YouTube's CEO gifted embattled YouTuber Shane Dawson a personalized mini-fridge
- Embattled YouTube star Shane Dawson said in his first appearance on the platform since his fall from grace that YouTube's CEO gifted him and his fiancé, Ryland Adams, a personalized mini-fridge.
- "By the way, thank you, Susan. She came to my house with a fridge in her hands," Dawson said in the September 9 video posted by Adams.
- The video included a picture of Dawson drinking root beer with Wojcicki from an April 2019 meeting that both had tweeted about.
- In June, YouTube confirmed to Insider that the platform had suspended monetization on Dawson's channels in light of his offensive content that had resurfaced, which included videos where he appeared in blackface and made sexual jokes about children.
In Shane Dawson's first YouTube appearance since the public reckoning over his resurfaced racist content, the platform's A-lister claimed that YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki gave him a personalized mini fridge.
While giving a tour of his and fiancé Ryland Adams' bedroom in a video about redesigning the space, Dawson pointed out a personalized mini fridge with his and Adams' names on it. The fridge was adorned with YouTube and Taco Bell stickers.
Dawson said the fridge had been given to them by Wojcicki, who has served as YouTube's CEO since 2014. "By the way, thank you, Susan. She came to my house with a fridge in her hands," Dawson said in the September 9 video.
The video then cut to a photo of Dawson and Wojcicki drinking root beer together, which appeared to be taken when the CEO visited Dawson in April 2019. Dawson shared photos from the meeting on Twitter, writing that Wojcicki answered his questions and shared her career path to becoming YouTube's CEO. Wojcicki responded, thanking Dawson for a "great meeting."
Dawson has been one of the biggest names on YouTube for more than a decade. But this year, his image has been tarnished by resurfaced offensive content from his past, a feud with YouTube beauty gurus James Charles and Tati Westbrook, and a close relationship with Jeffree Star.
In June, YouTube confirmed to Insider that the platform had suspended monetization on all three of Dawson's channels due to controversy surrounding his offensive content, including once pretending to masturbate in front of a poster of a then-11-year-old Willow Smith.
Insider has reached out to YouTube for comment.
- Read more:
- A timeline of how the internet turned against the top YouTubers Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star
- Shane Dawson's fiancé Ryland Adams speaks out about Dawson's old, offensive content
- Disgraced YouTuber Shane Dawson may have just quietly returned to the platform, and people have mixed feelings
- Shane Dawson's fiancé Ryland Adams responded to beauty guru Tati Westbrook's explosive video, calling her a 'two-faced liar'