Trigger Warning
David Dobrik and his Youtube “Vlog Squad” are under scrutiny after sexual assault allegations have been made over the few past weeks. The 24-year-old Youtuber has 18.8 million subscribers and recently launched an app called Dispo; an app that resembles the same attributes as a film camera and allows users to capture moments and share them among friends. It could be said that Dobrik is one of the most successful YouTubers on the platform. Due to his high status in the influencer world, he can seem “uncancellable”. However, in March, it was made clear that this is not the case.
Youtuber David Dobrik apologizes for his actions in a video titled 03/22/21.
The accusations began back in 2017, where Doprik filmed former Vlog Squad member Seth Francois as he was tricked into kissing Jason Nash, another Vlog Squad member, all the while he thought he was kissing fellow member and model, Corrina Kopf. It wasn’t til Nash revealed himself after the kiss that Francois realized he was not kissing who Doprik told him he was going to kiss.
It wasn’t until three years later, on June 2, Francois uploaded a video in regards to his involvement with the Vlog Squad and how being part of such videos made him feel. On Feb. 12, 2021, Francois spoke up again on the H3H3 podcast where he shared to podcast hosts Ethan and Hila Klein that in that specific video with Nash, he did not give consent to Dobrik for that to happen.“I was touched by someone I did not consent to,” said Francois on the H3H3 podcast.
On March 16, Insider reporter Kat Tenbarge wrote an article about a vlog Dobrik uploaded on Nov. 28, 2018, which focuses on Vlog Squad member and childhood friend to Dobrik, Dominykas Zegaitis, also known as “Durte Dom”, having a threesome. Tenbarge uses pseudonyms to keep the identities of the women anonymous; Hannah, Sarah, and Audry, who are the only individuals “named” out of the seven women who met with Dobrik and his Vlog Squad to film a video after conversing over Instagram with Zegaitis.
The women who came to see the Vlog Squad were under the age of legal drinking, therefore, it is shared to Tenbarge, that alcohol was provided for the woman by vlog squad members. “Sarah also said she remembers Smith and Wittek coming back to the apartment with Smith holding a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whisky.” wrote Tenbarge.
According to interviews between Hannah, Sarah, and Tenbarge, Hannah was sexually assaulted by Zegaitis while so intoxicated that her friend, Audry, recalls Hannah becoming incoherent when sexual acts began to take place.
“I remember you were starting to close your eyes and just were drunk…” wrote Audry in a text that Hannah shared with Insider. Audry confirmed with Hannah that she intervened between Hannah and Zegaitis to get Zegaitis away, therefore transitioning to having sexual acts Zegaitis.
Due to the allegations made by Hannah, Dobrik has since lost a great number of sponsorships, one of those being Seat Geek, who allows Dobrik to give away Teslas on Instagram. Sponsorships are extremely significant to a content creator’s life because sponsorships, like Seat Geek, bring in money to the influencer. Since then, vlog squad members have made videos either clearing their side of the story or, similar to Dobrik, apologizing to Hannah for the assault. It is under question whether Dobrik’s apology is sincere as it appears that Dobrik made his apology videos once he began losing sponsorships.
It is clear that Dobrik created the environment for this foul event to unfold and though Dobrik was not the one who committed the sexual assault, Dobrik provided a space for the events to take place, proceeded to upload the video, gain views, and simply benefit from someone else’s traumatic experience.
Being a creator, especially on Youtube, requires being consistent and creative. However, what most creators sometimes overlook, like Dobrik, is being a creator also requires responsibility. Not to mention, these creators are often looked up to by the young generation and take what they see as “tolerable” in the influencers world and could apply it to theirs.
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