Shane Dawson hints at YouTube return after long break following controversies
YouTube OG Shane Dawson has been absent from the platform for nearly a year after undergoing intense criticism for his past content — but a recent community post may hint at his upcoming return.
Shane Dawson was one of YouTube’s first uber-popular content creators, best known for his comedic skits and later for his feature-length documentary series. However, in early 2020, Dawson found himself facing the ire of the internet over his older videos and podcast episodes. From telling a seriously weird story about his pet cat to makinginappropriate comments about a young Willow Smithand coming up with racist caricatures for his skits, many of Dawson’s past videos were put under the microscope, causing him torelease a viral apology videoaddressing the matter. However, the outrage continued to rise after Tati Westbrookaccused him of orchestrating the dramasurrounding James Charles in summer 2019, leading Dawson to step away from the internet indefinitely.
“Sorry I haven’t been online in a while,” he wrote. “Just been taking time for my mental health. But I’ve been getting creative and editing again! It’s been really fun. Check out Ryland’s new video that I edited. I’m really proud of it.”
While Dawson has madethe occasional social media postnow and then in wake of the drama, this appears to be the first major stride he’s taken toward a proper return, although the response to his comeback has been decidedly negative among commenters. For now, all users can do is wait and see if Dawson really does return to YouTube, or if the vehement response to his latest post will make him think twice about uploading content again.
