Bella Thorne Reveals PewDiePie Name Fumble At Teen Choice Awards Was Scripted

PewDiePie viewers are angry with Bella Thorne after the 2015 Teen Choice Awards. The “Scream” actress fumbled the YouTube star’s real name, Felix Kjellberg, when announcing him as a nominee in the male Web star category during the show Sunday. It wasn’t the mispronunciation that irritated viewers as much as the flippant way she disregarded his last name.

“Felix something, something, something — you know what? Be here if you want to hear the rest of your name,” Thorne said at the Aug. 16 ceremony in Los Angeles.

so rude @bellathorne pic.twitter.com/hNmRFRUbBe
— Kaela // 27 (@billboardsbea) August 17, 2015

The 17-year-old actress won the best movie villain surfboard for her role in “The Duff” earlier in the night, but still, fans expected Thorne to be a little more compassionate. Though Kjellberg isn’t on TV, he is one of YouTube’s most successful stars. With more than 38 million subscribers, the Swedish video game vlogger has one of the largest followings on the website (more than Taylor Swift, Katy Perry or One Direction). So it probably isn’t surprising that there was an uproar on Twitter following Thorne’s joke.

bella thorne threw shade at pewdiepie for not being at the tca honey, he's more known than you'll ever be. simmer down
— fly away mollie ,,!! (@unclearluke) August 17, 2015

bella thorne was so rude about felix's name, if she couldn't pronounce it she should've just called him pewdiepie
— eric foreman (@alltimegordon) August 17, 2015

I'm sorry, but @bellathorne had no right to say that about @pewdiepie. That was very disrespectful. #TeenChoiceAwards
— Andy J. Valer (@andyvcoolio) August 17, 2015

Bella Thorne, showing you how NOT to be prepared for an awards show. __ #TeenChoiceAwards #PewDiePie
— Erika G (@erikaevangeline) August 17, 2015

However, Thorne insisted that she wasn’t trying to be mean. It was simply a joke written by the Teen Choice Awards writers.

I knew how to say his name It was part of the script. A joke. I didn't write it. Calm down. Nothing but love for @pewdiepie
— bella thorne (@bellathorne) August 17, 2015

Still, viewers weren't appreciative of the joke. Many Twitter users have continued to attack Thorne, and the actress has tried to defend herself.

@thuglifelester @pewdiepie how the heck would I have known he wasn't coming? What don't you get? It was a script and not one I wrote.
— bella thorne (@bellathorne) August 17, 2015

@TomoxClifford @otrastlaurent calm down. It's called a script. A joke.
— bella thorne (@bellathorne) August 17, 2015

@classicana_ @pewdiepie it's called a script
— bella thorne (@bellathorne) August 17, 2015

Kjellberg has remained quiet on his social media accounts. In fact, the 25-year-old hasn’t mentioned the Teen Choice Awards at all on his Twitter or Facebook accounts, even though the other vloggers in his category were campaigning for the choice male Web star surfboard. It doesn’t seem like the gamer is comfortable with praise and awards. Kjellberg told ESPN in June that he doesn’t like being in Los Angeles for that very reason. “Any time I'm there, people are constantly patting you on the back, telling you how great you are,” he explained. “It f---- with your brain. I started YouTube because I was bored, not to become famous.”

The choice male Web star award ultimately went to Cameron Dallas.