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Shane Dawson Announces Exit From Beauty Community

Published

3 years ago

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  • Shane Dawson issued a lengthy statement announcing his departure from the beauty community on Sunday after people accused him of orchestrating Dramageddon 2, the explosive feud between Tati Westbrook and James Charles that erupted last year. 
  • But outrage at Shane continued after his statement as people slammed him for standing by Jeffree Star, seeming to justify attacks on James Charles, and labeling the entire beauty community as drama obsessed.
  • Others also accused him of using the community for a cash grab with his Conspiracy makeup collection, pointing to the fact that a restock of the line was announced a day earlier.
  • Shane later said he was taking a break from Twitter for a few months and deleted all his statements.

Dramageddon 2 Recap 

It’s been more than a year since the feud between James Charles and Tati Westbrook captured global attention, but now, Shane Dawson has reignited conversations about the drama with a lengthy statement on social media.

To give a brief history of what brought us here, here’s a short recap of Dramageddon 2 and what’s happened since to help better understand Shane’s statement. 

Last year Tait Westbrook posted her infamous “Bye Sister” video announcing the end of her friendship with James Charles. She explained a lot of reasons for her decision, but one of the points people really latched onto was this claim that James used his power to go after and manipulate straight men. 

That quickly resulted in people throwing some serious accusations against him online, and it really picked up after Jeffree Star specifically called him a predator and a danger to society. Jeffree never ended up releasing any more details to back up his claims and James eventually tried to clear his name in his “No More Lies” response video. 

So everyone decided to end the drama there, after James lost around 3 million subscribers and was subjected to a lot of hate online that he’s admitted put him in a dark mental space. James has since bounced back from the massive subscriber drop and everyone has tried to move forward. 

As far as how Shane fits into this: when all this originally happened, he was filming a series with Jeffree Star about the beauty community and their makeup collaboration. At the time, it appeared as if he had a lot of first-hand knowledge about what was going on, siding with Tati. 

But after it all ended, it seems like only Shane and Jeffree remained tight. Tati, Shane, and Jeffree ended up unfollowing each other and Jeffree later admitted that he and Tati were no longer friends.

Tati has remained quiet about the drama and Shane walked away from the situation relatively unscathed. He did receive some backlash from people accusing him of click-baiting after including some of the drama in his series trailer, but not the series itself. He’s also faced some criticism for continuing to be friends with Jeffree Star despite this drama and Jeffree’s long history of racist and offensive incidents.

Kameron Lester Speaks Out 

Why are we talking about this now? Well, recently Jeffree Star has been hot water again because of more offensive things he’s said and done in the past. Along with that, in a recent video, an influencer named Kameron Lester announced that he was cutting ties with Jeffree and Shane.

Kameron talked about Jeffree’s brand giving him huge opportunities in the beauty space, but he eventually started feeling like he was used as a “token Black boy” and felt like their relationship was conditional. He also talked about Jeffree refusing his request that he make amends with the Black beauty community. 

On top of that, Kameron talked about knowing that tensions with James were brewing behind the scenes months before Tati’s video came out because of a call he overheard between Shane and Jeffree.

“I just remember Shane Dawson called, and he was going off about James Charles…just like cursing James out and I was just kind of taken back because I’ve never seen Shane Dawson like that and he was going in on James.”

Then three months later, the public drama went down and Kameron said he felt regretful for not warning James. So after hearing that, people began to accuse Shane of helping orchestrate the drama by encouraging Tati to release her video and fueling all the tension between them behind closed doors. 

Shane Leaves Beauty World 

By Sunday, Shane had finally had enough and posted a 4-page letter that laid out his “final thoughts” on the beauty world.

In it, he directly responded to some questions he’s received, essentially saying that he knew Tati was planning the video but did not orchestrate it or need it as drama for his series. Still, he said that he has huge regrets about how he could’ve helped everyone handle it all better. 

He talked about loving his experience working on his Conspiracy palette with Jeffree, saying it changed his life and taught him to stand up for himself.

However, as far as what he learned about the community, he said: “The beauty gurus who are ALWAYS involved in scandals are ALL THE FUCKING SAME. They are all attention seeking game playing egocentric narcissistic vengeful two faced ticking time bombs ready to explode and Im OVER it.”

He said they’re a talented group, but are on a side of the internet that enjoys “receipts” as a way to defend or expose someone. He added that he knows Jeffree is in that group but said, “he will always be family and I love him despite those characteristics.”

Shane said Jeffree is aware that he doesn’t agree with how he handles situations and Shane has told him that, nut he said he can’t take the drama anymore and is “out.”

Shane added that he’d never been involved in drama with another YouTuber before filming his beauty community series and did not plan Dramageddon 2. He said people come to him with problems like he’s a grandpa and he gets wrapped up in these situations when they involve someone he cares for.

That’s what he said happened with Tati. He said he believes a lot of what she said and added: “Do I think James is THE DEVIL? No. Do I think he was a young egocentric power hungry guru who needed to be served a slice of humble pie the side of the fucking Empire State Building? YES. Has he grown as a person since then? It really seems like it! And that’s AMAZING. I’m truly happy he’s realized how his ego was effecting others which he did address in his no more lies video.”

He also went on to make some jokes about how hard she “snapped” in her video and what an impact it had. Then, Shane explained that he doesn’t think Tati is a villain and said Jeffree didn’t orchestrate the drama either but did latch on because he was also frustrated by personal issues with James.

“Was Jeffree excited to see a competitor fall? Probably! He’s jeffree FUCKING star what do you expect?? I guess I missed the part where he got baptized and devoted his life to Christ.”

He did admit that Jeffree took it too far and called it one of the biggest regrets of his life. 

Shane ultimately said he’s sick of hearing about all this drama and people using his name in drama videos. He also said he regrets putting drama in the trailer. But in the end, he said that drama is going to continue in the community because people love it.

He said to not expect these gurus to maintain some moral high ground, asking who will be left to watch if we cancel them?

“You don’t go to a circus to watch the hay on the ground. You got to watch the over-the-top performers who just want to be liked and want to do whatever they can to get your attention.” 

Shane said he wanted people to stop pretending they were “above it all” and hit at “drama-free gurus” saying that even they participate in drama with some of the videos they create.

So, in the end, he said, enjoy the circus and unsubscribe from gurus you don’t like. Just don’t take the community as seriously as many did last year.

As for himself, he said he’s done with the beauty world. He said he’ll still watch beauty videos and play with makeup privately, but added: “I need to get back to why I started youtube back in 2005 and that was to make things that bring me joy (not drama) and to make movies one day.”

Public Response and Additional Statement 

Shane’s comments were then met with a flood of backlash for several different reasons. One of the main reasons was that people felt like he was trying to justify Tati and Jeffree going after James, who was 19 at the time. Many felt he was essentially saying that James got what he deserved. 

Others were upset with humor he used that made it seem like he was making light of the situation. Following some of those responses, Shane posted another statement, calling it his “last addition.”

In it, he said “Do I think it was ok for the internet to bully james? NO. Of course not. Not sure why some people would [take] that away from my post. I literally said it was “too far” and should “never happen again.”

He explained that he didn’t want to get into too many dark details in his original post but said “we all know collectively that the internet was too mean to James.”

He added, “Me saying he needed to be humbled isn’t mean it’s honest,” before explaining that the humbling should have happened off-camera. 

He also apologized for some humor he added in his original post when talking about Tati’s initial video, explaining that humor is how he deals with stuff. 

Shane Deletes Statements, Backlash Continues 

Shane then said he was leaving Twitter for a few months because it’s bad for his brain. Not too long after, he actually deleted all those statements, saying people could find it reposted somewhere else. “I don’t want this energy in my life or on my timeline. I’m too sensitive for this shit and I’m done.” 

Still, the backlash has poured in, with many angry at Shane for continuing to support Jeffree Star despite everything he’s done. Others noted that he often supports people constantly involved in drama, like Trisha Paytas and Tana Mongeau. 

Many were also angry at Shane for leaving the beauty world after he seemed to profit off it so much. A lot of people called his own beauty series and palette a cash grab, noting that he never even posted a YouTube tutorial with the palette. 

Others noted that the statements about leaving also came a day after he announced that he restocked his conspiracy collection with Jeffree Star Cosmetics and presumably made a ton of new sales. 

On top of that, some were frustrated that he labeled the whole community as drama obsessed, including beauty YouTube Samantha Ravndahl who said, “If you genuinely still believe that the entirety of the beauty community is constant, toxic drama, then I can assure you that you are watching the wrong people.”

That’s where this story ends for now. No other creator involved has addressed Shane’s statement and Shane has been silent on social media since. As of Monday morning, people have starting to dig up some of Shane’s old controversies as they continue to slam him online. 

See what others are saying: (Insider) (Teen Vogue) (MTV)

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Schools Across the U.S. Cancel Classes Friday Over Unverified TikTok Threat

Published

1 year ago

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December 17, 2021

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Officials in multiple states said they haven’t found any credible threats but are taking additional precautions out of an abundance of safety.

School Cancelled

Schools in no fewer than 10 states either canceled classes or increased their police presence on Friday after a series of TikToks warned of imminent shooting and bombs threats.

Despite that, officials said they found little evidence to suggest the threats are credible. It’s possible no real threat was actually ever made as it’s unclear if the supposed threats originated on TikTok, another social media platform, or elsewhere. 

“We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness, which is why we’re working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok,” TikTok’s Communications team tweeted Thursday afternoon. 

Still, given the uptick of school shootings in the U.S. in recent years, many school districts across the country decided to respond to the rumors. According to The Verge, some districts in California, Minnesota, Missouri, and Texas shut down Friday. 

“Based on law enforcement interviews, Little Falls Community Schools was specifically identified in a TikTok post related to this threat,” one school district in Minnesota said in a letter Thursday. “In conversations with local law enforcement, the origins of this threat remain unknown. Therefore, school throughout the district is canceled tomorrow, Friday, December 17.”

In Gilroy, California, one high school that closed its doors Friday said it would reschedule final exams that were expected to take place the same day to January.

According to the Associated Press, several other districts in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, New York, and Pennsylvania stationed more police officers at their schools Friday.

Viral Misinformation or Legitimate Warnings?

As The Verge notes, “The reports of threats on TikTok may be self-perpetuating.”

For example, many of the videos online may have been created in response to initial warnings as more people hopped onto the trend. Amid school cancellations, videos have continued to sprout up — many awash with both rumors and factual information.

 “I’m scared off my ass, what do I do???”  one TikTok user said in a now-deleted video, according to People. 

“The post is vague and not directed at a specific school, and is circulating around school districts across the country,” Chicago Public Schools said in a letter, though it did not identify any specific post. “Please do not re-share any suspicious or concerning posts on social media.”

According to Dr. Amy Klinger, the director of programs for the nonprofit Educator’s School Safety Network, “This is not 2021 phenomenon.”

Instead, she told The Today Show that her network has been tracking school shooting threats since 2013, and she noted that in recent years, they’ve become more prominent on social media. 

“It’s not just somebody in a classroom of 15 people hearing someone make a threat,” she said. “It’s 15,000 people on social media, because it gets passed around and it becomes larger and larger and larger.”

See what others are saying: (The Verge) (Associated Press) (People)

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Jake Paul Says He “Can’t Get Cancelled” as a Boxer

Published

1 year ago

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November 1, 2021

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The controversial YouTuber opened up about what it has been like to go from online fame to professional boxing.

The New Yorker Profiles Jake Paul

YouTuber and boxer Jake Paul talked about his career switch, reputation, and cancel culture in a profile published Monday in The New Yorker. 

While Paul rose to fame as the Internet’s troublemaker, he now spends most of his time in the ring. He told the outlet that one difference between YouTube and boxing is that his often controversial reputation lends better to his new career. 

“One thing that is great about being a fighter is, like, you can’t get cancelled,” Paul said. The profile noted that the sport often rewards and even encourages some degree of bad behavior.

“I’m not a saint,” Paul later continued. “I’m also not a bad guy, but I can very easily play the role.”

Paul also said the other difference between his time online and his time in boxing is the level of work. While he says he trains hard, he confessed that there was something more challenging about making regular YouTube content. 

“Being an influencer was almost harder than being a boxer,” he told The New Yorker. “You wake up in the morning and you’re, like, Damn, I have to create fifteen minutes of amazing content, and I have twelve hours of sunlight.”

Jake Paul Vs. Tommy Fury

The New Yorker profile came just after it was announced over the weekend Paul will be fighting boxer Tommy Fury in an 8-round cruiserweight fight on Showtime in December. 

“It’s time to kiss ur last name and ur family’s boxing legacy goodbye,” Paul tweeted. “DEC 18th I’m changing this wankers name to Tommy Fumbles and celebrating with Tom Brady.”

Both Paul and Fury are undefeated, according to ESPN. Like Paul, Fury has found fame outside of the sport. He has become a reality TV star in the U.K. after appearing on the hit show “Love Island.”

See what others are saying: (The New Yorker) (Dexerto) (ESPN)

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Hackers Hit Twitch Again, This Time Replacing Backgrounds With Image of Jeff Bezos

Published

1 year ago

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October 8, 2021

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The hack appears to be a form of trolling, though it’s possible that the infiltrators were able to uncover a security flaw while reviewing Twitch’s newly-leaked source code.

Bezos Prank

Hackers targeted Twitch for a second time this week, but rather than leaking sensitive information, the infiltrators chose to deface the platform on Friday by swapping multiple background images with a photo of former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. 

According to those who saw the replaced images firsthand, the hack appears to have mostly — and possibly only — affected game directory headers. Though the incident appears to be nothing more than a surface-level prank, as Amazon owns Twitch, it could potentially signal greater security flaws. 

For example, it’s possible the hackers could have used leaked internal security data from earlier this week to discover a network vulnerability and sneak into the platform. 

The latest jab at the platforms came after Twitch assured its users it has seen “no indication” that their login credentials were stolen during the first hack. Still, concerns have remained regarding the potential for others to now spot cracks in Twitch’s security systems.

It’s also possible the Bezos hack resulted from what’s known as “cache poisoning,” which, in this case, would refer to a more limited form of hacking that allowed the infiltrators to manipulate similar images all at once. If true, the hackers likely would not have been able to access Twitch’s back end. 

The photo changes only lasted several hours before being returned to their previous conditions. 

First Twitch Hack 

Despite suspicions and concerns, it’s unclear whether the Bezos hack is related to the major leak of Twitch’s internal data that was posted to 4chan on Wednesday.

That leak exposed Twitch’s full source code — including its security tools — as well as data on how much Twitch has individually paid every single streamer on the platform since August 2019. 

It also revealed Amazon’s at least partially developed plans for a cloud-based gaming library, codenamed Vapor, which would directly compete with the massively popular library known as Steam.

Even though Twitch has said its login credentials appear to be secure, it announced Thursday that it has reset all stream keys “out of an abundance of caution.” Users are still being urged to change their passwords and update or implement two-factor authentication if they haven’t already. 

See what others are saying: (The Verge) (Forbes) (CNET)

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