Many of you have probably noticed the mural on our theater when walking onto the San Marcos campus, honoring San Marcos Alumni, but should we be honoring an alleged child groomer when we ourselves are children?
Colleen Ballinger is an internet sensation best known for creating the character Miranda Sings. She is a successful one-woman comedian and San Marcos High School alum who recently was featured in our theater programs production of Little Shop of Horrors last year. She even had her own Netflix original series Haters Back Off, from 2016-2017.
Like many other content creators, Ballinger is facing consequences for past actions, for example a 2006 video in which she and her sister pretended to be Latinx women, drawing upon racial stereotypes, and for a Twitter stunt in which she “came out” as a Meghan Trainor fan, which led some to say that she was making light of the coming-out process for LGBTQ+ individuals.
In a TikTok video posted on June 14, Becky, a 21-year-old former fan, came forward about her experience being “embarrassed” on stage at a Miranda Sings show when she was 16. She has commented on a screenshot of a video she is in that has been circulating on TikTok, in which Ballinger performs a stunt that involves Becky, then a teenager, spreading her legs wide in front of a large audience. Becky’s video telling the story in her own words has racked up 14 million views.
According to Adam McIntyre, a former fan, Ballinger allegedly had many inappropriate conversations with him over social media and even sent him a set of lingerie when he was 13 years old. Another former fan posted a video on TikTok in June 2023 about his experience with Ballinger. Ballinger allegedly asked him and McIntyre inappropriate questions such as “Are you a virgin?” for a Q and A video that he was going to post on his YouTube channel.
These allegations are very serious, and if they weren’t enough to convince you that Ballinger should not be honored, then her apology will most definitely. On June 29th Ballinger posted a 10 minute YouTube video titled “hi” in which she sings a song called “Toxic Gossip Train.” In this video she blatantly ignores all rumors and sings about how she is the victim of social media hate.
This “apology” is just another example of the insensitivity that Ballinger represents. As a school, we do not need a person who repeatedly displayed this type of behavior as our role model. Not only is Ballinger a questionable person all around, but she specifically has an unsettling past with children and teenagers.
Grooming is defined by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children as a kind of abuse by which “someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.”
Though you might believe that Ballinger has made mistakes, and canceling someone is just a stupid trend in the media and pop culture, grooming is a very serious offense and there are stacks on stacks of allegations against her. The fact that she completely denied the allegations, rather than owning up to them and apologizing. As a high school we should not be honoring a woman who is known to harass children online. We can not change who has graduated from San Marcos, but we can change who we display on campus.
Ballinger has advertised herself as a family-friendly YouTuber for more than a decade. Yet, in the most recent years, allegations have come out against Ballinger online, including child grooming, racial insensitivity, and ridiculing the LGBTQ+ community. Do we as a school want a person with these allegations representing us?
