Shane Dawson once held the title of “The King of Youtube.” But after documented controversial behavior resurfaced last year, the YouTuber faced backlash, losing millions of followers and getting demonetized.
The 32-year-old broke his social media silence and hinted at a return. In a post featuring fiancée, Ryland Adams, Dawson captioned “Dads left the house.”
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He continued, “❤️ Ps. I know I haven’t posted a video in a long time and I promise it’s not because I don’t want to. I’m just trying to stay in a good mindset and be happy. I promise I’m not going to abandon my channel after 15 years of creating 🙏🏻 Just been re-evaluating my life the last year and figuring out what I want to do with it. Life is short and I’m grateful for every second of it. Hope you guys are doing well! I miss you! :,)’
His post was followed by support from YouTuber, Glozell and reality star, Tiffany “New York” Pollard. Even That’s So Raven’s Anneliese Vanderpol commented “Makes ABSOLUTE sense. Stay off this thing as long as you need. Seriously not worth it and you owe no one nothing. Xoxo”
However, many are still apprehensive about giving Dawson a pass.
Before Dawson changed the format of his YouTube channel to documentary-focused content, he was known for his over-the-top humor and contentious alter egos.
Shane Dawson was “canceled” last year after footage of past behavior resurfaced, including videos of him in black-face, using the N-word, and inappropriate jokes about children.
But it was the straw that broke the camel’s back when Jaden and Jada Pinkett Smith condemned Dawson over a video where he pretended to masturbate to a poster of an 11-year-old Willow Smith.
Following the backlash, Dawson released a video in late June of last year titled “taking accountability,” where he apologized for “all the racism that I put onto the internet” and also addressed his pedophilic jokes.
“I swear on my life I am not somebody who would ever talk about a child, like in seriousness, I would never talk about a child in any way that was inappropriate. That is disgusting,” Dawson said. “That is gross. It is not something I would ever do. It is something I did do for shock value or because I thought it was funny or, like, ‘Oh my god, my child molester character.’ Whatever, it’s all gross and I promise that is not real. That is not me.”
Towards the end of the video, he stated “I’m ready to own up to this stuff and I’m ready to hopefully show you guys that it’s OK to admit when you’re wrong,” he said. “It’s OK to be upset at your past self for making mistakes. But also, it’s OK if people don’t want to accept your apology or if people don’t want to support you anymore. That’s OK, too, and I understand.”
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