On Wednesday, the Swedish social media star announced the joyful life update on his Instagram account. He shared adorable pictures with his wife and their newborn son, Bjorn.
Felix Kjellberg — better known by the internet moniker PewDiePie — is one of the most popular YouTubers in the world. The 30-year-old internet giant has amassed 102 million subscribers on the video platform, which is more people than citizens of the UK. He presides over a cult-like following that has spawned dedicated merchandise and even a day celebrated in his honor.
Kjellberg started uploading videos to YouTube in 2010 to document his interest in video games and art. He quickly began attracting a significant audience, and in 2014, he became the most subscribed channel on YouTube. The following year, he landed a multi-million-dollar contract with Maker Studios and was launched into the celebrity stratosphere.
Kjellberg expanded his content beyond gaming videos into vlogs and commentary on current events and memes in the following years. However, he often found himself at the center of controversy when his jokes or statements offended members of certain groups. In one particularly controversial incident, he jokingly compared Jewish people to Hitler and other Nazis. While he insisted that he was not an anti-Semite, the rift between his inner circle of YouTube fans and the rest of the internet became increasingly apparent due to this episode.
Despite his immense popularity, it was always difficult for mainstream media to wrap their heads around Kjellberg’s appeal. Journalists often wrote breathless stories about his earnings, and late-night hosts were puzzled over the mass appeal of a man who played video games for a living.
As time passed, Kjellberg continued to grow his popularity and launch numerous successful offshoot ventures, such as the game studio Felix Labs. In the end, though, his family brought him the most joy.
Kjellberg and his wife Marzia welcomed their first child, a son, on July 11. The couple shared the joyous news on their respective Instagram accounts with photos of their newest addition.
The couple also posted a short video that featured Marzia kissing their baby boy. The video immediately went viral, amassing over 1.7 million likes on Instagram and millions more on YouTube. This was just the latest milestone for the YouTube superstar. He recently made the most-liked video of all time with a clip of himself singing an acoustic version of Drake’s “In My Feelings.” The clip has over 2.6 billion views on YouTube and counting.
