David Dobrik Claims He Dropped Durte Dom From the Vlog Squad
Updated March 23 2021, 3:13 p.m. ET
Vlog Squad ring leader David Dobrik has finally had to answer for the multiple accusations made against him and various members of his once-famous YouTube group. While the members of the Vlog Squad have changed over the years, with some members coming and going, many fans are asking David to answer for the sexual assault and misconduct allegations against former members of the group following multiple brands dropping him from their sponsorships.
One of those members is Dominykas Zeglaitis, or "Durte Dom," one of David's childhood best friends who hasn't appeared in videos since 2019.
Why did Dom leave the Vlog Squad, and does it have anything to do with the allegations leveled against him?
Ally Hardesty and other women accuse Dom of sexual assault and misconduct.
In 2017, fellow YouTuber Ally Hardesty put out a video alleging that Dom had forcibly kissed her and groped her at a party. At the time, her video received a lot of hate, and while the comments have recently been flooded with people offering their support to her, the video has more than 16,000 dislikes compared to only 22,000 likes.
Insider also published an article in which another woman, who appeared in one of David's vlogs, claims Dom assaulted her while she was drunk.
Hannah (a pseudonym) claims that she and a few of her friends were invited to film with the group for a video. The vlog, which was removed, reportedly at Hannah's request, included a staged threesome with the girls and Dom.
She alleges that the group provided her and her friends with alcohol, despite them being underage, and after filming Dom took advantage of her while she was drunk.
Dom declined to comment for Insider's story. He released a less than two-minute apology video in 2017, saying he was "aggressive when talking to women," and that he "finally understands how disrespectful [he's] been."
David did not immediately say why Dom left the Vlog Squad.
In David's first apology video, he suggested that he had stopped filming with certain former members of the group because he disagreed with their conduct, though he did not name names.
In his second apology video, David addressed the allegations leveled against Dom directly, admitting that he "f--ked up" by continuing to film with Dom following the allegations and "platformed the subject of sexual assault in a negative way."
"I made the decision to no longer film with Dom in 2019 and I'm not saying my content has been brilliant since that, but that was when I first started taking into account the power dynamic and what influence I had on people that I was filming with," he said.
"But what I didn't do was I didn't go back to any of these women and apologize ... and that breaks my heart knowing that I was doing all of this stuff and I was making all of this content while there were people who were still really hurt by what I made."
Dom previously stated in a video with fellow former Vlog Squad member Seth François that their visions were not the same and he was taking a step back to focus on creating his own content and platform outside of the vlogging group. Dom has since made some of his social media accounts private.
If you need support, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or visit RAINN.org to chat online one-on-one with a support specialist at any time.