Shane Dawson quietly returned to social media for the first time since he fled the internet in July with an Instagram story about his fiancée

• Shane Dawson quietly returned to social media with an Instagram story about his fiancée Ryland Adams.
• He congratulated Adams on hosting a new talk show and thanked him for being his “rock.”
• It’s the first time he’s posted anything on his social media accounts since he fled the internet in July.
• Dawson’s past came back to haunt him with a tidal wave of old offensive content that resurfaced over the summer.
• He apologized for blackface, racial slurs, and sexualizing animals and children in a video but has been silent since.
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Shane Dawson made a quiet return to social media since his fall from grace over the summer. He posted an Instagram story about his fiancée Ryland Adams and congratulated him for his new podcast “The Sip.”

“I wasn’t planning on coming back to the internet for a while,” Dawson said in a written statement. “But today is a special day for my best friend, and I want to be there for him the way he has always been there for me.”

He said he had a lot to say and would address his controversies in time, but wanted to talk about Adams first.

“He’s been my rock and my best friend since the day I met him,” he said. “He’s always been there for me and helped me be more kind to myself, which is something I’ve always struggled with.”

Dawson posted a few photos of Adams and explained how having a talk show was always his fiancée’s dream.

"I probably won't be back for a while, but I just wanted to say hi and support my man," he said alongside a selfie. "Hope you guys are having a good day."

Dawson has been mostly absent from the internet since an apology video called "Taking Accountability" where he addressed the old old content, including videos of him in blackface, using racial slurs, and making jokes about sexualizing minors, that had resurfaced over the summer.

Fans and critics alike turned on Dawson, and his friend and colleague Jeffree Star, further when Tati Westbrook dropped her explosive exposé where she accused Star and Dawson of manipulation and gaslighting. She suggested Dawson and Star pushed her into releasing her "Bye Sister" video in 2019, where she called out James Charles for what she alleged was inappropriate behavior around straight men and being a bad friend, as a means to promote their upcoming documentary about making an eyeshadow palette together.

Dawson responded in real-time to the video in an Instagram livestream. Over 250,000 people immediately joined to watch him pace around his home and yell "oh my God" over and over for the few minutes he was online.

He said Westbrook was twisting what actually happened, and rolled his eyes when she said she was vulnerable to manipulation as a victim of sexual assault.

"You are so manipulative," he said. "You're fake crying. You are fake crying, that is not real. Oh my god."

He then tweeted: "THIS IS A F---ING LIE AND IM LOSING MY MIND!!!!!!!!!!"

This was the last the internet saw of Dawson on social media until he reappeared in a video posted by Adams in September, which was met with mixed feelings. Some said it was too soon for a return, while others said they were happy and relieved to see him again. A caption at the start noted the footage was from June 15, a couple of weeks before the drama unfolded.

While he hasn't been publicly visible, Dawson has dropped new merchandise twice during his YouTube break, which critics have also been skeptical of. Morphe and Target both removed his products from their stores after a video resurfaced of Dawson appearing to sexualize Willow Smith as a minor.

"Is he trying to get money because his channel got demonetized or some s--t?" one person wrote on Twitter. "You really expect people to buy this?"

Dawson still has a 20 million-strong following on YouTube, so he would probably return to a solid fanbase if he ever decides to. He's apologized for his past before and only come back stronger as he grew a fanbase who knew nothing of his old content.

However, in this era of accountability, and more eyes on him than ever, Dawson may not outrun his past this time.

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• Disgraced YouTuber Shane Dawson may have just quietly returned to the platform, and people have mixed feelings
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• Shane Dawson quietly launched new merchandise while staying silent on his controversies
• Morphe has removed Shane Dawson's makeup range from its online store after he was accused of sexualizing Willow Smith as a minor and wearing blackface