David Dobrik
David Dobrik / Vlog Squad
  • David Dobrik and the Vlog Squad are mired in controversy after an Insider investigation reported an allegation of rape against a 2018 Vlog Squad member.
  • David Dobrik trend on social media, with multiple influencers sharing their thoughts on the situation.
  • Dobrik's YouTube subscriber count also appears to be dropping, according to Social Blade.
  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

YouTube star David Dobrik and his crew the Vlog Squad are facing intense scrutiny following an Insider investigation published Tuesday that included an allegation of rape from an anonymous woman against a 2018 member of the squad who goes by Durte Dom.

Influencers have been abuzz with conversations about the Vlog Squad and Dobrik, and Social Blade, a website that tracks YouTube subscriber counts, reports that Dobrik has lost around 100,000 subscribers in a day, bringing his follower count to 18.8 million. His second channel has lost over 10,000 subscribers, according to Socialblade.

In recent years, it's been common for online media consumers to react to controversy via mass unfollowings. The numbers could reflect the current state of discourse around Dobrik and the Vlog Squad, which is being played out online.

Influencers and online personalities digested the investigation on Twitter

YouTubers like Jenny Nicholson and Nicholas DeOrio shared their thoughts on the story and Dobrik's legacy moving forward. Nicholson tweeted, "It's wild only having heard-his-name-before familiarity with David Dobrik and then finding out about his scandal." Nicholas DeOrio commented on the Insider investigation, tweeting, "This is an interesting read. I assume this being discussed is going to be incredibly damaging to David, the Vlog squad, and Trisha. That group seems like a rabbit hole worth looking into after all."

Old clips of influencers calling out Dobrik, claiming that he was the next one to get "canceled" have also started to surface. Logan Paul, known infamously for filming what appeared to be a dead body in Japan and more recently for causing a Pokemon card boom, said on a June 2019 ImPaulsive podcast that "if you keep this attitude up, your time is coming." YouTuber PsychedIRL said in a July 2020 video about Shane Dawson that "the next big influencer that's going to have a cancellation is David Dobrik."

Hours after the story's release, Dobrik released a two-minute apology video on his second channel which did not directly address the allegations made in the Insider story. Twitter users shared memes about the apology, comparing it to other famous YouTube apologies, and speculating about the motivations behind it.

Commentary channels shared their thoughts on the story as well as Dobrik's apology. Dennis Feitosa, known as YouTuber DefNoodles, has been posting old clips from Dobrik's vlogs for the past few weeks and has shared on his feed clips from Dobrik's deleted vlog as well as a podcast conversation where Dobrik discussed the video reported on in Insider's investigation. Daniel "Keemstar" Keem, wrote Dobrik "missed the mark" with the apology video and in a later tweet added that the story "has some weight to it."

Trisha Paytas and Jeff Wittek discussed the allegations in a Twitter exchange

Trisha Paytas, an internet provocateur that's been extremely critical of Dobrik and the Vlog Squad who also dated Vlog Squad member Jason Nash, claims to have been at the party the night of the event and spoke to Insider for its investigation. She tweeted saying that Vlog Squad members Jeff Wittek and Todd Smith "bought alcohol" for the people at the party, which Wittek previously denied to Insider. Wittek responded to the tweet, saying that he "didn't buy anything for anyone."

In a now-deleted tweet, Wittek wrote "nobody told me sh-- I thought it was a consensual bit."

Paytas then went on to post a series of tweets, writing that the article was "hard to read."

Read the original article on Insider