A YouTube-famous father of biracial children is under fire after people found his old racist tweets (2024)

• Justin McClure, a white man, co-runs a YouTube page with more than 1 million subscribers about his biracial toddler twins and infant son.
• People found old tweets of his that expressed racist views.
• McClure apologized, blaming them on a past he's left behind.
• But one of the tweets is from 2014, after his kids were born.

To more than 1 million subscribers, the McClure parents are a source of heartwarming, innocent content about about what their toddler twins and infant son are up to.

They occasionally delve into more serious issues, too, like children's health. And since Justin McClure is white and Ami is black, they also often discuss issues that come with being in an interracial relationship and having biracial children.

But earlier this week, something happened that shook their fans. Old tweets from Justin McClure resurfaced, from between 2011 and 2014, of racist comments from the family's Twitter account. Bossipfirst reportedon the tweets.

—Man of the Decade (@MissZindzi) July 8, 2018

"Black people can't say 'ask' but they have no trouble saying Cadillac Escalade," Justin McClure wrote in one tweet.

In another tweet, he said black woman name their children names like "Chandelier, Lasagna, Constellation," and "Walgreens."

McClureapologized for the tweets, criticized them, and explained that they were a part of his life that he left behind. McClure said he's been open about his former past as an alcoholic, which has led to stints in jail and then rehabilitation, where he turned his life around. The tweets appeared on the family account, he explained, because the account was previously used for his comedy career.

"These tweets — or 'jokes' — were very distasteful. It's not a reflection of my humor now. I was a very insecure person," he said in a video. "Years of therapy, years of sobriety [helped] change my life."

—McClure Twins Family (@McClureTwins) July 9, 2018

—McClure Twins Family (@McClureTwins) July 9, 2018

In addition to the racist jokes in his tweets, people found a blog post Justin McClure wrote in 2013 about interracial dating. The post was ultimately about how interracial dating is a good thing, buthe also spread black stereotypes.

In one part of the essay, he said black men can be more aggressive than white men when seeking out women.

"White guys are too busy thinking of getting coffee to talk to a sister on the street. Black guys don’t care," he wrote. "A black man could be on fire, burning to death, and would still talk to a woman on the street before he jumped in a pond, 'Hey I know I’m on fire and sh*t, but damn baby you is looking good. Hope you like me extra crispy?'"

The revelation of the old tweets and blog post infuriated some people who have followed McClure's YouTube career. Some critics accused him of being an opportunist — using his biracial kids to gain subscribers.

—Tops (@SincerelyTops) July 9, 2018

—Black Women get killed by cops, too. (@CameraOnAmazon) July 8, 2018

—Martenzie Johnson (@Martenzie) July 9, 2018

—April (@April_Janaye) July 8, 2018

—Eunice (@ewnndungu) July 10, 2018

In his apology video, McClure said he worked through his past issues to become the person he is now, and that having a family was part of his transformation.

"Through that, I met my family. I became a husband and a father, which I did not think I was capable of doing," he said. "I had to get through the person who said those distasteful things to get to the person I am now."

Ami also supported him, suggesting it was absurd to call McClure's jokes racist.

"Were they bad jokes? Absolutely," she said. "But were they racist? I mean, really?"

But critics are seizing on the timing of one of the racist tweets. It was posted in 2014, after his daughters were already born.

"Mark my word...one day a black woman will name her child Allergies. 'My Allergies been acting up lately...daaaaam," he wrote.

A post shared by JUSTIN K. MCCLURE (@jkmcclure)Jun 17, 2018 at 7:19am PDT

MClure said he doesn't find them funny now.

"It really comes down to how insecure I was and the validation I was trying to seek from an audience," he said in his apology video. "I had to work on myself to get healthy and therefore do not find any of those things funny now."

He also says he hopes that people understand he's changed and see him as an inspiration for turning one's life around, rather than dwelling on the past.

"I want my story to be about inspiring people and showing how much the human spirit is capable of. But if you want to look at the old things, then you can do that," he said. "Or you can look at some of our current work as a family and maybe become inspired by that."

The McClure family didn't immediately respond to INSIDER's request for comment.