Difficult pregnancies, intrusive fans, and a heartbreaking loss. Marzia Kjellberg may be a popular content creator and fashion designer, but fame has come with a devastating price.
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00:00Difficult pregnancies, intrusive fans, and a heartbreaking loss — Marzia Shellberg
00:05may be a popular content creator and fashion designer, but fame has come with a devastating
00:10price.
00:11I just wanted to say goodbye to YouTube, but I'll catch you around."
00:16In 2018, Marzia Shellberg had a thriving YouTube career.
00:20According to The Verge, she built up over 7.4 million subscribers on the platform, who
00:26consumed her makeup and fashion content.
00:28The news that she was quitting YouTube came quite unexpectedly, but Marzia would eventually
00:33share that her mental health had been hit hard by the YouTube life.
00:36In a video, Marzia explained her struggles, saying,
00:39"'I had never struggled so much up to this point to carry out everyday tasks.
00:45I just didn't want to leave the house.'"
00:48She also pointed out that she struggled with isolating herself from the rest of the world
00:52and did not even try to socialize with other people, instead looking to YouTube to fill
00:57that void.
00:58Marzia felt although the internet can be a great resource in helping people to connect
01:02with each other, it can also take over a person's life in negative ways.
01:07When Marzia Shellberg first started dating PewDiePie, their relationship exposed her
01:11to the wide world of online content creation.
01:14Dating PewDiePie gave Marzia even more of an interest in YouTube, and she got excited
01:18by the new content she was discovering.
01:20She decided to start dedicating time to building up a channel of her own.
01:24The content certainly found an audience, but its growth paled in comparison to PewDiePie's
01:29skyrocketing success.
01:31That led to some complicated feelings for Marzia.
01:34She said in a since-deleted YouTube video,
01:36"'I was thrilled for Felix, but I felt like I was a fraud.
01:42I definitely didn't deserve all the attention.'"
01:44Marzia's imposter syndrome contributed to her spending more and more of her time on
01:48YouTube, which in turn had some negative effects on her mental health.
01:52After leaving YouTube in 2018, she started pursuing new creative outlets, including fashion
01:58and design, that allowed her to express herself in a way that didn't cause her to immediately
02:02compare her success to her partner's.
02:05In 2019, Marzia and PewDiePie's home was broken into, and Marzia lost a lot of valuable goods.
02:11She addressed the situation on her Instagram story, which was later reposted by Keemstar
02:16on Twitter.
02:17She said,
02:18"'My house was broken into, and they took 90 percent of my valuables, from my jewelry
02:22to luxury goods and special items I've been...collecting over the years.
02:27It's all gone.'"
02:28Despite Marzia's worry that she sounded materialistic for being upset over the robbery, people supported
02:33her in the aftermath.
02:35After all, many of her fans understood that some items in life are worth more than just
02:39monetary value, and having your stuff stolen can feel like a violation.
02:43Unfortunately, PewDiePie had to address a similar problem years ago, as his address
02:47was leaked online and a number of fans came to visit.
02:51In a 2016 YouTube video, the massively popular creator had to tell people to not show up
02:56at his home.
02:57"'Just don't come to my house, please.
03:00Are we done?
03:01Are we done?
03:02That was it?'
03:03Hopefully, this is the last time the couple will have to deal with such an intrusion.
03:08Once PewDiePie's streaming career really started blowing up, he and Shelberg struggled with
03:11how much fame had changed their lives.
03:13Suddenly, they couldn't go out in public without risking being recognized and approached by
03:17fans.
03:18PewDiePie once told a story about a particularly unpleasant time he and Marzia tried to order
03:23food at a McDonald's.
03:24Some kids recognized PewDiePie and swarmed the couple asking for pictures.
03:28When the children's mom got involved, she didn't do anything to stop them, even as PewDiePie
03:33asked to be left alone.
03:34Things didn't get easier when the couple went on vacations, either, as PewDiePie has shared
03:38a number of anecdotes of screaming crowds of fans surrounding them.
03:42Incidents like these might have contributed to the couple's decision to move to Japan
03:46and make a bit of a career change.
03:48It seems like it worked, and the couple is enjoying a bit more anonymity in their new
03:52home.
03:53Marzia's fans were beyond delighted when she and PewDiePie announced in February 2023 that
03:58they were expecting a baby.
04:00Their son Bjorn was born that July, but the last few months of the pregnancy were a particularly
04:04stressful time for the couple.
04:06"'I'm nervous for Marzia, but I know she's gonna do super well.
04:10I know she's really good at this kind of thing.'"
04:12PewDiePie uploaded a sneaky gender-reveal video to his YouTube channel two months before
04:16his son was born.
04:17While some fans were busy piecing together the couple's clues about the baby's gender,
04:21others focused on a concerning bit of news he shared near the end of the video.
04:26PewDiePie said that while his wife and the baby were fine, there were some complications,
04:30and the risk of premature labor was weighing on both their minds.
04:33"'So, she's been taking it very easily, easy, for the past 10 days.'"
04:37Thankfully, she didn't go into premature labor, but her deliveries still ended up being stressful
04:42for the couple.
04:43Japan has strict healthcare policies, so the couple's time together was limited when Marzia
04:48went into labor.
04:50PewDiePie had to drop Marzia off at the hospital and wait outside as she was kept overnight
04:54for observation, and he couldn't stay long even after the delivery.
04:58It was a bit of culture shock for the couple, but ultimately they were just happy that Bjorn
05:02and Marzia both remained healthy throughout the experience.
05:07Some people are clumsier than others, and some just attract more bad luck than others.
05:11Marzia seems to be one, or both, of those kinds of people, having gotten hurt on a few
05:15occasions.
05:16"'I don't think I've ever felt this much pain for an illness before.'"
05:20In 2019, as Metro UK reported, Marzia and PewDiePie went to Japan for a second honeymoon.
05:27While on their honeymoon, Marzia shared a picture on her Instagram story that explained
05:31a knife had fallen out of the packaging and landed tip-first on her toe.
05:35While the experience didn't sound fun, she did point out in a later update that they
05:39were hopeful it would heal on its own, and that a trip to the hospital would be unnecessary.
05:44The toe in question was heavily bruised, but she was able to walk without too much issue.
05:48Still, the incident seems to have put a damper on the festivities.
05:52In 2020, Marzia again ran into trouble while at her home in the UK.
05:57This time, Marzia shared to Instagram that she deeply cut her finger while opening a
06:01metal can.
06:02While both accidents sounded painful and frustrating to deal with, and messing up a trip with a
06:06loved one is never fun, at least they didn't result in more serious injuries.
06:11If you've been around the gaming side of the internet for any amount of time, then you've
06:14probably seen plenty of hate come from various groups.
06:18The internet is full of it, and Marzia in particular has received more hate than most
06:22as many people claim that she only saw success because of PewDiePie.
06:27Between blogs and hate threads that seek to demean her accomplishments, it sometimes seems
06:31like there's a nearly endless amount of Marzia backlash online.
06:34However, Marzia's put in a lot of hard work on her own, and her creations speak for themselves.
06:39While she exploded in popularity as a makeup and fashion YouTuber — a genre on the platform
06:44that has quite a different audience than PewDiePie — she's gone on to do even more, writing
06:48a novel and even creating her own fashion line.
06:52Her designs aren't anything to scoff at, either.
06:54A few years ago, Tubefilter spoke to two different fashion experts — Michael Fink, dean of the
06:59School of Fashion at Savannah College of Art and Design, and celebrity stylist Alison Calhoun.
07:05Fink praised Marzia's designs, explaining that they were trendy while also keeping a
07:09timeless look.
07:10Even Calhoun, who admitted that she wasn't exactly thrilled with certain parts of the
07:14collection, explained that she understood the overall appeal and thought they were creatively
07:19designed.
07:20Still, it can be hard to shut out the negativity.
07:23Being in front of a camera all the time would be exhausting for anyone.
07:26Even after Marzia's YouTube retirement, she continued to be in the spotlight as an influencer.
07:31In 2020, she shared on Instagram that she struggled with all of it, partially because
07:35she thought her face was too asymmetrical.
07:37Yes, I do have a deviated septum, if you never noticed.
07:41She explained that when she first started making videos, she discovered what she thought
07:45were her best angles.
07:47In her words, the effort was ultimately, quote, "...exhausting, silly, and simply put, superficial."
07:53At a certain point, Marzia became so insecure about the right side of her face that she
07:57completely stopped taking pictures or recording videos that showed off those angles of her
08:01face.
08:02However, she pointed out that the initial COVID-19 quarantine period caused her to do
08:06some self-reflection, ultimately leading her to want to accept herself how she is.
08:11Sharing a picture of just the right side of her face, Marzia finally stepped out of her
08:15comfort zone in front of her 8 million followers.
08:19When Marzia was 13, her family was forced to move an hour and a half away from where
08:23she grew up and face some rough times, as reported by Before They Were Famous.
08:27And while 13 is a difficult age for anyone, the move and Marzia's family situation wasn't
08:32helpful for navigating the usual hardships of that time of life.
08:36And she explained that she dealt with it all by isolating herself.
08:40She explained,
08:41"...I was for two years that my family had to go through some real tough situations,
08:45so I started staying alone most of the time.
08:47I wouldn't see anyone and I would be constantly in a bad mood.
08:51School was just boring and I would push everyone away from me."
08:55While Marzia didn't give any super-specific details about her family's hardships, she
08:59did explain that eventually, things got better.
09:02After leaving behind so many people in her old hometown, Marzia found a way to open up
09:06and found friends after the move.
09:09Long before Marzia met her future husband, PewDiePie had a very important girl in his
09:13life, a pug named Maya.
09:15So, after she started dating PewDiePie, Marzia quickly fell in love with Maya, and even began
09:21a YouTube series devoted to her.
09:23When she ended her YouTube career, Marzia pulled all the videos from her channel, but
09:27some fans have since reuploaded a number of Maya-centric videos.
09:31"...I got bananas."
09:32"...Don't listen to me.
09:33That's the wrong hand."
09:34When Maya sadly died in 2022, the couple had each other and their fans to lean on for support.
09:40Marzia wrote on Instagram,
09:42My sweetest little potato, thank you for spending so many wonderful years with me and being
09:47the best companion I could have ever asked for."
09:50Hundreds of fans commented on her post, sending their condolences and sharing their own favorite
09:55memories of seeing Maya the pug on camera.