Vlog Squad’s assault: Did David Dobrik’s response destroy his career?
YouTuber David Dobrik has finally addressed some of the allegations against him kind of, posting a video on his VIEWS channel in which the Vlog Squad member discusses the unfolding situation involving himself and some of his past videos.
The video, which was posted on Tuesday night and runs just under three minutes in length, is titled “Let’s Talk”. Comments were disabled for this video as well as the likes-to-dislikes ratio, giving Dobrik a space to speak freely without the possible onslaught of trolls & haters.
So what exactly did Vlog Squad member David Dobrik discuss in the video, and will it be enough to get him off the hook? Let’s delve into the full story.
Who is David Dobrik?
David Dobrik was born on July 23rd, 1996, in Slovakia, where he spent six years of his life until his family moved to Vernon Hills, Illinois. After David Dobrik graduated from high school in 2013, he moved to Los Angeles so that he could seek out a career in Vine, a once-upon-a-time short-form video hosting service that’s behind the popularity of many of today’s YouTube stars.
After collaborating with other Viners, Dobrik eventually launched his own YouTube channel in 2015, uploading a wide range of videos from semi-scripted bits to real-life situations. In 2016, Dobrik launched a second channel, David Dobrik Too, where he posts more sponsor-friendly videos, bloopers, and challenges for Vlog Squad fans. Today, David Dobrik has over 18,900,000 subscribers on YouTube. Damn.
What’s with the allegations?
Last month, only a week after Dobrik was called out by Nick “BigNik” Keswani, former Vlog Squad member Seth Francois claimed that Dobrik forced him to kiss Jason Nash without his consent.
The twenty-six-year-old personality appeared on the H3H3 podcast to talk about the situation, as well as why he left the Vlog Squad. Francois spoke on how the infamous kissing video with the forty-seven-year-old Nash took place without his consent, and how it played a major role in leaving the Vlog Squad.
He stated the following: “A large chunk of it being related to being in the Vlog squad and being in David’s content. I decided to move to Atlanta because when I was in LA, after dealing with that video with Jason. Millions of people are misconstruing about my own sexuality and how I feel about participating in something that he didn’t have my consent for.”
When asked to be a bit more specific regarding the event, Seth Francois delved a bit deeper into the actual video that made him uncomfortable, as well as the possible motivation behind it:
“It was a video where David set up with Jason Nash and Corinna (Kopf) and said that I was supposed to do a make-out scene with Corinna and he was gonna have her in an old man mask and then switched her out with Jason Nash. After Jason pulled off his mask, I realized that I was just touched by someone I did not consent to.”
As well, it should be noted that on Tuesday, before the release of Dobrik’s apology video, that Insider published an investigation that included allegations from a woman who states that she was “raped” during the filming of a 2018 Vlog Squad video. She claims that she was given alcohol by members of the Vlog Squad until she passed out, which then led to group sex that she did not consent to.
Let’s Talk
In David Dobrik’s video, he stated the following: “Consent is something that’s super, super important to me. Whether I am shooting with a friend, or I am shooting with a stranger, I make sure whatever video I am putting out I have the approval from that person.”
He continued: “With the Seth situation, I am sorry to Seth. I just want to make videos where everyone who is participating is enjoying and having a good time. I missed the mark with that one, and I am really sorry. I truly, truly am. I have been really disappointed with some of my friends, and for that reason, I have separated from a lot of them.”
While Dobrik did offer more insight, he concluded his soliloquy with the following: “I also believe actions speak a lot louder than words. You can take my word for it that I’m going to change, but I will also show you and prove to you that mistakes I made before won’t be happening again.”
