Back in September, YouTube comedian Nicole Arbour landed in hot water over a clip called « Dear Fat People. » The fat-shaming video went viral and got her channel removed from YouTube, though it was later reinstated. Now, Arbour is claiming that the video was all part of a larger plan, one that made her thousands.

In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Arbour claims that the most controversial video of the year, which has been viewed nearly nine million times, was all a marketing scheme.

« I made a marketing plan behind it, the same way that anyone makes marketing plans for anything, » she said. « So, I kind of loaded the bases, like baseball. »

Starting in August, Arbour posted three different videos that poked fun at Instagram models, divorce, and crazy girls before uploading « Dear Fat People, » which earned so much negative feedback that Arbour disabled comments entirely.

Before these videos, Arbour mostly posted milder fare like « The History of Cosplay » and « Blonde’s Guide to the Superbowl, » but these controversial clips were all part of her plan to show the world her comedic chops. While many didn’t get the joke, Arbour says she’s been laughing all the way to the bank.