A controversial transgender YouTuber apologized for making false claims about a transgender bodybuilder

• Blaire White is a "center-right" transgender YouTuber and political commentator with just under 1 million subscribers whose videos often criticize other transgender people.
• Two weeks ago, White uploaded a video about a female transgender bodybuilder named Janae Marie Kroc, in which White claimed that Kroc competes in powerlifting with cisgender women, which she believes would be unfair.
• Kroc responded on Instagram, saying that "everything she said about me was incorrect" and that she's only ever competed in the men's powerlifting division.
• White left the video up on her channel for two weeks as she continued to face criticism and lose subscribers, then apologized on October 15 and deleted the video.

A popular transgender YouTuber apologized for and deleted a takedown video that falsely claimed a female transgender bodybuilder had competed with other women in powerlifting.

Blaire White, 27, is a self-described "center-right" political commentator whose YouTube videos often criticize other transgender people, social justice activists, and alleged sexual predators. While White was previously able to surpass 1 million YouTube subscribers, she's also remained controversial for her support of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, her critiques of feminism and social justice movements like Black Lives Matter, and more recently, for making misleading and false claims about other transgender people.

In a video uploaded on September 27 titled "Trans Athlete: 'I Belong In Women's Sports, Get Over It!,'" White featured a segment about a transgender female bodybuilder and powerlifting champion named Janae Marie Kroc, who White accused of competing with cisgender women, which she says she believes is unfair.

White said that she believed that transgender women who transitioned after puberty have an unfair biological advantage compared to women athletes. She used Kroc as an example of why some US politicians have introduced legislation that would ban transgender girls from competing in girls' sports. The legislation has been criticized by transgender rights advocates as pandering during an election year, NBC News reported, with ACLU advocate Chase Strangio writing in a statement that the legislators are "opportunistically looking for ways to attack trans people."

In a response to White's video that Kroc posted on Instagram, where she has over 100,000 followers, she contested White's claims and wrote "everything she said about me was incorrect." Kroc says all of her powerlifting championships and records were performed before her transition, when she competed in the men's division, and says she has "no intention" of ever competing as a woman with other women.

It has just come to my attention that YouTuber @msblairewhite posted a video about trans athletes today in which she decided to feature me. Unfortunately everything she said about me was incorrect and as a result I am receiving a lot of hate. I have been very clear about the fact that all of the records I have broken and all of the championships that I have won in powerlifting were prior to my transition when I was still competing in the men's division. I have also been very vocal about the fact that I have never competed as a woman and have no intention of doing so in the future. This is not representative of my beliefs on all trans athletes, only my personal choice for myself. So if you see comments or posts in other places, which I'm sure many of you will, you now know the truth and if you so feel inclined please feel free to correct whoever is posting misinformation. Thanks everyone! ❤ #transgender #nonbinary #genderfluid #transathletes

A post shared by Janae Marie (@janaemariekroc) on Sep 27, 2020 at 7:20pm PDTSep 27, 2020 at 7:20pm PDT

Kroc also commented on White's YouTube video, writing "I really wish you had reached out to me before making a video including me and spreading a bunch of misinformation," and White appeared to have deleted the comment after it became the top comment under the video.

—belle (@bellesriddle) October 7, 2020

White didn't respond to Kroc or publicly address the contested claims or criticisms of the video until October 15, more than two weeks after uploading it. When she released an apology note on Twitter, White had already lost at least 5,000 subscribers since uploading the video about Kroc, according to Social Blade statistics.

—Blaire White (@MsBlaireWhite) October 15, 2020

In her apology, White wrote, "I made the mistake of not doing enough research and taking rumors about her at face value, which is something I complain about happening to me." She also announced she would be taking a break from social media and said the video was not "intentional deception."

White also said she had reached out to Kroc to apologize and had offered to give her the Adsense money from the video, which is the money White made from advertisements on the video.

White was criticized heavily for her most recent video, but waited for 2 weeks before deleting it

In her video about Kroc, which is now deleted, White said she has "no hatred" in her heart for Kroc, who she said "seems like a really nice person." She also said she wasn't making fun of Kroc's appearance, but then called it "outlandish."

"The concept of Janae competing against biological women is ludicrous, it's almost intentionally ignorant. Almost anyone who thinks that is some sort of level playing field is a liar," White said in the video. "The idea that Janae, who transitioned well into her adulthood and developed completely male, can now compete against women is bad. It's a bad idea. It's a failed idea."

White also falsely claimed that White has "gone back and forth competing with men and women."

We often view obstacles and setbacks as the roads that lead to failure. We see them as something that blocks our path to success. This is how I used to view being trans/nonbinary/genderfluid and initially it certainly seemed that way. When I was outed publicly I lost my biggest sponsors, my professional career was jeopardized, and it effectively ended my time as a pro powerlifter and bodybuilder. I felt like so much of my world was falling apart and it was devastating. I had worked so hard for so long to get to that point and it felt like everything was being taken from me. Even before all of that happened my gender identity was so distressing to me that I considered taking my own life. Little did I know that what I initially viewed as a horrible stroke of bad luck would actually become an opportunity to grow as a human being by leaps and bounds. It would teach me so much about others and even more about myself. It provided me with opportunities to educate and inspire people far beyond what I had ever done in the lifting world. What I initially saw as an insurmountable obstacle actually became my path to evolving and led me to places I could not have fathomed before. Perhaps, the biggest lesson I have learned when facing obstacles is how to see the benefit in almost any situation. Instead of focusing on the obvious negative aspects it has taught me to focus on the positive and that adjustment in attitude has been invaluable. It's also taught me not to fear difficult times and to believe in myself even when others do not. Even when a setback is nothing more than that it is still a valuable lesson and educator. It strengthens us and prepares us to be more resilient the next time we face difficulty in our lives. So the next time you face an obstacle instead of looking at it as a failure or something negative try looking for the lesson in it. Be open to being taught by this challenge and allow it to make you stronger and better prepared for the future. Sometimes, like with my gender identity, something that terrifies us and we initially see as the worst possible scenario actually becomes our path to achieving more than we thought possible.

A post shared by Janae Marie (@janaemariekroc) on Oct 4, 2020 at 12:30pm PDTOct 4, 2020 at 12:30pm PDT

Other commentary YouTubers who cover YouTube drama have ramped up their criticism of White since the September 27 video dropped. One video critiquing White, posted by Sam Collins, another transgender commentary YouTuber, has nearly half a million views.

"Blaire was always a rational person that I used to listen to as a younger trans guy," Collins said in the video, which criticized White's segment about Kroc. Collins brought up the 2017 Canadian documentary "Transformer," which features Kroc's transition story and decision not to compete against women.

"You're bashing on this person for views, to cater to your audience, I know how your audience is," Collins said. "And you know, if Blaire ever said something positive about somebody who was not the 'right kind' of trans, her audience would go ballistic. They would be like 'Blaire, what happened? You turned into a snowflake.'"

The vast majority of the comments on White's video were also negative, with the most-liked comment reading, "This video is factually incorrect. Janae is a close, personal friend of mine. She was also my coach for years. She has never competed as a woman. She is one of the most honest, most trustworthy, and most ethical people I've ever know. You should be absolutely ASHAMED of yourself. I wholeheartedly hope that she sues you. You owe Janae a public apology."

White and Kroc didn't respond to Insider's request for comment.

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