Rachel Accurso, the popular YouTube star for young children known as Ms Rachel, says she is facing “bullying” after launching a fundraiser for children in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Accurso, who has more than 9 million subscribers on YouTube and is known for her colorful, educational videos that weave in music and dancing, has faced online backlash after being accused of failing to include children in Israel in a fundraiser she launched.
In an emotional video posted to TikTok this week, Accurso said that “the bullying is so bad” and that she is being accused of not caring about all children.
“Saying I don’t care about all kids, it just hurts so bad. That’s who I am,” Accurso said through tears.
In the video’s caption, Accurson wrote: “I care deeply for all children. Palestinian children, Israeli children, children in the US – Muslim, Jewish, Christian children - all children, in every country. Not one is excluded.”
Accurso added that her drive to withstand the harassment comes from “imagining for one second what a mom is going through, unable to feed her child or give her child clean water or keep her child safe”.
On 13 May, Accurso launched a fundraiser for the emergency fund of the non-profit Save the Children, where Accurso serves as an ambassador. The emergency fund is specifically for children living in conflict, natural disasters, or other crises, according to Save the Children’s website.
Accurso raised $50,000 in partnership with Cameo, a website which allows users to buy personalized videos from celebrities.
In a video announcing the fundraiser, Accurso said she hoped to “make little ones smile by giving them a personal video” with the money helping “children living in unimaginable circumstances”.
“Children should never experience the horrors of war. These are grave violations of their human rights,” she said, adding that her heart was “completely broken” given the various conflicts.
Since then, online commenters have alleged she purposely ignored children in Israel.
“What about Israeli children Ms Rachel,” wrote one commenter on Instagram.
Another person commented that Accurso should do a video on Israeli children who were “kidnapped from their cribs or the ones who were burned to death”.
Accurso has since turned off the ability to comment on her most recent Instagram posts.
Amid the backlash, many online have been supportive of Accurso’s fundraising efforts.
“Couldn’t comment on your most recent video but thank you Ms Rachel for using your platform to raise money for children suffering in Gaza and everywhere else,” wrote one person on Instagram.
Another user wrote: “Thank you for speaking up for the Palestinian children.”
Accurso has previously used her platform to advocate for political issues that impact children. Recently, Accurso called out the lack of paid maternity and paternity leave in the US and criticized New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, for cutting funds to the city’s early education programs.
