YouTuber Shane Dawson Takes ‘Accountability’ for Blackface and Past Racist Actions

Another day, another YouTuber scandal. Shane Dawson addressed the racist comments and history of blackface seeded throughout his decade-long YouTube career on Friday, June 26. We broke down exactly what the vlogger said in his new video, “Taking Accountability.”

Did Shane Dawson Apologize?

In the 20-minute video, the 31-year-old explained to fans that despite having made public apologies for some of these instances in the past, he only recently came to terms with the scope of damage his actions have had on the marginalized groups they portrayed.

“This video is coming from a place of just wanting to own up to my s—t, wanting to own up to everything I’ve done on the internet that has hurt people, that has added to the problem, that has not been handled well. I should have been punished for things,” Shane said.

He also revealed he was OK with being canceled over what he did. “At this point realizing how many people I’ve hurt, or how many people I’ve inspired to say awful things or do anything awful, to finally just own up to all of this and be accountable is worth losing everything to me,” he said.

Did Shane Dawson Do Blackface?

The California native discussed “all the racism [he] put into the world” first, specifically his depiction of Black, Mexican and Asian people in past sketches.

“Blackface was something that I did a lot,” Shane admitted. “There’s no excuse for it. I didn’t do the work. I didn’t look into the history of it and why it’s so wrong, and why people were so upset. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be Black, and see this white f—king guy do blackface, and the whole internet at that time being like, ‘LOL!’ That’s insane and I am so sorry.”

Shane added, “I should lose everything for that.”

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Did Shane Dawson Say the N-Word?

Next, the Jeffree Star collaborator acknowledged he helped “normalize” the racial slur by using it carelessly in his work over the years.

“Me, as a white person, wearing a wig, playing a character, doing stereotypes and then saying the n-word is something that I should have probably lost my career for at the time,” Shane said. “There’s no amount of apologizing that can take it away.”

How Is Shane Dawson Staying Accountable?

The conspiracy theorist pledged to continually do better with “actions” — but he also noted he isn’t looking for validation or forgiveness from those he hurt or offended as a result of the apology.

“It’s OK to be upset at your past self for making mistakes,” he said. “But also it’s OK if people don’t want to accept your apology and don’t want to support you anymore. That’s OK, too, and I understand.”

For more information, visit blacklivesmatter.com