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In case you somehow missed it, last week YouTuber Jesse Ridgway announced that his Ashley wife had terminated her pregnancy after testing revealed that her unborn child had Down syndrome.
The announcement ignited a firestorm of controversy, and Ridgway says he’s received death threats as a result of the couple’s decision.
Jesse has pleaded for compassion, but a newly resurfaced video isn’t doing him any favors.
An old clip from his content-creation past has resurfaced, and it’s creating a whole new wave of backlash.
Critics are pointing to a nearly decade-old video that was meant to be funny but instead portrays the influencer in a very unflattering light.
In the resurfaced clip, originally posted as part of Ridgway’s scripted “The Devil Inside” series, the YouTuber briefly portrays a character he identifies as having Down syndrome.
Viewers have accused the performance of relying on stereotypes and mannerisms often used to mock people with intellectual disabilities.
Needless to say, the timing could not be worse.
For many critics, the rediscovered footage has become part of a broader argument that Ridgway’s comments and actions surrounding the pregnancy have demonstrated a troubling attitude toward people with Down syndrome.
The old clip is now circulating widely across social media as opponents of the influencer’s decision continue to scrutinize his past statements.
Ridgway, however, insists the clip is being taken out of context.
According to the YouTuber, the scene was part of a fictional storyline involving a character rapidly cycling through different personalities.
In a statement to TMZ, Ridgway explained that the video was part of a series of sketches:
“I play a character name Isaac Kalder who has hijacked Jesse Ridgway’s life. My family is pissed so they hold me at gunpoint and force me to switch chars rapidly,” he said.
“The identity switches happen too fast and it fries my brain.”
The resurfaced video arrives amid an already intense firestorm surrounding Jesse and Ashley’s pregnancy announcement. Since sharing their story publicly, the couple says they have received relentless online harassment, including threats and hateful messages.
Ridgway has described the backlash as unlike anything he has experienced during his two decades as an online creator.
At the same time, disability advocates and families of individuals with Down syndrome have voiced their own objections, arguing that the influencer’s public comments about the diagnosis have reinforced harmful assumptions about people living with the condition.
The controversy intensified further when Ridgway responded to one critic by remarking that he was glad he had not been aborted because he was “normal” — a comment that generated yet another round of outrage online.
For now, Ridgway appears determined to continue defending both his family’s decision and his past work.
But as more people dig through years of archived content, he may find that the abortion debate is no longer the only controversy he has to answer for.
In the age of social media, old videos have a habit of resurfacing at the worst possible moment.