What’s up?
It’s Emile Ennis Jr. here with Clevver News and over the weekend, Liza Koshy issued an
apology after facing backlash from fans for mocking the Japanese language in resurfaced
videos with David Dobrik.
Alright, so in case you missed it, last week, a video from 2016 resurfaced of Liza and David
trying ‘foreign’ candy together where they pretended to speak Japanese.
And many fans have been calling them out for being racist towards Asians in their video.
“Look it’s Japanese food, we’re trying ***. Nooo.
Oooh ***. There we go.
Boy Bawan Cornick.”
As of this morning, this video is actually still up on one of David Dobrik’s YouTube
channels, David Dobrik Too, which has around 8 million subscribers.
Asset: screenshot of video on page
And another similar old clip of David and Liza was also circulating where David even
said that what he was doing wasn’t racist.
“We’re starting off with ***. Nooo.
It’s not racist, that’s just the sounds I hear when they talk.
No it’s not racist as long as I keep saying no.
Oh Ok.”
Obviously, fans took issue with these videos including Tik Tokker @callmesukiwi who reposted
some of these old videos of David and Liza to her page where they have gone viral with
over 1.4 million views and over 73,000 likes.
Along with her video she wrote quote, “Why is no one talking about this?
It’s a clear example of the normalized racism against Asians @daviddobrik @lizzza #fyp #asian”
And one person commented on the Tik Tok saying quote, “They really filmed that, edited
the video, rewatched it, and still thought it was okay to post that???”
And while many people were talking about and resharing the old videos of David and Liza,
fans were waiting to see if either of them would speak out on this.
So far, David has not issued a formal apology yet, but we are keeping an eye on his social
pages and will keep you posted if he does.
Liza on the other hand, took to all of her social media pages, including her YouTube
channel to apologize to her fans.
The video is titled “I am sorry” and it’s currently trending on YouTube.
But Liza’s video is unlike many other YouTuber apologies we’ve seen in the past and even
in recent weeks from other creators like Jenna Marbles and Shane Dawson.
Liza’s post is a 2:22 video of a Word document with her statement.
She wrote quote, “While we focus on systemic anti-black racism in our country, I’ve been
hesitant to center my voice.
My work has been within but I now recognize and take responsibility for the times I was
not the ally I am becoming today.
Being anti-racist requires a personal reckoning, and I can’t in good faith continue to use
my platform for progress without taking accountability myself.”
Liza continued on and said quote, “I am taking inventory, taking initiative, and taking
note that my impact and influence will weigh greater than my intention.
What I once thought of as “innocent jokes” were actually tainted with implicit bias,
and what might have been intended as “playful” was actually to some, incredibly painful.
And for that, I am so sorry.”
And Liza finished her thoughts with “As a woman of color and a self-defined “little
brown girl.”
I have experienced the harm of prejudices in my own life.
However, this really does not exempt me from the responsibility of acknowledging the times
I’ve unknowingly perpetuated racist ideas…
It takes a combination of individual and collective reckoning with our past to heal and move forward
together.
Consider this my resignation from ignorance, and my declaration as an ally in action.
I will give grace, make space, and break these damn systems in place like my life depends
on it.
Because too many do.”
And fans have been responding to Liza’s video with mixed feelings about the way she
handled her apology.
Some fans were upset that Liza didn’t get on camera for her video writing things like
“Why’d you write it out instead of talking to us?
Because to me this apology doesn’t seem sincere”
And “Liza Koshy did NOT just upload a two minute video of a screen grab of an apology
note in MICROSOFT WORD with NO FACE OR VOICE OVER FOR AN APOLOGY.
I am LOST.
What IS HAPPENING???
... I bet this was written in the past 24 hours.
This is a non-apology if I have EVER seen one”
And this person was just upset with people defending her actions saying quote, “I don’t
watch Liza’s content at all, and I know everyone in the comments are out here defending
their favorite YouTuber.
But just because you don’t think something is offensive does not magically make everything
ok.
Whatever jokes or stereotypes Liza played into are a part of a larger narrative of race
in the US and around the world.
It doesn’t make sense to view her words and jokes as a one off instance that are harmless
and happened in a vacuum.
The stereotypes or accents that are part of her jokes stem from a deeper place of race
issues and oppression.”
There were many fans coming to Liza’s defense saying things like “I don't think anyone
is trying to cancel Liza lol she's just acknowledging a mistake she did in the past.” and “the
fact she felt that she needed to write this, liza’s one of the purest people ever, she
would never do anything with the intention of hurting or offending anyone and i’m happy
that the majority of people know that.”
And others said that Liza is a comedian and people need to quote, “learn the difference
between when someone is actually being hateful and not.
Focus your energy on the people spreading hate, toxicity, drama, and bullying instead.”
But regardless Liza issued an apology, whether people like the way she did it or not, and
people are now calling for David Dobrik to do the same.
Like we said before, David hasn’t formally addressed any of this yet since the videos
resurfaced and some of the videos are still up on his channels.
So we will keep you posted as this story continues to unfold.
But for now, if you want more David Dobrik news, click right over here for another Clevver
News video.
And let us know down in the comments below what you think of Liza’s apology.
I’m your host Emile Ennis Jr., bye guys!