Italian YouTuber rejects Chinese sponsorship over Taiwan demand

Italian YouTuber rejects Chinese sponsorship over Taiwan demand

2025-12-22

An Italian bassist with over 13.6 million followers on YouTube recently shared in a video that five years ago, he got a sponsorship deal with a Chinese mobile game. But just as he was getting ready to upload the video, the company demanded he delete a comment he made saying that “Taiwan IS a country,” or else it would cancel the deal worth US$75,000. He refused, saying it’s just common knowledge.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Italian YouTuber Davide Biale, who goes by the handle Davie504, spent US$10,000 out-of-pocket to buy 15 bass guitars for a fan giveaway. It was for a video that was to be the biggest sponsorship deal of his career. But just before he was about to post it, the company made a demand over a comment he previously wrote, saying, “Taiwan IS a country.”

Davide Biale
YouTuber
They wanted me to delete one YouTube comment I wrote one year earlier. I stared at my screen like I just got jump-scared in a horror game. It turns out the mobile game company was from a country that didn’t like at all this kind of comment. You can guess which country.

The story happened five years before. At the time, the mobile game company partnered with the influencer to create a 60-second video for a total of US$75,000, or about NT$2.33 million. But the company waited until after the video was finished and the contract signed to demand that he delete the comment, or else it would cancel the entire deal.

Davide Biale
YouTuber
And this is not even political. It’s just geography. Like, literally. Just go on Google Maps and you will see it too. What really matters is, I kept my integrity, my comment, my free speech, and I learned a powerful lesson. Some brands want to buy your silence more than your sponsorship.

Davide ended up rejecting the sponsorship and posted the video anyway with the sections promoting the game taken out, absorbing all costs himself. It’s common knowledge that Taiwan is a country, he said. After all, he’s married to a Taiwanese woman and lived in Taiwan for a time.

The original comment was from this video he made in 2019.

Over footage of himself playing bass in front of Taipei 101, he overlaid text saying he was in the country of Taiwan. It drew the ire of Chinese users, who even tried to get him blocked. But in the comments, he said, “Taiwan IS a country.” The comment is still there today, and Davide has proven through his actions the value of free speech.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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#freespeech #YouTuber #Davie504 #bassist #sponsorship #coercion #economiccoercion #sovereignty #Taiwan #littlepinks

拒絕廠商施壓損失百萬業配義大利網紅喊台灣是國家

2025-12-22

一名在YouTube上，擁有超過1360萬訂閱的義大利網紅，專門拍Bass彈奏影片，最近揭露，五年前曾接下一個手遊公司業配，但影片拍完準備上傳時，卻遭廠商施壓，要他刪除提到"台灣是個國家"的網路留言，否則將撤銷所有業配費用，約233萬元，最後他果斷拒絕，強調台灣是個國家，是基本常識。

疫情期間，義大利YouTuber Davide，自掏腰包花了超過30萬元，買了15把貝斯，大方送給觀眾們，原本要迎來人生最大筆業配的影片，但沒想到在上傳前，被贊助商施壓，因為他曾經留言過"台灣是個國家"。

[[義大利網紅 Davide Biale]]
“他們要我刪掉一年前發過的一則 YouTube 留言。我看著螢幕，像是被恐怖遊戲嚇到。原來這家手遊公司來自一個非常不喜歡那類留言的國家，你應該猜得出是哪個。”

五年後首度公開這段故事，當時手遊公司提出誘人的合作，60秒業配，給7萬5千美元報酬，約新台幣233萬元，但等影片拍完、雙方簽完合約後，贊助商卻要他，刪除台灣是個國家的留言，否則一毛都拿不到。

[[義大利網紅 Davide Biale]]
“這留言也不是政治，那只是地理常識，真的到 Google 地圖看就知道了。但重要的是，我保住了我的原則。我的留言、我的言論自由。也學到一個殘酷的道理：有些品牌想買的不是你的業配，是你的沉默。”

Davide最後拒絕廠商，重新上傳刪除業配部分的影片，所有費用自行吸收，他強調台灣是國家，是基本常識。畢竟他本人談了跨國戀愛，成為台灣女婿，就住在這裡。

之所以會有這則留言，其實來自於2019年的這部影片。

在台北101前彈奏bass，影片字卡標註國家寫著台灣，當時引發小粉紅不滿，甚至封殺他，Davide才會在留言區回嗆，台灣是個國家。如今留言屹立不搖，他也用行動證明，言論自由的珍貴。

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