David Dobrik is a YouTuber known for his outlandish and massive pranks, parties, and the ideal L.A. lifestyle of money and success, surrounded by his group of influencer friends, known as the Vlog Squad. He is one of the most popular YouTubers with an avid and passionate fanbase, with a following of 18 million subscribers. Dobrik is now facing sexual assault allegations from a prior Vlog Squad member. Seth Francois spoke out on a podcast hosted by Ethan and Hila Klein, called the H3 podcast and there he told his account of his time in Dobrik’s Squad. The event that he spoke about was the feature of Dobrik’s video titled, “HE THOUGHT HE WAS KISSING HER!! (SUPER CRINGEY)” and shows Francois being told he would be kissed by fellow Vlog Squad member, Corinna Kopf, but was instead kissed, without his knowledge or consent, by Jason Nash. Nash is a 45-year-old Youtuber and Dobrik’s constant companion throughout Dobrik’s videos. Francois stated that this experience was sexual assault and that he was deeply traumatized by it. Not only was it a singular traumatizing experience, but it was broadcast on the internet with 10 million views, and to add to this, Dobrik repeated this exact prank a year later, also involving Jason Nash. Francois said he felt compelled to speak out, as traumatizing as it was, and how he felt that his masculinity was stripped away from him and how he has had to recover from this. This is not the first time he has spoken out against Dobrik. In August 2020, he made a video about how he felt Dobrik’s videos included racist vlogs and skits. Francois said that much of his experience as a part of his vlogs was being the token Black person. He was compelled to speak out because of another former Vlog Squad member, Nik Keswani, who spoke of how Dobrik created a toxic environment and a cult-like group. Francois and Keswani both spoke out on how Dobrik created an environment that fostered and created this toxicity and abuse and how Dobrik then profited off of it. Francois stated that he is considering taking legal action against Dobrik and that he wanted to come forward with his story of sexual assault to show other men that their stories and experiences are valid and that they should feel able to come forward and also tell their story. More information about the allegations can be found here.
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