belle delphine
Belle Delphine in her YouTube comeback video.
belle delphine/YouTube
  • Influencer Belle Delphine’s YouTube channel was briefly terminated before the platform reinstated it on Monday.
  • Delphine is most famous for selling her bathwater for $30 a bottle.
  • The apparent ban sparked outrage and confusion from fans who argued her videos were just as NSFW as others hosted on the platform.
  • In a reply to Delphine on Twitter, the official TeamYouTube account said that the termination of her account was a “mistake by the review team.”
  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

On Monday, YouTube appeared to abruptly ban controversial influencer Belle Delphine’s channel. The e-girl influencer, who is most famous for selling her bathwater, tweeted later that evening that her account had been reinstated, but the sudden ban and alleged double standards at play had many online buzzing. 

Belle Delphine’s YouTube channel, which is currently accessible, is listed as having approximately 1.8 million followers. Known for her cosplay and not-safe-for-work (NSFW) content, the influencer, now 21 according to internet personality index site Famous Birthdays, rose to fame in 2019 after she sold “GamerGirl Bathwater” for $30 a bottle.

An incident in which she trolled her followers by uploading videos of her eating a photo of PewDiePie, YouTube’s biggest creator, and petting two stuffed roosters to PornHub also contributed to her fame online.

In July 2019, Delphine’s Instagram account was shut down, with many speculating that it was due to a campaign to report her account for nudity (Instagram declined to comment on the specific reason for the termination, other than that Delphine’s account violated its community guidelines).

She returned to social media in June 2020 with a video titled “I’M BACK -belle delphine,” a parody of Tekashi 6ix9ine’s “Gooba” that served to announce her return as well as the launch of her OnlyFans (the Instagram and TikTok handles Delphine promotes in the video are now inaccessible).

On Monday, her YouTube account briefly appeared to have been banned, with Vice reporting that Delphine's channel had been replaced by a red banner that said, "This account has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy on nudity or sexual content."

Delphine told Vice that on Saturday, YouTube notified her that it had removed one of her September videos (a music video for Doll.ia's "Plushie Gun") for being in violation of its sexual content guidelines.  The email also reportedly contained a warning that if Delphine continued to post content that violated YouTube's guidelines, she would receive a strike on her channel. Three strikes on a YouTube channel result in a permanent ban. Reactions to the removed video, which effectively repost Delphine's video in full, remain on the platform.

The apparent ban sparked outrage and confusion on Monday, leading to the term "Belle Delphine" trending on Twitter. Delphine quote retweeted a tweet from social media commentator Keemstar that included a video showing clips from her "I'M BACK" video juxtaposed against clips from YouTube videos including the "Gooba" and "WAP" music videos. 

"[H]ey @TeamYouTube why was my youtube account terminated with no warning/no strikes for 'sexual content' when you allow and promote songs like 'W.A.P'? seems a lil sus," Delphine wrote on Twitter.

The TeamYouTube account responded to that tweet, asking Delphine to share her channel URL so that it could "take a look." As of Monday evening, her channel had been reinstated and is now currently available. 

The Verge's Julia Alexander reported on Twitter that per YouTube, the platform had removed three videos for violating its sex & nudity policies, resulting in account termination, but that one of the videos should have been age-restricted rather than removed. 

In a reply to Delphine on Twitter, the TeamYouTube account said that the termination of Delphine's account was "a mistake by the review team" and that it was "so sorry for the frustration this caused."

YouTube did not immediately respond to Insider's request for further comment, but as of now, Delphine's channel remains active.

Read the original article on Insider