David Dobrik Issues Apology Amidst Sexual Assault Scandal

 David Dobrik has been a creator on YouTube since 2015 and has accumulated nearly 19 million subscribers. In their short weekly vlogs, Dobrik and his group of friends, the Vlog Squad, cause chaos, pull pranks, and on the outside it seems they just have more fun than everyone else. 

  Although Dobrik is often considered the king of YouTube, he has had his fair share of scandals. For years, he has neglected to speak on many of the accusations hurled by viewers around the world; but, the YouTube star’s recent hiatus brought the perfect opportunity for his former friends and colleagues to bring forth allegations of sexual misconduct and bullying against Dobrik. 

  Only within the past month, in a video titled “03/22/21” on his main channel and another titled “Let’s Talk” on his podcast channel, has Dobrik ever addressed his wrongdoings. The two videos received almost 20 million views combined.  

  In the two videos Dobrik owns up to the sexual assault and rape allegations and the jokes he has made regarding the assaults one of the former members of the Vlog Squad committed. Everything he covered was nothing short of a textbook apology.

  However, Dobrik’s apology neglects to address the majority of other issues he has caused throughout his YouTube career. Former African American Vlog Squad member Seth Francois spoke out against Dobrik and his social group in 2020 through a video titled “accountability to all creators.” The video featured The Vlog Squad making racist jokes, participating in Blackface, offering Francois watermelon, and labeling him “their only black friend.”

  In Feb. 2020, another former member of the Vlog Squad, Nick Keswani, revealed that being a part of Dobrik’s team ruined his mental health. Keswani suffers from a rare form of dwarfism and the team would often mock him for his height and other disabilities. Keswani admitted he “felt worthless being in those videos” and constantly questioned why he was even there.

  Additionally, numerous clips have resurfaced from Dobrik’s older videos emphasizing his racist “jokes” and calling attention to his pattern of using minorities to give the impression of inclusivity. In reality, Dobrik attempted to use members of the LGBTQ+ community to gain views and popularity.

  This barely scratches the surface of the offenses David Dobrik has committed, and he has yet to speak on almost all of them. Amidst the scandal, Dobrik has lost over 400,000 subscribers and almost 100,000 Instagram followers. It is easy to see that the once almighty YouTube star will have to do much more if he wants to regain the popularity and ratings he once had.