don't call it a comeback....
according to the writer of halo, sometimes it is too late to apologise
Cancel culture is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days. It is so overused/misused that my friends and I joke “I hate those shoes; don’t cancel me.” Cancelling someone on the internet tends to be over more serious things that have been said and done but the consequences for those “cancelled” individuals generally hold the same weight over minor disagreements between my friends and I. Usually, it equates to people no longer turning a blind eye to someone’s bad behaviour and not engaging with their content for a few months. But after the outrage campaign dies down, the majority of the person’s fans will rally around them and life goes on.
We live during a time where the news cycle is on a hamster wheel so it is easy to forget or even care about the comebacks of these “disgraced” persons of interest. While discussing Louis CK’s show was the highlight of my time with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau back in 2015, my current life continues without interruption regardless if Louis CK decides to tour the country making lame jokes, but his victims have to see him be lauded and go about his life like nothing happened. Most of the people who have commit crimes in every day life get away with it so it really never shocks me that nothing truly seems to come from someone making a twitter thread or even a major publication breaking the news of someone’s wrong doings.
Last summer, one of youtube’s biggest creators found themselves being the exception to that rule. The downfall of Shane Dawson had been building for years with Shane himself documenting and uploading all the footage that would later lead to him only able to make tens of millions from a makeup palette with alleged sexual assailant Jeffree Star. Months later, his old frenemy James Charles would self-confess on camera to inappropriate behaviour with minors. And youtube’s golden boy David Dobrik was finally held accountable for his reckless behaviour after an article dropped about his proximity and documentation of an alleged sexual assault by his former roommate and friend in a now deleted vlog.
“I really missed the mark on that one.” David, 24, said in his apology video, referencing the two times he tricked his friend Seth to make out with a 44 year old man for his vlog.
“I was being reckless.” James, 21, remarks in his whispered apology where he said the minors he exchanged texts and pictures with lied about their age, even though their ages are heavily documented in the same accounts Jim Charlie used to contact them through.
“Blackface was something that I did a lot. Like, I did it a lot on my channel. There’s no excuse for it, there’s literally no excuse.” Shane, 32, starts in his latest apology video. He continues, “My excuse [was] ‘I was just being funny, I love black people, I’m not a racist.’ I was trying to be funny.”
I do not think a single one of them should be back on youtube. They are all three very different situations but all have a very similar lack of understanding regarding the consequences of their actions.
James Charles should be banned from Snapchat. He is ALLEGEDLY (but how allegedly is it when he self-confessed and there are countless tiktoks with young boys showing proof he used that app to communicate with them) committing crimes on it. Unfortunately I do agree with tiktok himbo Noah Beck that James will be back. I do not share his “I am here for him whatever he needs and I hope if something like that were to happen to me I would hope he would be there for me, as well.” MY hope is that the recently turned 20 year old with over 35 million followers across his social media platforms is just a very kind and naive person and not fully aware of the severity of the situation.
In my opinion, someone who has been plagued by allegations of improper sexual conduct for years should take more than just a month off the internet when the majority of their fans are impressionable young people. This is not speculation or rumours. I do not think he needs to be on instagram or snapchat or tiktok ever again. Those are places he has self admitted are like dating apps for him. There are actual dating apps available, even ones specifically for well known individuals that would be far more morally and age appropriate for him. This is not a distasteful/racist tweet, nor is it an incorrect gummy vitamin endorsement. These are actual crimes committed against minors in a way that seems like a pattern of behaviour that has landed other people (even youtubers) in jail. Many more than the two minors that James acknowledged in his recent apology video have come forward so it is unclear the extent of damage he has allegedly caused. And it may seem easier to just brush it under youtube’s rug and continue on after ¿a month? of mostly silence, this is beneficial neither to the victims or James himself. James is only 21 so he has the time and the means to get help. I do not know what that entails but I do infer that it will take more than a few weeks offline.
Shane Dawson has taken nearly a year off since Willow Smith’s family publicly denounced him after a video resurfaced of him pretending to masturbate to a photo of her when she was 11. There was also the cat he DID NOT have sex with.
The aforementioned plethora of blackface and racial slurs/stereotypes. Sexualising children. Joking about pedophilia and murder frequently. Giving a redemption platform to undeserving candidates. Coercing a minor to give him a lap dance on video. Coercing an 18 year old to pee on him on video. The list goes on but my stomach feels sick just typing these out so I digress. I do not think he should comeback to youtube despite his fans praise and welcoming arms. He is so manipulative that even his best friend did not realise what he was doing behind her back for ten years. So not entirely sure that type of person deserves a giant platform they built promoting racism and shock humour to children.
David Dobrik spent years documenting the shenanigans of his friends, strangers, and even celebrities in 4 minutes and 20 seconds of quick cuts and boisterous laughter. The chopped up puzzle pieces remained littered on his channel until Ethan Klein and Trisha Paytas really took the time and energy to put them together. Trisha used to joke about taking down David if she and then boyfriend (the aforementioned 44 year that was down to “prank” a 22 year old by rubbing on and making out with him in costume. twice.) But she can hardly be blamed for David being held accountable for things he even did years before he did his first mukbang with her. While his friend Jeff’s documentary about his life altering eye injury (that resulted from David’s possibly unlicensed operation of an excavator for a vlog) somehow seems to be almost redemptive to David, I think it is undeniable proof that vlogging is not something David should ever involve himself with again.
His sense of humour and desire for content too often puts other people’s safety at risk. I do not think silly little videos or any entertainment videos are worth someone being permanently physically and/or emotionally damaged/assaulted. He started twitch streaming video games when he originally stopped vlogging because of covid. He also has a pizza company, a photo app (he had to leave the board of), perfume company, countless other business endeavours, and a gorgeous new multimillion dollar mansion he could spend his time indulging. Jeff could be dead right now if he had hit that excavator at a different angle. But three years before the accident, he could have joined David, Todd, and Nick for been an accessory to Dom’s aLLeGeD crime. How many “freak” accidents or “missed the mark” moments need to happen before enough is enough? How many lines will he be comfortable crossing before he is Shane Dawson?
How many victims do the three of them have to leave in their wake before youtube holds them accountable? I know deplatforming is an uncomfortable topic for a lot of people but is it more uncomfortable than more victims left unnecessarily scarred for life?