Shane Dawson's Recent Controversies Examined: A Look At YouTuber's Actions And How He Apologized

Since beginning his YouTube career in 2008, Shane Dawson has earned billions of videos and millions of subscribers. However, despite his success, the Internet personality has also faced a fair share of criticism following a variety of controversial appearances and videos.

During his career on the video-sharing platform, Dawson leaned into what Insider has called "edgy" comedy that has both concerned and angered many. As a result, the "I Hate Myselfie" author has addressed his missteps in a variety of ways and issued several apologies over the years. Though in 2020 alone, he has found himself embroiled in two big controversies, one which involved other YouTubers and another which involved a celebrity family.

Tati Westbrook

Dawson grew his fanbase over the past year thanks to his makeup and video collaborations with fellow YouTuber Jeffree Star. Together the duo released the popular Conspiracy and Mini Controversy makeup palettes with Star's company Jeffree Star Cosmetics in 2019. However, both Star and Dawson have been on the receiving end of critical remarks after being accused of jointly targeting various people in the makeup community, including fellow YouTuber Tati Westbrook and makeup artist James Charles.

In May 2019, Westbrook posted a video called "Bye Sister" in which she revealed that she was ending her friendship with Charles following his decision to promote SugarBearHair vitamins, which is a direct competitor of her own Halo Beauty. Additionally, she accused him of sexual harassment and bullying others. "Bye Sister" has since been deleted by Westbrook, but was reuploaded by another YouTube user, as seen below.

Then, in 2020, Westbook released another video, this time accusing Dawson and Star of exacerbating the 2019 feud between her and Charles. In the June 30 video called "BREAKING MY SILENCE ..." she apologized to Charles and accused Dawson and Star of encouraging the feud. Her video can be seen below.

Willow Smith

One particularly-controversial video that resurfaced in 2020 centered around Dawson sexualizing a poster of actors Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's then 11-year-old daughter Willow Smith. The resurfacing of the clip resulted in a great deal of criticism for Dawson. In response, Jada posted on Twitter on June 27 that she was "done with the excuses" from Dawson following the inappropriate clip.

To Shane Dawson ... I’m done with the excuses.
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) June 27, 2020

Willow's brother, Jaden Smith, also reacted in his own tweet.

The Consequences

According to Insider, Dawson's Conspiracy Collection with Jeffree Star Cosmetics was pulled from the Morphe site in late June following the aforementioned controversies and the resurfacing of a video where Dawson appeared in blackface. As a result, those who were looking to purchase the makeup palettes, which featured eyeshadow shades such as Diet Cola, Pig-Ment, and Trisha, were met with a page that said, "Ghosted. This hottie left the party."

Target would also go on to remove Dawson's books from their shelves, according to Insider. As noted by the publication, the YouTuber has published two books of essays, including "I Hate Myselfie: A Collection of Essays by Shane Dawson" and "It Gets Worse: A Collection of Essays." In a statement to the publication, Target said that they are "committed to creating an experience in which all guests feel welcomed and respected," which prompted the removal.

According to Paper Magazine, Twitter users also trended the hashtag #ShaneDawsonIsOverParty in May to illustrate their feelings about what he had done in the past.

How He Apologized

On June 26, prior to the release of Westbrook's second video and the Smith family's tweets, Dawson shared a video called "Taking Accountability" to his YouTube channel to address the critical remarks being made about him. In the video below, Dawson explains his thought process at the time and how his viewpoints have changed in the subsequent years.