According to The Information, David Dobrik has parted ways with Dispo, the disposable camera app he co-founded in 2019, following sexual assault charges against a former member of his Vlog Squad.
“To avoid distracting from the company's growth, David has chosen to step down from the board of directors and leave the company,” Dispo said in a statement. “Dispo's team, product, and most importantly — our community — stand for building a diverse, inclusive, and empowering world.”
Dobrik's departure from Dispo follows an Insider report in which one of the women featured in a 2018 vlog claimed a former member of Dobrik's Vlog Squad sexually harassed her while she was too drunk to consent.
She was 20 at the time and claimed that Dobrik's friends provided her and her friends with alcohol because they were too young to buy it for themselves. Dobrik shared footage from the night of the incident in a video titled "SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE PLAYED WITH FIRE!!" before removing it at the request of the woman involved. At the end of the video, Dobrik says, "We're all going to prison."
Spark Capital, which led Dispo's recent $20 million funding round, announced that it was cutting ties with the company on the same day as Dobrik's departure from the company.
“In light of recent news about the Vlog Squad and David Dobrik, the cofounder of Dispo,” the firm tweeted, “we have made the decision to sever all ties with the company.” “We have stepped down from our position on the board and we are in the process of making arrangements to ensure we do not profit from our recent investment in Dispo.”
In light of the accusations, a number of sponsors have either cut ties with Dobrik or are reviewing their relationships with him. According to the New York Times, HelloFresh and Dollar Shave Club are no longer working with the YouTuber and his team.
After the accusations were made public, Dobrik's main YouTube channel lost over 100,000 subscribers, and Dispo's App Store page was deluged with negative reviews.
While Dobrik refused to comment on Insider's report, he later released a video titled "Let's talk" in which he talked about the controversy in general. He says in the video that he "doesn't agree with some of the videos I've posted," and that there have been "moments where I've looked back on videos and realized that these don't reflect me anymore, and they're hurtful to other people." ” Last month, Buzzfeed reported on allegations made against the YouTuber by a former Vlog Squad member, which he addresses in the same apology video.
“I've been disappointed in some of my friends, and as a result, I've cut ties with a lot of them,” Dobrik explained. The Vlog Squad member accused of sexual assault stopped appearing in videos on Dobrik's channel in late 2019, according to Insider. Dobrik said, "Consent is something that is super super important to me."
“I apologize if I disappointed you; such things will not happen again, and I have learned from my mistakes.”
Dispo is an iOS application that simulates the use of a disposable camera. The photos it takes are only available the next day at 9 a.m. and can be purchased as prints directly from the app.
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