Member-only story
Shane Dawson is YouTube’s Oprah
Caused a major drama? Annoyed your fans? A suitably regretful interview with Shane Dawson is the solution
Jeffree Star. Jake Paul. The Dolan Twins. If Shane Dawson were a journalist, his “gets” would be the envy of any reporter.
Some of YouTube’s biggest — and most controversial — names have lined up to sit alongside Dawson and atone for their past sins. It’s becoming a rite of passage, and the 31-year-old YouTuber turned documentarian has found a third life: the platform’s equivalent of Oprah.
Dawson has become a key component in the laundering of reputations on YouTube, focusing specifically on the beauty drama community which was riven by the James Charles/Tati Westbrook controversy — though he has also helped rehabiltate the reputation of Jake Paul (marginally), turning him from a much-maligned wild child into a misunderstood, mistreated young man.
The ‘celebrity does something wrong and relies on a totemic figure to help improve their standing in society’ narrative isn’t anything new. Whenever celebrities used to misstep or falter, their first port of call would be Oprah’s couch.
Today, as The Verge’s Julia Alexander points out, Hollywood miscreants turn to a very special interview on Good Morning America. Logan…
