This is nothing but speculation, but I get the feeling this triggered something 'Behind the Scenes';
-Either IRL family or friends confronting him about it, or something (IIRC, He still lives in Florida. Not exactly a progressive state).
-Maybe he's got a few skeletons in his closet he doesn't want to get out and this might be hitting too close for comfort.
-Or maybe it's just a really fragile Ego (Years ago, before he was big, I heard through the grapevine that he was very asshole-ish and fragile and 'overcompensated' quite a bit)
The only reason I would even say this is because I doubt that this generally lukewarm take (compared to some other controversies) would be enough to force him to take a break, considering that I'm sure a large portion of his chronically online fanbase probably agrees with him and would probably defend him.