Recent sexual assault and rape allegations against internet personalities Durte Dom and David Dobrik begs the question if we’ve been giving social media stars too much wiggle room.
David Dobrik is YouTube filmmaker and celebrity who first gained attention on the social media app Vine and rose to stardom over the past 6 years from his daily vlog series. His self-titled friend group, the Vlog Squad, would film Saturday Night Live style bits to create a tri-weekly series of characteristic four minute and twenty second videos.
One of those videos, posted in November of 2018, featured a group of seven college students who were lured to film a vlog by Dominic Zeglaitis, Durte Dom’s real name, over Instagram, according to Insider.
The group of girls intended only to hang out and have whatever funny moments occurred recorded for the vlog. It wasn’t until Vlog Squad members Todd Smith and Jeff Wittek arrived sometime later with a bottle of alcohol that things went downhill.
Events transgressed and Zeglaitis allegedly raped one of the girls after she blacked out, according to Insider.
After a week of varied silence and conflicting comments from Vlog Squad members Trisha Paytas, Scotty Sire, Jeff Wittek and Zeglaitis himself, Dobrik released a formal statement on his YouTube channel on the night of March 22, 2021.
Within the video, Dobrik addressed allegations, profusely apologized to the victims, announced he would step away for an unspecified time period and stated he was unaware of the power dynamic he creates when fans come to film for those vlogs.
I find that hard to believe, quite frankly.
There may be some degree of innocence Dobrik had with his vlog’s popularity. A kid coming from nothing to nearly becoming a household name would take some getting used to but Dobrik had nearly 10 million subscribers when this video was posted, according to Insider. He should have been well aware of his prominence when entering a room.
Take ourselves for example. Think about your idol walking into the same room as you. What would you do? Personally, I know I’d have a hard time being comfortable in that situation.
Most modern-day celebrities are aware of this dynamic. It certainly isn’t a new concept. People always fluster up in the presence of a celebrity, no matter the context.
For Dobrik to say he was unaware of how those girls felt in that situation seems deceitful at the least. I have no doubt that he is sorry but I’m afraid he’s only sorry that he got caught. Had those accusations not been made, would Dobrik ever have made an effort to make amends? Probably not.
This begs the question: how many other people have similar stories from appearing in Dobrik’s vlogs? How many different YouTubers put fans in uncomfortable situations? How many stories have been unheard because of this power dynamic?
The answer is probably shocking, upsetting and discomforting.
It’s about time a celebrity gets held accountable for the atmosphere they created. I only wish this would happen more often, as I’m sure this phenomenon has occurred since the dawn of vlogging.
Carter Kolpitcke can be reached at [email protected] or @carterkolpitcke on Twitter