Shane Dawson addresses cancellation as he returns to YouTube with new series

8 October 2021, 12:27

Shane Dawson says Ryland Adams threatened his life

By Katie Louise Smith

"[I'm] so grateful that I got cancelled, because it really changed my life. It showed me what I care about and showed me what matters."

Well, Shane Dawson has officially returned to YouTube... 15 months after he posted his 'Taking Accountability' video.

After telling fans he was ready to create again in a new house tour vlog with fiancé Ryland Adams back in August, Shane made his return to his main channel yesterday (Oct 7) with the first of a three-part video series titled 'The Haunting of Shane Dawson'.

The first episode is a house tour, a life update and a teaser trailer for Shane's new paranormal series rolled into one. While the video is littered with jokes about his cancellation, Shane also addresses his past scandals and offensive videos.

Here's what he said...

Shane Dawson returns to YouTube 15 months after apology video. Picture: Netflix

Around the 7 minute mark in the video, Shane begins to address the scandals and accusations that got him cancelled back in 2020, saying: “I definitely feel ashamed and embarrassed and horrified over a lot of the old clips and stuff that started coming out when I got canceled and all of that, awful."

He then added: "I feel like people are gonna hate me no matter what and I kind of just have to accept it. And then there's gonna be people who appreciate what I do."

Later on in the video, Shane addresses his departure from the internet in more detail, saying that he left because "[he] felt like [he] should," and because he "needed time.”

He continued: "Part of me was upset because I had made so much growth and now I'm being cancelled over things from the past and that's not me anymore. But that forced me to really not push things away and face everything head on, and realise that was me, and that is me – but I can learn from it."

Shane then said that he was "happy" that it happened: "[I'm] so grateful that I got cancelled, because it really changed my life. It showed me what I care about and showed me what matters; it showed me I don't need to be on YouTube all the time. I don't need to be stressed about what's next, I don't need to be trying to think of the next idea, the next whatever to be happy."

He later added: "I'm not gonna run from the past, but I'm not gonna stay in it."

The Haunting of Shane Dawson

In the video, Shane also revealed that his recent move to Colorado has inspired him creatively.

"Denver is one of the most haunted cities in the world..." Shane said in the video. "The energy here is different, it really does inspire me to write more, to get more excited about horror, to kind of tap into that place."

At the end of the video, Shane shares clips from the next two episodes of the short horror series that sees him, Ryland, Morgan Adams, Chris the camera man and others investigating haunted places around their new home.

The video is currently #3 on YouTube's Trending Chart and already has 1.7 million views. The response to Shane's return has been mixed on social media. On YouTube, his fans have given the video almost 200k thumbs up, compared to 20k thumbs down.

Viewers have also noticed that Shane's channel is no longer demonetised, as ads are currently running on his return video. Shane's former cameraman and editor Andrew Siwicki no longer works for the YouTuber.