Jeff FM/YouTube
- Jeff Wittek responded to allegations that he was using his eye injury as a "cash grab."
- In a podcast episode, he said he was called out for "milking" his accident for views.
- "I lost my vision because of it but 60Gs is 60Gs," Wittek said.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
YouTuber Jeff Wittek addressed allegations that he was using an accident from June 2020 to gain views and make money. "I've been getting called out for milking my accident," Wittek said in a recent podcast episode.
Wittek was injured after swinging from an excavator controlled by David Dobrik, the head of the Vlog Squad YouTube collective that Wittek was a part of.
Recently, Dobrik and the Vlog Squad faced backlash after several of the members were accused of sexual misconduct. Jason Nash was accused of sexual assault by former member Seth Francois after they filmed a kissing "prank" in 2017. In March 2021, an Insider investigation surfaced allegations of rape from an anonymous woman against former member Dominykas Zeglaitis, better known as Durte Dom.
Following the accusations, their content was re-examined with fresh eyes, and many questioned the type of environment Dobrik, and the Vlog Squad created.
-Def Noodles (@defnoodles) May 20, 2021
When Wittek initially got hurt, he didn't speak about the cause of his injury for nearly 10 months until he uploaded a four-part docuseries to YouTube, which he also uploaded uncensored to his subscription-based Patreon. Wittek spoke about the accident in the second part of his docu-series, which was released on April 18, and finally revealed the truth behind his injury.
In his first podcast episode for "Jeff FM," Wittek spoke about accusations that he was doing the docu-series for money. "At first, I was pissed off when I heard it, but it's actually very funny because you guys nailed it. You caught me. I saw it as a cash grab," he said sarcastically in the podcast episode.
He went on to joke that the Vlog Squad had "team meetings" about ideas they had, and the excavator stunt was one of the ideas. "How about we go to a lake in Utah, and I want you to smash my face with a fu----- crane," he joked in the podcast episode. "And then we're gonna get fu----- paid when I put it on Patreon... I don't give a f--- if my eye comes out, we're gonna get rich off this sh--."
Wittek was projected to make millions from his Patreon alone in an estimate from Tubefilter.
-Def Noodles (@defnoodles) May 20, 2021
He continued to sarcastically say, "I lost my vision because of it, but hey fu-----, 60 Gs is 60 Gs," using a slang term for thousands.
Representatives for Wittek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.