The dethroned influencer David Dobrik, 24, who started in YouTube’s intoxicated man’s cave and migrated to a more familiar neighborhood in D’Amelios, has now left the Dispo photo-sharing app, launched just three weeks ago.
Dispo, which Dobrik co-founded as “David’s Disposable”, said it went out of its way to “not distract attention from the company’s growth”. This follows a series of allegations of abuse against Dobrik and his “Vlog Squad”, including alleged sexual assault by a former member and a subsequent exodus of sponsor.
Dobrik, a 24-year-old Teen Choice Award winner, is known for acrobatics and mischief with a rotating cast of reality show-type siblings, who have supposedly earned him a $ 9.5 million mansion with a Hawaiian fountain of punch and, once, a namesake Chipotle Burrito.
In addition to severing relations with their own company after less than a month, Dobrik’s corporate partners, including EA Sports, DoorDash and HelloFresh, also gave him the boot on the weekend.
Other influencers have pointed out a history of intimidation, misogyny and racism in previous Vlog Squad videos. A woman, Speaking with Business Insider, alleged sexual assault by former Vlog Squad member Dominykas Zeglaitis for the purpose of a 2018 video. The woman, who says she was a sophomore at the time, claims that Zeglaitis provided him with alcohol.
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In the video, which has already been defined as private on YouTube, the line between reality and parody is very thin. “My friend’s girlfriend just had five, so I hope we have five tonight,” says Zeglaitis to the camera. When a large group of girls enters, one of them says: “I need you to know, I really don’t know any of you”. One can be seen led to a room, while the group gathers outside the door to listen. At the end of the video, Dobrik says the camera: “Dom just had a threesome, and I think we are all…[laughs]… going to jail. According to Business Insider, Dobrik removed the video at the request of the alleged victim, but not before he was seen more than 5 million times.
Last summer, former Vlog Squad member and influencer Seth Francois compiled a series of clips in which Dobrik’s team treats racism as a joke – for example, using blackface and watermelon as jokes. Dobrik remained silent after the video’s release. François later said the YouTube podcast focused on the influencer, H3, that he was forced to maintain non-consensual contact with an older comedian in a now excluded 2017 video titled “HE THOUGHT HE WAS KISSING HER !! (SUPER CRINGEY). ”
Also in the H3 podcast, former Vlog Squad member Nik Keswani also said he felt Dobrik had explored his rare form of dwarfism for comedy. He said that Dobrik agreed when asked to stop, but Keswani added: “I knew that, saying that, I would not be in the content anymore”.
Vulture has a long summary of Dobrik’s string of alleged offenses, which date back to at least 2017.
After months of rejecting or ignoring requests for accountability, Dobrik released a video last week titled “Let’s talk, ”Less excuses than a request for followers not to abandon it. “Consent is super important to me,” he says, facing a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice award, adding that he always makes sure that he has “approval” from people in his videos and that there are times “when a person can change their mind . ”Referring to“ Seth’s situation ”, a series of racist comments and pranks, Dobrik says:“ I missed the mark with this one ”. He adds that he grew up. “I don’t agree with some of the videos I posted,” he says.
“David chose to leave the board and leave the company in order not to be distracted by the company’s growth,” Dispo told Gizmodo by email. “The team, the product of Dispo and, most importantly, our community, advocate the construction of a diverse, inclusive and empowering world.” Earlier this month, CNBC described “Buzzy” Dispo as “the invitation-only image sharing app that everyone is talking about”. The idea is to replicate the disposable camera by removing editing functions and delaying the “development” time so that users cannot see the photos until the next morning. Last year, the app received $ 4 million from Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who praised Dobrik as a “motivated visionary”.
Risk the capital firm Six Seven Six, which led the initial investment round for Dispo, said in a statement posted on Twitter, “The recent allegations against David Dobrik are extremely worrying and are in direct conflict with the core values of Seven Seven Six.” The company said it “fully supports” Dispo’s “decision to part ways with David”.
Shortly after Business Insider published allegations of aggression against Zeglaitis, the venture capital firm Spark Capital announced that it was cutting Dispo. HelloFresh, Dollar Shave Club and EA Sports followed. Dobrik got off the board before retiring completely.
Dobrik was not immediately available for comment.