David Dobrik is doing major damage control after fans joined forces and left negative
reviews on his new Dispo app upon hearing claims of sexual assault allegations against
him following a past YouTube prank.
Let’s get into it…
David Dobrik has landed himself in hot water after fellow YouTuber Seth Francois accused
David of pressuring him into filming a non-consensual video specifically regarding a prank in which
he was tricked into kissing Jason Nash.
In case you need some refreshing, Seth, who was a previous member of David’s widely
known Vlog Squad, came forward last month after processing the fact that he was sexually
assaulted by David during a prank that happened back in 2017.
As many fans know, David has been known for posting cringey makeout videos of his friends
over the past few years, as well as viral pranks, which have been a huge hit among his
19 million subscribers.
But after admitting he really began to process this over the past year, Seth initially opened
up about the incident on H3 Podcast last month, as he felt QUOTE “pressured to participate
in bits that came off culturally insensitive” to hosts Hila and Ethan Klein.
Seth started off by explaining a different prank he was involved in a few years back,
where he was told to open a refrigerator to find watermelon spewing out of it, which caused
a slew of racial jokes to culminate following the video’s release.
At the time, Seth explained on his podcast that anyone who attempted to say no to these
pranks would eventually be written out of them, saying QUOTE, “It was an unwritten
thing where you see a pattern of people saying, ‘Yo, I’m uncomfortable with this.’
All of a sudden they disappear and they’re not in videos anymore.”
In a new interview with Buzzfeed News, Seth explained that even something that appeared
to be as harmless as the watermelon sketch did have repercussions of racially charged
jokes being made about him.
He said QUOTE, “I had fans on my page putting my face on pieces of fried chicken — stuff
that was pretty disgraceful.
I was at a breaking point, thinking, ‘Maybe it's just my friends and they're not really
tasteful.
Maybe it's my job to educate them.’”
Fast forward to right now when Seth admitted he really began processing some of these pranks
over the past year following the Black Lives Matter protests.
He especially recalled the 2017 prank David titled “HE THOUGHT HE WAS KISSING HER!!
(SUPER CRINGEY)”, that involved non-consensually kissing Jason Nash as his most “horrific
experience” that he’s still experiencing trauma from to this day.
The video, which has been watched almost 10 million times, is plagued with controversy
as Seth accuses David of sexually assaulting him when he was made to believe he was making
out with fellow Vlog Squad member Corinna, when it was really Jason in disguise.
At the time of the prank, Seth recalled feeling weird about what had just happened, but the
more he sat on it, the worse he felt, which was when he decided to call a sexual assault
hotline and speak with someone about his experience.
He said QUOTE, “They said it directly to me.
They said, ‘I'm sorry you were sexually assaulted.’
And I broke down.
I called my mother and some of my close friends and I said, ‘I can't believe that happened
to me.’”
Seth then decided to go straight to the source of the trauma, and after revealing that David
and Jason offered him money to keep the video online, Seth settled by declining the payment
and telling them QUOTE, “Everything is going to be OK, I'm going to be alright,” explaining
to Buzzfeed that he was trying to “be the bigger man” at the time.
Seth admitted that although he doesn’t “hate” David by any means, he simply wants him to
reflect on the people he’s emotionally and mentally hurt, as he wonders, “Why is it
so difficult to go out of your way to at least have a conversation with some of these people
and see their side?”
Since Seth has come forward, a clip of David and Jason explaining the prank has made its
way around TikTok, as many fans accuse David of trying to erase the clip from the Internet.
“I slip him the tongue first.”
“His friends are probably gonna chew him out for that for the next three to five years
of his life!”
Others have also come forward in recent months, including Bhad Bhabie, AKA Danielle Bregoli,
who tweeted last week QUOTE, “I got my own story about those 2 creepy fucks and he owe
me money.”
Since Seth’s interview, fans have been rallying in support of him and the many accounts of
assault against David and have plagued his new photo app Dispo with 1-star reviews and
comments of taking accountability for his wrongdoings.
Accusations only continued to worsen over the past few weeks until David, along with
his friend Scotty Sire, have spoken out in a new video, in which he told Seth QUOTE,
“The magnitude of the lies you’ve been spreading are unforgivable, and you should
face repercussions.”
Scotty also claimed in his video that not only was it messed up of Seth to accuse David
because QUOTE “he knows what we do, and then David asked him for consent,” but in
a slew of evidence in the form of text message receipts dated back in 2018, Seth reportedly
told David that he was “down for another kissing sketch… as long as you clout me
up.”
Scotty also played an audio clip from Seth that alluded to the fact that he’s totally
fine with these types of sketches:
“And then he sends me this.”
“I mean, yeah.
I mean, I don’t know…
I mean, it’s not really a big deal…
I mean, it’s the same shit.”
Alright guys, so there’s a LOT to unpack here, but as always, we here at Clevver do
not take allegations of sexual assault lightly, and should these accsations be proven true,
our deepest sympathy goes out to anyone who was emotionally harmed by these acts.
Should David or his team continue to speak out against Seth’s claims, we will do our
best to update you.
But before you go, be sure to let me know your thoughts on all this down here in the
comments and if you think David’s receipts provide enough evidence to prove him innocent.
I’m your host Emile Ennis Jr., bye guys.