James Charles made his return to YouTube in a 30 minute video titled “An Open Conversation”. Charles took an unceremonious hiatus after numerous accusations of inappropriate communication with underage boys were levied against him.
Read More: James Charles originally addressed the controversy in a now deleted video titled “Holding Myself Accountable,” where he claimed his accusers had misrepresented their age. In the wake of these accusations, YouTube demonetized Charles' channel of over 25 million subscribers. His return is met with mixed reactions, as many believe Charles should be de-platformed. YouTube veterans know that this isn’t the first time James Charles has faced controversy. In 2019, Tati Westbrook’s accusations against James Charles resulted in his channel losing three million subscribers. “Dramageddon” became a defining moment across YouTube, with Westbrook then accusing Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star of manipulating her for their business gain. James Charles’ 2019 response video “No More Lies” was met with positive reception, but his 2021 re-entry is proving less successful.
David Dobrik returned to YouTube 2 weeks ago after taking a 3 month break from social media following accusations of bullying, sexual harassment and creating an unsafe work environment.
Read More: Seth Francois accused the former YouTube golden boy of sexual harassment on the Frenemies Podcast, saying that Dobrik tricked Francois into making out with Jason Nash, which Francois did not consent to. Following this, accusations of assault were made against Dobrik’s former roommate, Durte Dom. The claims involved a woman in one of Dobrik’s 2018 videos, who says Dom engaged in sexual activity despite her being too inebriated to give consent. Dobrik and Vlog Squad members Toddy Smith and Scotty Sire were accused of providing alcohol to this underage woman and pressuring her and others into sexual situations for content. A closer look at Dobrik’s prank-style content led to many accusing him of creating an unsafe environment for his friends. Although other members of the Vlog Squad spoke in defense of Dobrik, Jeff Wittek released a 5 episode video series on his injuries resulting from a Dobrik challenge gone-wrong. Dobrik’s return is being met with mixed but positive reactions.
Bonus Clip: Vlog Squad’s Corinna Kopf, who has faced her own controversies, recently came under fire for tweeting about her hesitation to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Oh, and she claimed to have made $1 Million in her first 48hrs on OnlyFans.
In Depth: The endless drama embroiling YouTuber Gabbie Hanna continues, as just one week after she levied accusations against the Escape the Night production team, Hanna’s perennial conflict with Jessi Smiles turns a nasty corner.
Read More: In 2014, Smiles was raped by her then-boyfriend and Vine star Curtis Lepore, who pled guilty to felony assault the same year. Despite Smile’s and Hanna’s supposed friendship, Hanna continued an oft-public friendship with Lepore, a fact she now denies despite countless Twitter, text and photo receipts. In 2019, a tweet from @/deanime surfaced, calling Hanna a rape sympathizer. Hanna DM’d the original tweeter, claiming she didn’t believe the accusations against Lepore. Deanime shared these messages with Smiles, who released an in-depth video on the emotional toll her former friend's actions had on her. Hanna then began a cyber-pulling campaign against Smiles, beginning with a TMZ video interview, a podcast interview (you might have seen the memes,) and an extensive tweet barrage. After releasing a 3 hour phone call between the two, Smiles released a one hour video on July 4th, 2021 titled “Gabbie Hanna will never stop” where she details the timeline of Hanna’s betrayal, online harassment and asks Hanna to no longer discuss Smile’s assault publicly. Hanna’s multiple videos on Smile’s assault are monetized currently.
All this follows a tumultuous week where Hanna accused Daniel Preda and Joey Graceffa of poor treatment on the set of the YouTube original series Escape the Night. In her video titled “Ch. 4: Escape the Nightmare” Hanna alleges that she was pressured into participating in the show, that the lack of food options triggered her eating disorder and that she was ultimately “killed off” the show for standing up for herself. Preda, Graceffa and countless other cast members have spoken out in defense of the Escape the Night team. In an hour-long video, Preda debunked each of Hanna’s claims with video and text receipts.
But that’s not all! This week's controversies are merely the current leads in a cast full of hour-long call out videos. Hanna’s beef with Trisha Paytas continues to blaze, with the two exchanging videos, tweets and Tiktoks. In 2017, Paytas was dating Jason Nash (of Vlog Squad infamy - see, it all connects) and Hanna suggested to him that Paytas had herpes. Thus this Great Conflict was born. The two are currently in a stalemate over whether or not they were ever friends (although no one really cares.) More importantly, Hanna continues to harass smaller YouTube accounts. In April, Hanna lashed out at YouTuber Rachel Oats, who had published a less than favorable video review of Hanna’s 2017 poetry book, “Adultolescence.” This was not the only negative review, as general reception of Adultolescence was poor. Hanna targeted Oats, who’s own channel has less than 300K subscribers, and called her a “manipulative, narcissistic, b*tch.” Hanna then targeted Angelika Ole, a commentary YouTuber who had made videos on Hanna’s controversies. Since then, Hanna has continued to bully these smaller channels on Twitter and YouTube.
Rapid Fire
Addison Rae has been surpassed in TikTok followers by Khaby Lame.
The Ace Family are allegedly facing major legal repercussions amid controversy that many involved in the YouTube vs TikTok boxing match never received payment. They are allegedly also facing eviction from their home.
Trisha Paytas apologized to Ethan Klein following the Great Frenemies Fight of 2021. He responded on the H3 podcast, saying he’s not ready to forgive her.
And that’s what you missed on Glee.