Shane Dawson's most recent video is titled "Taking Accountability." For twenty minutes, Dawson apologized in front of the camera for years of blackface and racist jokes early on in his career on YouTube.
"Blackface was something that I did a lot... on my channel. And there’s no excuse for it. There's literally no excuse. I made a video six years ago talking about it and I gave excuses and it was wrong... But I didn't do the work," he said. "I didn't actually look into the history of it and why it's so wrong and why people were so upset."
He also apologized for using the N-word while in blackface. He then addressed jokes about pedophilia and stated that he is willing to "lose everything" in order to be held accountable for his past actions.
To Shane Dawson ... I’m done with the excuses.
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) June 27, 2020
SHANE DAWSON I AM DISGUSTED BY YOU. YOU SEXUALIZING AN 11 YEAR OLD GIRL WHO HAPPENS TO BE MY SISTER!!!!!! IS THE FURTHEST THING FROM FUNNY AND NOT OKAY IN THE SLIGHTEST BIT.
— Jaden (@jaden) June 27, 2020
However, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jaden Smith both took to Twitter to call Dawson out in light of his apology. A video in which Dawson pretended to act in a pedophilic way toward Willow resurfaced, prompting the Smiths to speak out against Dawson.
Additionally, Dawson apologized to makeup YouTuber James Charles after jumping on the bandwagon last year in the midst of drama between Charles and beauty guru Tati Westbrook.
"I'm sorry James, I'm really sorry. Nobody deserves what happened. Nobody," Dawson said. "The whole internet ganging up on somebody, nobody deserves that. And who am I to say that somebody needs to be humbled? Me, who am I to say that? I have literally put so much hate onto the internet over my 15 years in the YouTube world."