Cancelled vlogger David Dobrik has made his inevitable YouTube return roughly three months after a series of sexual assault and toxic behaviour allegations shook the Vlog Squad and brought the YouTuber’s career to a halt.
The new video, entitled “SURPRISING MY FRIENDS!!”, marks his first upload since June 15 of this year. Suffice to say, he’s back on his usual shit.
The vlog opens with Dobrik and other vloggers (including some Vlog Squad members) flashing their wealth, fast cars and OnlyFans accounts, before suddenly the titular surprise is revealed.
Dobrik gives a bunch of his friends tickets to Hawaii, which is supposed to be some kind of group vlogging trip. In actual fact, it feels more like an easy redemption arc for Dobrik who wasn’t able to truly shake the toxic behaviour allegations.
Cue the hectic travel montage full of drinks, boats, pools, ziplines and, well, vomit. It looks like a pretty fun time, tbh.
However for the duration of the 4 minutes and 20 second-clip Dobrik did nothing to address his absence, the allegations, or what lies ahead.
All we know is that he’s now going to start uploading again every Tuesday, which will be Wednesday in Australian time.
Dobrik also made his first post to Instagram since all the drama boiled over back in March, too.
All of this is a decidedly fun and frivolous change from the drama surrounding Dobrik just a few months ago.
In February of 2021, a young woman claimed that then-Vlog Squad member Dom Zeglaitis (a.k.a. Durte Dom) raped her while she was drunk on the night before a shoot in 2018.
Around the same time, former Vlog Squad member Seth Francois accused Dobrik himself of sexual assault after a stunt where he was tricked into kissing another man. Francois also claimed he suffered countless racist microaggressions as the only Black member of the Vlog Squad.
Another former Vlog Squad member, Nik Keswani (a.k.a. BigNik), meanwhile claimed Dobrik’s group was “kind of like a cult” with a “toxic” workplace culture.
As these allegations came to light and snowballed around the same time, advertisers – the very companies which allowed Dobrik to buy his mates Teslas on a whim – started dropping like flies.
His last upload before the hiatus was a lengthy apology where he did address a bunch of allegations. However he also used the opportunity to sob on camera like cancelled YouTubers always do.
It’s not immediately clear if any brands are back on board, or if Dobrik has a different revenue stream in mind this time around. To learn more, we may just have to wait until next Tuesday.
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