David Dobrik shed over 66 million YouTube views in 1 day amid growing backlash to past content and Vlog Squad allegations
- David Dobrik abruptly shed more than 66 million views on his YouTube videos on Friday.
- The mega-popular YouTuber has faced growing criticism of his old content amid new accusations.
- At least five videos were removed by Dobrik between November 2020 and today, according to Social Blade.
David Dobrik's YouTube view count dropped by more than 66 million on Friday, an indication the YouTuber has removed some of his content from the platform amid mounting criticism of his old videos.
The data comes from Social Blade, which tracks statistics of social-media stars and their content. Dobrik shed more than 66 million views on Friday, from 8,269,665,818 total views Thursday to 8,203,005,095 on Friday, according to the data.
When views suddenly disappear from a YouTuber's total view count, it's often indicative that the creator has deleted videos or the company itself removed videos. Neither representatives for Dobrik or YouTube immediately returned Insider's request for comment on whether he or YouTube deleted any of his videos.
According to Social Blade, Dobrik has 616 videos uploaded to his main YouTube channel as of Saturday. But according to an archived version of his Social Blade statistics from November 29, 2020, Dobrik had 621 videos uploaded to the platform, meaning five videos have disappeared sometime within the past four months.
Dobrik has not uploaded any videos to his primary YouTube channel since April 24, 2020.
Dobrik has also lost approximately 100,000 subscribers, down from 18.9 million Tuesday to 18.8 million subscribers Wednesday, according to Social Blade statistics accessed Saturday. Social Blade only updates YouTube subscriber data per every 100,000 subscribers gained or lost.
The views shrunk after a woman, who was an extra in one of Dobrik's 2018 videos, told Insider that Vlog Squad members provided her with alcohol the night she filmed with them. She said she was too drunk to consent to having sex with former Vlog Squad member Dominykas Zeglaitis (known as Durte Dom), and she told Insider that Zeglaitis raped her that night. Footage of the woman and Zeglaitis portrayed a consensual "threesome" in Dobrik's 2018 vlog.
The video that showed the incident between Zeglaitis and the woman who spoke to Insider was deleted in 2019 after she contacted Zeglaitis and asked him to remove it, according to the previous report.
The new accusations further amplified criticism of the group that began earlier this year. Seth Francois, another former member of the group claimed in February that he was sexually assaulted during a video shoot when he was kissed by Vlog Squad member Jason Nash in a 2017 YouTube video.
A number of Dobrik's business partners have cut ties with Dobrik following the controversy or are mulling over their relationship with him, including DoorDash, EA Sports, and Dollar Shave Club. Dobrik is also reportedly out as a part-owner of the Angel City Football Club, a women's soccer team backed by high-profile athletes and celebrities like Serena Williams and Eva Longoria.
Dobrik spoke out about the controversy in a short YouTube published late Tuesday in which he didn't directly address any accusations but said that consent was "super, super important" to him.