Popular YouTuber Shane Dawson, real name Shane Lee Daw, became the subject of pedophilia rumors this week when a video from the now-deleted Pop Blast YouTube channel purported to show him confessing to being a pedophile.
Dawson, who is considered Youtube royalty for his comedic youtube channels which have 20 million followers and over 4 billion views, was once known for making provocative (read: racially and sexually offensive) videos and remarks.
The video in question, however, stems from a 2013 episode of his podcast, Shane and Friends, during which he makes light of pedophilia. In it, he describes an interaction with a six-year-old fan saying, “And she shows me her Instagrams which are like — first of all — I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this but, like, she’s, like, sexy.”
When his horrified co-host decries his remarks, Dawson plows on, offering his “justification for pedophilia.”
“First of all, let me just say, having sex with children, or touching children, or anything of that nature is terrible, and you should not do it,” Dawson states.
But then he goes on to say,
Here’s my thing: People have foot fetishes. People have fetishes about, you know, everything. And there’s websites on the internet where they can look at that weird creepy s–t and jerk off to it. Okay, fine, everybody do your thing. undefined
And then he continues by pondering why anyone would be arrested for Googling a naked baby. “First of all, I don’t understand why anybody would be turned on by that. But it was sexy.”
He then quickly reaffirms he’s kidding.
People on social media were not amused, especially when the Daily Pop’s heavily edited version of the podcast was circulated across social media Wednesday.
Okay now Shane Dawson is apparently a pedophile..WHEN WILL THE YOUTUBE DRAMA END
I’m not going to talk about it cause..idk but since there is literal proof I don’t know how I feel about Shane right now I’m might wait until he says something about it
— Olivia | 193 (@SoftestHowlter) January 10, 2018 undefined
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i just found out that shane dawson is a fucking pedophile
Shane Dawson is now being accused of being a pedophile because of clips taking him out of context where he tries to make his podcast cohost uncomfortable on purpose with jokes. Lmao I hate people, y’all its not that deep. pic.twitter.com/6fvnfjvPUS
Faced with a barrage of tweets calling him a pedophile, an angered Dawson took to YouTube to set the record straight.
I’m going to start by saying I am not a f–king pedophile. I go on record saying I am not a f–king pedophile. Got it? Great. There’s my statement. It’s disgusting that people are saying I’m a fucking pedophile because of some shitty-ass fucking jokes from six years ago on a podcast.
Dawson then explained what spurred his comments.
Back in the day, 2008 to 2012ish, maybe 2013, that was my thing. I loved the feeling of making somebody shocked and laugh because they couldn’t believe what was coming out of my mouth. I wasn’t confident enough to make smarter jokes. I was making the easy jokes. I was playing crazy stereotypical characters. I was doing s–t that was racially insensitive. I was doing s–t that was homophobic. I was doing s–t that could be considered fatshaming. I was doing some f–ked up comedy stuff that I’m not proud of.
Dawson also spoke about being molested as a child, which is why the accusations came as an extra blow to him.
So I think that’s why it hurts the most is having my name put next to the word pedophile is actually the most triggering and the most heartbreaking thing I’ve literally ever seen. I am so sorry if that triggered you or offended you or hurt your feelings. It triggers me listening to that clip. Listening to that f–ks me up.
If there’s one thing to take away, it’s this – don’t be a sh*tty person on the internet because it will literally come back to bite you. Dawson, in his earlier years, spewed the most offensive things imaginable, and while he’s changed his schtick, the internet is forever, and it’s always waiting.
