The Dolan Twins Have Been Canceled Quite a Few Times in 2020
Updated Feb. 9 2021, 3:28 p.m. ET
While Ethan and Grayson Dolan — aka the Dolan Twins — generally tend to be unproblematic in the hectic and sometimes questionable world of YouTube, it seems as though they've been "canceled" several times in 2020. Fans turned on them after they opened up about their struggle with acne and after an old video of them resurfaced discussing bullying. Needless to say, it seems as though their 11 million subscribers and viewers are kind of over it all.
Whether you're a longtime fan of the hunky YouTube duo or if you simply want to know what happened, we have the tea regarding the Dolan Twins' 2020 downfall.
The Dolan Twins' 2020 controversy started when an old video resurfaced that included homophobic language.
In an old video, Ethan and Grayson were looking back on when they had been victims of bullying in high school, according to J-14, and Grayson mentioned comments some of his classmates had posted online, which included homophobic slurs. In the video, he said the homophobic slurs out loud, simply quoting what bullies had said about him. But eventually, it started to attract negative attention from fans.
The video clip of Grayson quoting his high school bully started circulating across the vast world of Twitter without any context, making it look like he was using homophobic slurs on his own volition. However, that wasn't the case — he was simply quoting someone who used to bully him with that kind of negative language. Eventually, #DolanTwinsAreOverParty started trending on Twitter and the duo was clearly in hot water.
Fans were also disappointed when Ethan Dolan opened up about his struggle with acne.
A few months after the Dolan twins' "homophobia" video resurfaced, Ethan made a video about his lifelong struggle with acne, and how it's affected his self-confidence. And while many found the video vulnerable and somewhat heartwarming, a number of fans weren't impressed. They took to Twitter saying they were over-dramatizing the issue and that releasing the video during a pandemic and the BLM movement was insensitive.
Twitter user @JustinArnstein said, "People are getting killed in the streets STILL, because of racism, homophobia, transphobia, and the Dolan Twins, two white straight cisgendered men who’s [sic] careers SKYROCKETED because they’re attractive put out a video b---hing about acne ??? Make it make sense." Likewise, @MrLumpyfish said, "pls why are the dolan twins being so f--king dramatic about ACNE. please i cannot."
Others felt they made the video to attract sympathy after garnering controversy for saying a homophobic slur. For example, Twitter user @SimoneRegina_said, "I just read the dolan twins fans were asking them to make an apology for using the f slur. so in response, they made a video about their struggles with acne clearly we learned nothing from kendall jenners proactiv stunt."
Whether or not the Dolan Twins are actually canceled, it seems as though they're here to stay. Although they planned to stop making videos after their father died in 2019, it seems like they're back to scheduled weekly video releases. If you dislike their videos, however, save yourself the headache and simply unsubscribe.