Grayson Dolan speaks out after Ethan opens up about bullying online

Grayson Dolan and the production team behind the Dolan Twins have posted messages of support for Ethan Dolan in an emotional Instagram post after Grayson revealed his struggles with bullying online.

Ethan and Grayson Dolan grew to prominence online in 2013, when they were 13 years old, for the videos they posted to Vine. On YouTube, the twins have more than 11 million subscribers.

On July 13, Ethan released a video detailing how comments online about his acne had severely affected his well-being. The short documentary shows how harsh words about his appearance had destroyed his self-confidence.

Instagram: Ethan Dolan

Ethan first addressed the comments about his acne in February

Ethan first opened up about his problems with acne and hate online in February when he posted a statement on Twitter alongside a photo of his face addressing some harsh comments about his skin.

He wrote: “Just seeing what people are saying about my skin (which is completely out of my control, just bad luck) it just makes me think. So many people deal with acne, I can just imagine the comments they get about their appearance daily,” and encouraged other people who struggle with similar difficulties to love themselves despite harsh words.

Grayson wrote: “It’s hard to put into words how proud I am of you. We’ve gone through a lot together in these 20 years and because of that, we’ve continued to grow closer and closer. No matter what it was, it was always comforting knowing that I wasn’t alone and that I had you by my side to relate to and learn with. For the first time ever life put something on you that I didn’t personally have to face as well.

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“I wasn’t physically or mentally able to relate to the way you were feeling about yourself, or how dark things really got while going through what you were going through. I couldn’t and still can’t personally imagine the feeling that the pressure of the public judging you for something of your control brought you.

“I’m not sure that’s something I would’ve been able to handle man. You are an inspiration to me. In the lowest of lows, you dug deep to selflessly maintain a positive mentality and energy so that you wouldn’t let others down. After climbing out of that dark and uneasy place, you decided that you wanted to use that experience to help others. You have my support forever, you know that.”

This display of brotherly love and support resonated with fans who spread positivity on both the short documentary and Grayson’s Instagram post. Ethan replied “Thank you all for encouraging me when I wanted to quit everything over these past 6 months. I would not be where I’m at without every single one of you.”