Shane Dawson shocks fans with surprise return to social media

While Dawson is one of YouTube’s OG content creators, he has come under the microscope multiple times in the past over some of his older videos.

Some of the videos that were called out by critics included his use of blackface to portray one of his original characters for comedy sketches, as well as another video where he made inappropriate gestures toward a then-eleven-year-old Willow Smith.

Dawson addressed the growing outrage surrounding his online presence during a video June, claiming he wanted to be “part of a change, not part of a problem.”

Shane Dawson, YouTube

Shane Dawson lost more than 20 million followers following multiple accusations of racism and pedophilia.

In the style of YouTuber Jenna Marbles, Dawson posted his video and dipped from the internet altogether, leaving fans in the dark and critics saying “good riddance.”

However, Dawson appears to have made an unofficial comeback to the online world, posting a series of images to his Instagram Story to congratulate fiance Ryland Adams on the announcement of his new pop culture talk show, “The Sip,” in September.

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“I wasn’t planning on coming back to the internet for a while,” Dawson wrote. “But today is a special day for my best friend, and I want to be there for him the way he has always been there for me.”

While much of Dawson’s story was a loving tribute to his husband-to-be, the YouTuber also teased at a future statement regarding his absence from the internet.

“I have so much I want to say, and I promise in the future I will, but today I wanna talk about Ryland.”

That’s not all; Shane also post a selfie, giving fans the first look at him that they’ve had since his hiatus.

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“I probably won’t be back for a while, but I just wanted to say hi and support my man,” he added. “Hope you guys are having a good day.”

While it doesn’t look like this YouTuber will be uploading content anytime soon, it seems that he has released some new merchandise amid his break from the net — albeit incredibly quietly, with no video announcement or fanfare, but instead with a series of posts via his merch line’s official Instagram account.

For now, fans are breathing a sigh of relief that he seems to be doing well,  although the jury is still out on whether or not public sentiment will welcome him back with open arms.