As the fallout from David Dobrik’s past content continues, his friends, known as the Vlog Squad, are slowly starting to speak out.
Dobrik, 24, came under fire after an anonymous woman accused former Vlog Squad member Dominykas Zeglaitis (better known as “Durte Dom”) of sexual assault. The woman, who went by “Hannah” for an article by Insider detailing the accusations, claimed that Zeglaitis raped her during a night of drinking with Dobrik, Jason Nash, Jeff Wittek, Todd Smith and Nick Antonyan. Events from the evening were documented for Dobrik’s since-deleted vlog titled “SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE PLAYED WITH FIRE!!”
In the 2018 video, Zeglaitis, who no longer makes content regularly with Dobrik, claimed several college girls responded to his Instagram request to have a “fivesome.” While Dobrik said in the video that it was clear the group sex wasn’t happening after “Hannah” and her friends arrived, they all stayed and drank together. “Hannah” was 20 at the time.
“There were definitely times she was drinking it of her own volition, but there were also times where he was clearly trying to get her to drink more,” one of the alleged witnesses told Insider.
“Hannah” added, “It seemed like I had a super-fun night with these famous vloggers basically, which is not what happened. I was exploited for content and stripped of autonomy and a voice.”
In the vlog, Zeglaitis can be seen walking to a bedroom with two women. The group subsequently attempted to listen through the door before Zeglaitis claimed he had a “threesome.” According to “Hannah,” Zeglaitis took advantage of her and had sex with her while she was too drunk to consent. Her friend who was also in the room with Zeglaitis allegedly informed her of what happened in the following days.
Zeglaitis has yet to publicly respond to the accusations. According to Insider, he declined to comment. (Us Weekly also reached out to his team.) Dobrik, for his part, initially spoke out through his lawyers, who told Insider, “Anyone who knows him knows he does not condone misconduct in any form. Vlog participants provide consent before anything is posted. Whenever consent is retracted, posts are removed. Any insinuation of wrongdoing is inaccurate and defamatory.”
The YouTuber, who has more than 16 million subscribers, faced backlash for his initial apology, which came in the form of a two-minute video uploaded to his and Nash’s podcast Views‘ channel, which has a significantly lower number of subscribers compared to his main channel.
“There’s also been moments where I’ve looked back on videos, and I realize that these don’t represent me anymore, and they’re hurtful to other people, and I don’t want them up because I’ve grown as a content creator and as a person,” Dobrik said on March 16, noting that “consent is something that’s super, super important” to him. “And I don’t agree with some of the videos I’ve posted.”
Days later, Dobrik apologized again, admitting he “enabled” the situation and made the girls in the 2018 vlog “feel their safety and values were compromised.” He also acknowledged that his content created an ”unfair power dynamic” that he wasn’t aware of in the past.
“As it was reported, the next day, I got consent to post the video. Even though I got the consent to post the video, I should have never posted it. What I understand now, and what I didn’t understand before is that she sent that text because she felt like she had to, not because she wanted to and that’s f—ked up, and I am sorry,” Dobrik said. “I didn’t know what was going on in that room, and I should have been making sure everybody involved was taken care of and wasn’t uncomfortable.”
In addition to the assault accusations against Zeglaitis, Dobrik and Nash also made headlines when former Vlog Squad member Joseth “Seth” Francois claimed he was tricked into kissing Nash in a 2017 vlog.
“With the Seth situation, I’m sorry to Seth because, like I said, I just want to make videos where everybody in it, whether you’re participating or watching, is enjoying and having a good time,” Dobrik said in his initial apology. “And I missed the mark with that one, and I’m really sorry. I truly, truly am.”
Dobrik has since lost several sponsors and followers.
Scroll through for a breakdown of the Vlog Squad’s reactions: