Ex-Vlog Squad member claims David Dobrik tricked him into “traumatizing” content

David Dobrik has been accused of producing racially insensitive and nonconsensual content by former Vlog Squad member Seth Francois.

Former collaborator Francois left the vlog squad in November 2019 to pursue creating his own content, and, during the BLM protests, called out content creators for producing racially insensitive content.

Speaking on the podcast H3 After Dark, Francois explained how David pressured him into taking part in racially insensitive jokes, and performing a nonconsensual kiss.

This isn’t the only complaint of inappropriate behavior made by a former Vlog Squad member. The week before, Nik ‘BigNik’ Keswani explained how he felt like a “punching bag” when making videos with Dobrik, which made him feel “worthless”.

Francois recalled one incident where he performed a racially-charged watermelon joke about black people, despite feeling uncomfortable.

“There was an unwritten rule where people saying ‘I’m uncomfortable with this, this isn’t really cool’ all of a sudden just disappear [from the channel],” he said.

“It’s not like the whole entire experience of being with this group is a nightmare every single day, but some days it does get a little bit darker.”

Topic starts at 39:30

Interview starts at 39:22 for mobile users.

Francois then discussed a controversial ‘makeout video’ that came in his early days with the group. He explained how the video was supposed to involve a makeout scene with Corinna Kopf, who was then, unknown to Francois, swapped out for Jason Nash.

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“I was touched by someone I did not consent to,” he added.

“When I was in LA after dealing with the make-out video with Jason, millions of people were misconstruing my own sexuality and how I felt about participating in something he didn’t have my consent for.

“I ended up moving to a different state to get away from it so people aren’t coming up to me left and right bringing up a situation that is legitimately traumatizing.

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“When he pulled the mask off it was a split decision. I could either give in to my natural instincts and be the angry black guy in the room, or I can just go along with it, and I made that decision.”

David Dobrik is yet to respond publicly to these comments.