The enduring art of apologizing from the floor

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YouTube apology videos may have evolved to be less teary, but sitting on the floor is a constant. David Dobrik employed the tactic in a recent video addressing allegations of sexual misconduct.

David Dobrik posted a second apology video on Tuesday, following allegations that Dobrik and his YouTuber cohort, dubbed the Vlog Squad, harbored a toxic environment that was racist, misogynistic, and rife with sexual misconduct. He didn't acknowledge the controversy until Insider published a damning investigation last week alleging that Dobrik was complicit in the sexual assault of a college student who appeared in his vlogs. The first video he posted, which was just two and a half minutes long, was widely criticized as insincere. Dobrik didn't directly address the assault allegations until second video, which he posted after numerous brands cut ties with him in light of Insider's investigation.

Former collaborator Seth Francois first accused the group of misconduct in February, telling H3 Podcast that he didn't understand that a "prank" — in which he was coerced into kissing Vlog Squad member Jason Nash rather the female member he agreed to kiss — was assault until a friend pointed out that his consent was clearly violated. Another survivor accused Vlog Squad member Dominykas Zeglaitis, known as Durte Dom, of rape. She told Insider that the group supplied her and her friends — who were all underaged at the time — with alcohol, and allowed Zeglaitis to engage in sexual activity with her when she was too drunk to consent. Dobrik filmed her entering Zeglaitis' bedroom and then framed the alleged assault as a "threesome" in now-deleted vlog titled "SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE PLAYED WITH FIRE!!"

Whether it's a genuine effort to right their wrongs or a blithe attempt at winning back public favor, creators tend to stick to a tried-and-true format for their apology videos.

The apology video is a genre in itself; as long as online communities hold creators accountable for problematic behavior, creators will continue to apologize via Notes App screenshots, short-form videos posted to stories or TikTok, and — if the backlash is intense enough — on YouTube.

Whether it's a genuine effort to right one's wrongs or a blithe attempt at winning back public favor, creators tend to stick to a tried-and-true format for their apology videos. Makeup is minimal — some further humble themselves by recording with a bare face — and the apologist promises to change their ways before declaring a "break from social media." In times of true desperation, creators will film the video while seated on the floor. Dobrik is no exception.

"Consent is something that's super, super important to me," Dobrik said in the first apology video, which was posted on a secondary channel typically used for VIEWS, the podcast he co-hosts with Nash, rather than his main channel.

Seated on a white couch and speaking into a handheld microphone, Dobrik said he had distanced himself from Zeglaitis because he didn't "align with some of the actions."

"Whether I'm shooting with a friend or shooting with a stranger, I always make sure that whatever the video I'm putting out, I have approval from that person," Dobrik said in the first apology. "I also acknowledge those times where a person can change their minds, and they decide...they no longer want to be in the video I'm putting out."

Audiences criticized the video as dismissive, and questioned why it took so long for him to respond to misconduct allegations when Francois had spoken out about his weeks prior. Following the first video, brands began dropping Dobrik. EA Sports, HelloFresh, Doordash, HBO Max, and Chipotle announced that they would no longer work with the creator, and Spark Capital, a lead investor in Dobrik's photo app Dispo, tweeted that it would "sever all ties with the company." Dobrik stepped down from Dispo's board hours later.

Dobrik's second apology video was a stark echo of his first one, though longer and seemingly less scripted. Rather than filming on the VIEWS podcast set, he shot the second video like a vlog, opening it by noting he was recording at 1:45 a.m. and filming it while seated on the floor. His words, as podcaster Ethan Klein acknowledged in Tuesday's episode of Frenemies, seem to check all the boxes of a genuine apology. Dobrik acknowledged his own complicity in the assault, affirmed that he shouldn't have posted the vlog in the first place, and promised to change. But the apology comes off as hollow when held up against weeks of silence.

Klein's co-host and former Vlog Squad member Trisha Paytas pointed out that Dobrik only posted the video after losing money.

"This was an act of desperation," Klein agreed.

In a way, filming from the floor is the ultimate act of desperation. A floor video offers a sense of intimacy, as if the creator is speaking directly to the viewer rather than to a camera on set. Beauty guru Laura Lee was ridiculed for her apology video in 2018, in which she sobbed — seated next to her couch instead of on it — after losing brand deals when Twitter users dug up her racist tweets.

Since the backlash to Lee's theatrical tears, creators have avoided blubbering through their apologies, but asking for forgiveness while seated on the floor endures. YouTuber Niki DeMartino posted one from the floor of her massive closet last year when she faced backlash for making a racially insensitive TikTok about the coronavirus. Paytas notoriously filmed the bulk of her vlogs, from rants to apologies to life musings — from her kitchen floor.

This isn't Dobrik's first floor video — the one he shot with his ex-girlfriend Liza Koshy announcing their break up was hailed an act of brave vulnerability.

On the flip side, apologies shot from above are often interpreted as insincere and calculated. Makeup mogul Jeffree Star posted one addressing his feud with James Charles and dancing around his own racist behavior that was so staged, Vulture awarded it "Least Fucks Given" in its 2020 roundup of influencer apologies.

Dobrik, unlike Star, did say the words "I'm sorry" in his apology videos. But the humbling act of sitting on the floor has been so overused in this genre of YouTube video, it inevitably comes off as performative. The formulaic nature of apology videos matters less than the hurt the person in question caused, and the actions they're taking to change. At the end of the day, debating the authenticity of Dobrik's apologies won't erase the Vlog Squad's years of toxic behavior.

There is no "right" way to apologize, but no matter the controversy, we're sure to continue seeing them delivered from the floor.

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