YouTube stands as one of the biggest social‑media giants, boasting roughly 2.3 billion monthly active users worldwide. Within its sprawling ecosystem of monetized channels, a handful of creators amassed massive followings and raked in multi‑million‑dollar revenues each year.
Yet the dawn of the 2020s ushered in a wave of online activism that turned the spotlight on these influencers, demanding accountability for past and present missteps. As the battle for clicks intensified, many YouTubers found themselves devoured by the very community that once lifted them. Below, we count down the top 10 mainstream personalities who have stumbled from their lofty perches.
10 David Dobrik
David Dobrik rose to fame after his Vine success, quickly pivoting to YouTube where he assembled the “Vlog Squad,” a rotating cast of friends who appeared in his daily vlog‑style videos. With a net worth hovering around $15 million, his high‑octane pranks and fast‑paced edits cemented his status as a digital celebrity. However, the same stunt‑centric approach earned him a reputation as a bully among peers.
In April 2021, Vlog Squad member Jeff Wittek released a five‑part series detailing a June 2020 incident that left him with a broken face and skull. While filming a comeback vlog for Dobrik, the crew attempted a wake‑boarding stunt in a shallow lake, using an excavator operated by Dobrik to pull the rope. When Wittek’s turn arrived, Dobrik yanked the line high then abruptly stopped, catapulting Wittek into the excavator’s side and sending him crashing into shallow water still tethered to the rope.
Wittek later explained his willingness to take part, saying, “I’ve jumped out of planes twenty times—what could possibly go wrong swinging over a one‑foot‑deep lake?” He added, “I didn’t anticipate the speed, so I grabbed the rope and tried to make a funny video, but I forgot the biggest idiot I know was driving the excavator.”
Dobrik’s actions have been labeled bullying. Strike one.
9 Jason Nash
Jason Nash, a struggling actor‑comedian, caught Dobrik’s eye at a comedy club and was invited into the Vlog Squad. He cultivated his own sizable fanbase, yet often seemed desperate to stay relevant to a younger crowd, even dating YouTuber Trisha Paytas—who was fifteen years his junior—from 2017 to 2019. Paytas later claimed Nash broke her heart “because Dobrik told him to.”
Nash is best known for subjecting himself to humiliating skits on Dobrik’s channel. One such prank in 2017 involved fellow Squad member Seth Francois, who later alleged the bit felt culturally insensitive, especially as the only Black member of the group.
In February 2021, Francois accused Dobrik of sexual assault over the 2017 stunt, alleging Dobrik had tricked him into kissing a masked participant, believing it to be female influencer Corinna Kopf, when it was actually Nash. Dobrik issued an on‑camera apology, emphasizing that “consent is super, super important.”
Dobrik’s handling of the incident showed insensitivity. Strike two.
8 Durte Dom
Speaking of consent… Former Squad member Dominykas Zeglaitis, a childhood buddy of Dobrik’s, was given a platform to portray the over‑sexed character “Durte Dom,” a caricature reminiscent of a young Hugh Heffner.
Because Dobrik’s videos blend comedy with reality, the line between performance and exploitation can blur. In March 2021, Business Insider reported that a woman alleged she was raped by Zeglaitis during a filmed group‑sex video. She claimed the Squad had supplied her with alcohol, rendering her too intoxicated to consent, and that Zeglaitis engaged in intercourse after she passed out.
The encounter was recorded, edited, and posted by Dobrik, presenting the act as a consensual three‑way hookup. The clip amassed over five million views before being taken down at the victim’s request.
Strike three. You’re out.
7 Nikita Dragun
Nikita Nguyen, better known as Nikita Dragun, surged to prominence after transitioning to a transgender woman in 2015. She built a massive following across platforms—1.9 million on Twitter, 9.1 million on Instagram, 13.6 million on TikTok, and 3.65 million subscribers on YouTube—while launching a cosmetics line in 2019.
Despite her success, Dragun faced intense criticism. Accusations of “blackfishing” emerged after she appeared to darken her skin to seem racially ambiguous. She also drew fire for cultural appropriation when she wore box braids at New York Fashion Week and sparked outrage with a tweet asking, “What race is Nikita gonna be today?” (She is of Vietnamese and Mexican descent.)
The pandemic amplified the backlash: Dragun was frequently spotted without a mask, prompting critics to label her irresponsible, especially given her influence over impressionable youth. Undeterred, she continued to host and attend influencer parties, openly defying public‑health guidelines.
6 Gabbie Hanna
Gabbie Hanna has long been tagged as one of the more irritating YouTubers, largely because she habitually inserts herself into other creators’ dramas. Her subscriber count has been on a steep decline—she lost roughly 30 000 fans in May 2021 alone—and her recent uploads barely scrape 250 000 views, a fraction of her former traffic.
Hanna’s missteps are plentiful. She drew sharp criticism for producing a video about a classmate’s drug‑overdose death without consulting the family. She also promoted “amazing, high‑quality, can’t‑even‑believe‑it, great” makeup brushes that turned out to be subpar. On Twitter, she quipped, “If I could be any animal I’d be a Beyoncé,” and she told Jason Nash that his then‑girlfriend Paytas had herpes.
The most damaging controversy erupted in 2019 and still reverberates. When fellow YouTuber Jessi Smiles accused ex‑boyfriend Curtis Lepore of raping her in 2013, Smiles noted that Hanna remained in contact with Lepore even after he pleaded guilty to felony assault, labeling her a “rape apologist.”
Recently, Hanna has uploaded a series of videos attempting to tell her side of the story, insisting that rumors about her are false. She lamented, “Who didn’t I apologize to? I gave Jessi Smiles an apology. I gave Beyoncé an apology. It feels like I’m always dishing out apologies and never receiving one, and that feels chaotic.”
She’s not great at apologizing. It’s safe to say she’s been cancelled.
5 Ryland Adams
Ryan Adams, who goes by Ryland Adams online, is the partner and collaborator of the disgraced YouTube titan Shane Dawson. After Dawson’s 2020 downfall, the couple settled into a multi‑million‑dollar Calabasas home. While Dawson kept a low profile, Adams launched a podcast with a friend, where they dispense unsolicited opinions about celebrities and pop culture.
During one episode, Adams weighed in on a spat involving Trisha Paytas and Jeffree Star—both close friends of the couple. In an Instagram Live, Star’s hairstylist launched a derogatory rant about Paytas, prompting Paytas to retaliate, calling out both Star and Dawson for associating with him.
Adams publicly defended his fiancé, a move that didn’t sit well with Paytas. She fired back, labeling him “literal scum of the earth” and cataloguing reasons she considered him a bad person. Fans rallied behind Paytas, and Adams’s view counts and subscriber numbers have since stagnated.
Warning: Don’t diss Trisha Paytas, especially when your boyfriend is the notoriously disgraced Shane Dawson.
4 Tati Westbrook
There was a brief period when Tati Westbrook was hailed as one of the most authentic creators on YouTube. The beauty guru, often called the mother of the beauty community, boasted a net worth of $13 million and built her brand around makeup tutorials, product reviews, and genuine advice, staying clear of drama for years.
That all changed in May 2019. Westbrook released an unprompted exposé targeting fellow beauty influencer James Charles—her former mentee and the platform’s top male makeup artist. The video accused Charles of predatory behavior toward straight, under‑aged boys, shocking fans who had viewed Westbrook as a mentor.
In response, Charles posted a rebuttal video that dismantled Westbrook’s claims, ultimately preserving his subscriber base and even attracting new followers. Westbrook’s video was later taken down, and she retreated from the internet for a year.
When she resurfaced, Westbrook issued another video apologizing for her earlier statements, claiming that Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson had manipulated her into releasing the damaging content about Charles.
More recently, Westbrook deleted her apology video after further allegations against Charles resurfaced, suggesting she might have been correct initially. The community now remains divided over whom to trust.
What we do know is that Westbrook’s credibility has taken a serious hit.
3 Jeffree Star
Jeffrey Lynn Steininger, better known as Jeffree Star, ranks among the highest‑earning and most influential creators on YouTube. Forbes reported that in 2018 he earned $18 million solely from his channel.
Star wears many hats: makeup artist, entrepreneur, former singer‑songwriter, and founder of Jeffree Star Cosmetics. He’s notorious for courting controversy, often finding himself at the center of the platform’s biggest scandals, including the Westbrook‑Charles drama mentioned earlier.
In 2020, after a wildly successful collaboration with Shane Dawson on the “Conspiracy” palette, Star faced renewed scrutiny. He issued multiple apology videos addressing past use of racial slurs and derogatory remarks about minorities, as well as a resurfaced website that displayed swastikas and self‑harm imagery.
These apologies were poorly received, and soon after, further accusations emerged. Jeffree Star Cosmetics was alleged to have paid hush‑money to victims of assault and sexual assault involving Star.
Following a car crash in April 2021 that landed him and a friend in a Wyoming hospital, Star recovered but announced he would be leaving his Los Angeles mansion. Despite the turbulence, his net worth remains around $200 million.
2 Shane Dawson
Shane Dawson once reigned supreme on YouTube, reinventing the video‑essay format with documentary‑style series that routinely garnered 20‑30 million views per episode. He authored best‑selling books like “I Hate Myselfie,” chronicling his personal battles, and amassed a net worth of $12 million, bolstered by a wildly popular collaboration with Jeffree Star on the “Conspiracy” makeup palette.
June 2020 marked his catastrophic fall. Archival footage resurfaced showing Dawson performing in blackface, using racial slurs, making jokes about pedophilia, and even engaging in sexual acts with his cat. The revelations prompted an apology video that was largely dismissed as insincere.
Shortly after, musician Jaden Smith—son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith—accused Dawson of sexualizing his sister Willow Smith, citing a clip where Dawson pretended to touch himself while staring at a poster of his then‑11‑year‑old sister. Pinkett Smith responded on Twitter, stating, “I’m done with the excuses.”
In the aftermath, YouTube suspended monetization on all three of Dawson’s channels. He has not posted a video in over a year, and it remains uncertain whether he will ever return to the platform.
1 James Charles
James Charles made history as the first male CoverGirl model and later appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” He built a colossal following—over 25 million subscribers on YouTube, 36 million on TikTok, and millions more across Instagram—solidifying his status as a beauty powerhouse.
In 2019, his mentor Tati Westbrook released a video accusing him of predatory behavior toward straight, under‑aged boys. The exposé caused Charles to lose 2.6 million subscribers in just three days. He responded with a rebuttal video that not only reclaimed his lost audience but also attracted new followers.
The controversy resurfaced in 2021 when multiple under‑aged boys alleged that Charles had sent them unsolicited nude photos and pressured them into sexting. As a result, the makeup brand Morphe severed ties with him, and YouTube demonetized his channel. His net worth now sits at $22 million.
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About The Author: Mary Fetzer is a freelance writer, editor, and content strategist.