Shane Dawson Cat On Saturday, The Washington Post published an unprintable joke about sex acts with pets that trended on Twitter and prompted Shane Dawson – one of YouTube’s most famous people – to apologize
Shane Dawson Cat Dawson Reported Engaging In Sexual Activity
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On a podcast in 2015, Shane Dawson Cat described engaging in sexual activity with his pet cat when he was 19 years old. Over the weekend, someone grabbed the audio from that recording and reposted it to Twitter; now it has nearly 1.3 million views. Hours later, Dawson issued an apology. It reads as follows:
Welcome to Shane Dawson’s purgatory, where a 30-year-old YouTube star constantly revisits the most offensive actions taken in pursuit of fame even as he strives to grow up and reinvent himself.
In an age when old tweets and archived provocations can be used as weapons against those with the power to hold them accountable and harass those without, Dawson’s experience serves as a cautionary tale: In the world of online fame, an apology doesn’t just happen once.
Dawson has been stuck in this purgatory for some time now. In his Twitter apology, Dawson refers to an incident from early 2018 when one of his former podcast comments (“having sex with children, touching children or anything of that nature is terrible and you should not do it but… here’s my thing.
People often develop foot fetishes
People have foot fetishes people have fetishes of everything”) went viral and forced Dawson into making a video affirming that he is not a pedophile.”
Shane Dawson Cat has previously apologized for using blackface in his videos and more recently for suggesting YouTuber Jake Paul was a sociopath to add dramatic tension to a documentary series he produced last fall about Paul.
YouTube superstar Dawson boasts 21 million subscribers and is one of YouTube’s biggest stars. If you haven’t heard about him before, ask someone in your circle who watches any YouTube videos; chances are they’ll know who Dawson is and have an opinion about what he does.
Dawson’s visibility on YouTube has given him immense influence, not only with those who watch videos but also with those responsible for running them.
Recently, when Dawson sent out a string of tweets voicing his displeasure with the platform, YouTube’s chief executive publicly reached out and offered to meet with him in person.
Over the past year, Dawson has taken a break from posting on the frequent schedule that defines many YouTubers’ careers and transformed himself into YouTube culture’s Ken Burns, creating documentary-style series once every few months.
One series on conspiracy theories filmed like an energetic History Channel special amplified false rumors about Chuck E. Cheese restaurants using uneaten pizza slices as fuel for discussion about creators like Dawson contributing to misinformation spread on YouTube.
Dawson’s current YouTube brand is one of authenticity, self-deprecation, and empathy. He excels at getting others to open up, often featuring sit-down moments where Dawson and his subjects discuss difficult issues before sharing a hug. But this has not always been Dawson’s style.
Let us return to Dawson’s apology regarding the cat issue
So I apologize for what I said about my cat and anything or anyone that was offensive. And most importantly, I apologize that being super offensive and shocking all the time seemed funny to me at that time. I’m sorry for my past mistakes but am determined to make things right (7/?)
— Shane Dawson (@shanedawson) March 18, 2019
Without my past, I wouldn’t be the person I am today, and couldn’t grow and focus on things that truly matter. These past two years have been some of the happiest years of my life because I was able to let go and be myself; and while I regret not taking this step sooner, this has been one of the greatest blessings in my life so far – and it’s because of myself that things have turned out this well for me.
Dawson’s brand and early success as a shock comedian were undeniable. After joining YouTube at 19 years old in 2008, his videos quickly went viral; often featuring sketch comedy sketches as well as offensive humor.
Sometimes wearing blackface himself, Dawson often referenced or mimicked black stereotypes in both characters and writing. At VidCon 2012 – an annual conference for online content creators and their fans – Dawson even roped two kids into performing a skit about “ghetto pranks.”
Like many YouTubers, Dawson has a young fan base. However, his early humor wasn’t just for kids.
What did he apologize for specifically?
Dawson has a podcast, which he has used in the past to tell offensive and borderline illegal stories for shock value. Two of those stories have become controversial in the last year or so; both times, Dawson has said he made them up to get attention. Recently, two separate statements from two separate episodes of his podcast have been asked for clarification.
One statement was related to pedophilia, and this was the second time he had apologized for it.
On a 2014 episode of Inside Edition, Dawson made several offensive statements about young children: calling one “sexy,” saying he looked for child pornography online and even saying the phrase, “Here’s my justification for pedophilia.” When confronted with these statements last year, Dawson claimed they were made up statements for shock value.
“I can’t believe I’m making this video,” Dawson’s 2018 apology video began. “I am not… pedophile,” he reiterated with an obscenity to emphasize his point. Dawson apologized for playing this character who is unpredictable and willing to say anything to make people laugh by shocking them.
On top of all that, there’s the cat issue. That controversy was ignited by Dawson’s podcast in which he claimed to have had his “first sexual experience” with his pet cat (although he went into much more graphic detail). (Ultimately, however, all you really need to know is this: He claims not only to have had an intimate experience but it was actually quite graphic!)
On Sunday, Dawson tweeted that the cat story was fabricated and “based on an awful sketch idea I had years ago that never got made (THANK GOD),” adding that his decision to tell it in a podcast was both “disgraceful and very very dumb.”
As word spread about Dawson’s cat story, people brought up his pedophilic remarks. To his credit, he quickly apologized for everything.
Please explain why you made me read 900 words about a YouTuber and her cat
YouTube culture has seen its biggest creators confront their power and influence in an industry that didn’t exist 10 years ago.
Some celebrities in the media often deflect criticism by asserting their detractors are “bullying.” (For instance, Kevin Hart and an LGBT Twitter group believed his homophobic jokes needed to be addressed if he were going to host the Oscars.)
Tucker Carlson attempted a similar defense when Media Matters discovered old tapes of him on shock-jock radio making misogynistic, racist, and homophobic remarks; which he claimed proved he had been victimized by “the great American outrage machine”.
In some instances, resurfacing social media archives from someone’s early teenage years may be considered a form of forgiveness; those individuals usually receive some latitude in this regard but not always.
YouTube stars face a unique situation; they often acquire immense influence quickly, often without knowing how to properly utilize it.
When Dawson first became famous, there wasn’t an established blueprint for being a YouTube celebrity; rather, he is creating it all from scratch in real-time right before our eyes.
As Dawson continues to develop as both an individual and a YouTube celebrity, many of his past comments have caused him to apologize over time for them.
By the time he shared his cat story on YouTube, millions of young fans had already followed along behind him – giving him responsibility whether ready or not!
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