This Purchase Earned PewDiePie A Visit From The Police
PewDiePie has been uploading his gaming escapades to YouTube for over ten years. And his dedication has paid off, as he's among the most popular content creators on the site, with a subscriber count of over 111 million. However, his long career on YouTube hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows. For example, PewDiePie notoriously fired off a racial slur during a Twitch livestream, making headlines across the internet. Just last year, there were rumors that the YouTube star was dodging his UK taxes. And although the divisive star has worked to clean up his act and stay out of further controversies, he did have an accidental close call with the law, all thanks to a Wish order gone wrong.
PewDiePie explained the issue in an episode of his popular "Wish Items" series, in which the YouTuber orders items from the popular e-commerce site Wish and gives a quick review of each one. What makes the videos entertaining is how he compares the delivered items to their original seller descriptions, as Wish is known for carrying counterfeit and low-quality items (per Digital Commerce 360). But which Wish purchase got the attention of the police?
PewDiePie imported an illegal weapon
In March 2022, PewDiePie uploaded a video titled "I bought forbidden Wish Items (Cops Came To My House Big Oopsie)." The video begins with PewDiePie sarcastically saying, "I had the great idea trying to buy a balisong. Because I like them. They're fun to play with. It's awesome," the YouTuber explained while spinning a balisong, also known as a butterfly knife.
After setting his balisong to the side, PewDiePie took a more serious tone and exclaimed, "Do not buy a balisong. The cops came to my house, and they told me I was bad, and I shouldn't have done that. So, I am sorry." He then explained that he was surprised when the cops showed up at his front door, because in Sweden, "[a balisong] is a tool, not a weapon."
However, now that the Swedish YouTuber resides in the UK, owning a dangerous weapon like this can be seen as a serious offense. According to "The Criminal Justice Act 1988," imported weapons are liable to seizure by the police, so it's no surprise the cops wanted to take a look at his Wish orders.
Interestingly enough, this isn't the first time a Wish order got a UK resident in legal trouble. For instance, as reported by the Lancashire Telegraph, a 22-year-old man was sentenced to 11 months in prison after ordering a £5 taser off the site to protect his girlfriend. Whether or not the cops confiscated any of PewDiePie's balisongs is unclear, especially since he can still be seen playing with the knife in the clip. Either way, the YouTuber will probably avoid getting balisongs from Wish in the future.