the Alt-Right - Artsy

Pepe the Frogs creator is planning on reclaiming his character from the alt right and there are a lot of ordinary citizens willing to help him.

According to his Kickstarter page, Furie wants to take Pepe back to the days when he was a blissfully stoned frog who enjoyed a simple life of snacks, soda and pulling his pants all the way down to go pee. He also wants to decouple the characters image from the meme whostuck around the internet long enough to become an institutionally recognized hate mascot, an experience that Furie describes as a nightmare.

He adds, We understand theres no way to fully control the internet or how people decide to use Pepe the Frog. Trying to control that would be a completely unreasonable goal. That said, the aim of this project is to positively resurrect Pepe through the creation of a brand new comic in the spirit of the original BOYS CLUB.

As of the time of this writing, Furies Kickstarter campaign has received more than 300 backers and raised more than $20,000, despite setting an initial goal of only $10,000. It still has 20 days left before expiring.

In order to begin the process of taking Pepe back, Furie drew a cartoon last month which depicted the character as dead and at a wake. He wasnt coy about his ultimate intentions, saying at the time that once we get the money together, were going to do it [the comic book] from scratch and that he hoped to gain some entrepreneurial control over a character whose image and message had been seized from its creator.

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Pepe the Frog's creator raises $20000 to reclaim him from the alt-right - Salon

Frog and Toad. Kermit. Froggie da Gremlin. The protagonist of Frogger. The Bud! Weis! Er! trio. If green amphibians in pop culture have one thing in common, its that theyre generally pretty benevolent, and want to be your friend. But the past year or so might have put that to the test. Matt Furies Pepe the frog was intended to be just as benevolenta stoner frog with the catchphrase Feels good man, known primarily for putting his pants down around his ankles to urinate. But somewhere in Internet Message BoardLand, he became coopted. These many months later, Furie is Kickstarting an effort to bring Pepe back to the light side.

Its unclear exactly how and whyPepe became synonymous withsuchtoxicity. To web-savvy Republican voters, he became a symbol of Donald Trumps Make America Great Again campaign. To online trolls, he was used as a symbol of ironic bigotryto get a rise out of the supposed politically correct. In absolute worst cases, he was adopted by white supremacists and racists, inserted into memes that were deliberately hateful toward particular groups. The one thing all these uses had in common is that none of them represented the wishes or the spirit of Pepes creator.

Furies initial reaction was to try to ignore the misuse of his character; when that didnt work, he killed him off in a comic strip. But the memes continued regardless, so henow has decided to take back his creation, Kickstarting a new comic that will return the character to being a universal symbol for peace, love, and acceptance.

The campaign has already achieved its desiredfunding, but if youd like to get some official Pepe artwork, an enamel pin, signed drawings, or even a character in the book named after you, there are still 25 days left to do so as of this writing.

Can the fun-loving frog become a prince of a persona again? Croak out some comments below and tell us what you think.

Featured Image: Matt Furie

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Pepe the Frog's Creator is Working to Bring Him Back to the Side of Peace - Nerdist

Artist Matt Furie attempts to regain control of controversial croaker associated with Trump and the 'alt-right'

THE creator of the infamous Pepe the Frog character thats been plastered across news channels since the 2016 United States presidential election is trying to reclaim him from the internet.

Artist Matt Furie has launched a bid to rebrand his creation as a symbol of love, peace and acceptance after it was described as an emblem of racism and intolerance.

Several left-wing publications have spread the claim that Pepe the Frog is purely a white supremacist icon.

Pepe was once considered so innocuous that Katy Perry tweeted a picture of him out back in 2014.

A year before the election, Donald Trump even tweeted a picture of himself rendered as Pepe the Frog, which had already been a mainstream internet meme at that point.

This controversial amphibian rose to infamy during the last US election when supporters of Trump hailing from the internet forum 4chan embraced the character as their mascot.

But following one-sided descriptions of the character as a white supremacist meme by websites like Salon, Slate, and Vox, the US-based Anti-Defamation League eventually designated Pepe a hate symbol.

Companies were then criticised for using the image, with the burger chain Wendys facing backlash for tweeted out the character from its logo made up to look like the frog.

Pepes creator is a proud supporter of Hillary Clinton and was reportedly furious to see his character turned into a hate symbol, as Pepe is most often referred to by the progressive left.

Furie tried (and failed) to reclaim Pepe by killing him and drawing him dead in an open casket.

This is an effort to rebrand Pepe the Frog as a symbol of love, peace and acceptance.

Few people noticed, but Pepes more extreme fans responded by radicalising Furies other creations into the most shocking caricatures they could possibly imagine.

The frog was rendered a neo-Nazi, ISIS zealot and even Adolf Hitler.

But to the Kekistani community on the Internet, which comprises of self-proclaimed s***posters across the political spectrum, Pepe stands as a symbol as against political correctness and progressive social justice.

With his efforts to kill Pepe the Frog in shambles, Furie is making a second attempt to reclaim the character from right-wing trolls by reimagining him for a new audience.

This is an effort to rebrand Pepe the Frog as a symbol of love, peace and acceptance, wrote the artist.

He launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to resurrect Pepe in a new comic series, seeking $10,000 in pledges to draw remove any hateful connotations from the character.

AP:Associated Press

Most people who like the character arent even aware of its origins in Furies Boys Club comic from 2005, so there is very little chance Matt Furies latest efforts will do much to reclaim it.

Whether he likes it or not, Pepe now belongs to the public.

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Creator of Pepe the Frog 'white supremacist' meme wants to reclaim him as 'universal symbol of peace and love' - The Sun