YouTube personality David Dobrik and his Vlog Squad, a group of his close friends who create content on YouTube together, are under fire after an extra in a vlog from 2018 came forward and alleged she was drugged and raped while the group created a video.
An anonymous accuser told Business Insider that Vlog Squad member Dominykas Zeglaitis, 23, (who goes by Durte Dom) got her drunk while she was 20 years old and sexually assaulted her after she came to the group’s home to film a video.
The accuser “Hannah” and her friends are referred to by pseudonyms in Business Insider’s story. So far, no charges have been filed and the accuser said she has not yet contacted the police. Dobrik, Zeglaitis, and other members of the Vlog Squad did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment on the allegations.
The Vlog Squad consists of Dobrik, his childhood friend Zeglaitis, and YouTubers Jason Nash, Jeff Wittek, Todd Smith, Nick Antonyan and Brandon Calvillo.
Hannah said she visited the Vlog Squad’s mansion in Los Angeles with a few friends who were big fans. At the time, Hannah was 20 years old, but she said members of the group pressured her and her friends to drink. According to Hannah, once they arrived they were told by Zeglaitis they were there to film a video where he had a “fivesome” with her and her friends, despite all the women saying they were uncomfortable with the concept.
Hannah said Zeglaitis (whose online character is a sex addict) gave her and her friends alcohol supplied by Smith throughout the night. Hannah told Business Insider that her friends later told her Zeglaitis continued to ply her with alcohol and then had sex with her even though she was blacked-out drunk and unable to consent.
“There were definitely times she was drinking it of her own volition, but there were also times where he was clearly trying to get her to drink more,” Hannah’s friend “Sarah” said about Zeglaitis. “She was not fully coherent and articulate,” the friend added.
Hannah ended up so drunk her friends had to help her throw up in order to get back to her dorm room, she said. The next morning, she said she woke up with no recollection of the previous evening at the Vlog Squad’s mansion.
The experience became part of a Vlog Squad video that implied that Zeglaitis had a consensual threesome with Hannah and a friend. The video showed Hannah entering his bedroom and was removed after Hannah texted Zeglaitis and told him how uncomfortable she was with the situation.
“It seemed like I had a super-fun night with these famous vloggers basically, which is not what happened,” Hannah said. “I was exploited for content and stripped of autonomy and a voice,” she added.
This isn’t the first sexual assault allegation the Vlog Squad has faced recently. Last month, a former Vlog Squad member, Joseth “Seth” Francois, said he was tricked into kissing Nash in a video, under the pretense that he was being blindfolded to kiss a female member of the group. “In my case it’s blatant.. the point of the video [was] to sexually assault me,” Francois told Buzzfeed News.
In a video released Tuesday night, Dobrik said “consent is something that is super, super important to me,” adding that “whether I am shooting with a friend or shooting with a stranger, I always make sure that whatever the video I’m putting out I have that approval from that person.”
He then apologized directly to Francois, admitting that he “missed the mark” with that video. As for the other allegations, Dobrik said he no longer films with Zeglaitis and distanced himself because he doesn’t “align with some of the actions” and doesn’t “stand with any misconduct.” He concluded by saying, “I’m sorry if I’ve let you down and things like that won’t happen again.”