Rebecca Black says she is 'deeply ashamed' for her collaboration with Shane Dawson where they joked about the Holocaust

Rebecca Black
Rebecca Black told her followers that she was "deeply ashamed" to have participated in an "offensive bit" with Shane Dawson in 2014.

Barcroft Media / Getty Images

  • Rebecca Black is apologizing for her for taking part in "an offensive bit" with YouTuber Shane Dawson.

  • One Twitter user, who created a viral thread calling out Dawson's history of allegedly problematic humor, unearthed a clip of a video collaboration between Black and Dawson in 2014.

  • In the video, the two played an improv game which, the Twitter user said, "mocked the Holocaust."

  • Black retweeted the video, apologizing for her participation and urging Dawson to join her in "do[ing] better."

  • The unearthed video is the latest content of Dawson's to be re-circulated online by critics.

  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Rebecca Black is the latest online personality to publicly apologize for creating offensive content.

On Sunday, Twitter user @rarestfenty unearthed a 2014 video collaboration between the "Friday" singer and YouTuber Shane Dawson in a longer thread highlighting Dawson's history of on-camera behavior that many are calling problematic, including joking about rape, pedophilia, and the Holocaust.

"@MsRebeccaBlack and @shanedawson Both MOCKING the holocaust. how disgusting of both of you #ShaneDawsonIsOverParty #shanedawsoniscancelled," the tweet read.

In the attached clip, Dawson instructs Black to act out a scenario written on a piece of paper. The scenario, which Dawson then has to guess based on her performance, is "The Holocaust."

"Is [the word] 'Friday'?" Dawson asks.

"I mean, I'm sure, like, it happened on Fridays," she responds.

Now Black is taking responsibility for her role in the clip.

On Monday night, Black retweeted the clip and addressed her involvement in the video.

"I am deeply ashamed to have taken part in such an offensive bit. Yes I was 16, uncomfortable, and didn't know this was coming. Shane, I know that deep down you are trying to learn and grow. But we must do better & take complete responsibility for how harmful this is," she wrote, tagging Dawson.

In a follow-up tweet, Black apologized to those hurt by the video.

"I wish what I would have done was shut such an offensive joke down, rather than uncomfortably play into something I deep down knew was wrong," she wrote.

Commenters largely came to Black's defense and targeted their criticisms at Dawson, who would have been 26 years old at the time of the video.

"Thank you for addressing this," one commenter wrote. "[Y]ou were young and impressionable and at the time he was most likely an idol and it would've been awkward to not go along with him. this clearly doesn't represent who you are now and what you stand for!"

"I figured you would come out with a statement, but just know that I knew (as I'm sure many others did)you were a young teen & very uncomfortable," another said. "I think any female teen being put in that kind of situation would have felt the same way & also wouldn't know how to react. I am sorry."

The video's original poster even shared Black's response, tweeting, "[I]'m mostly angry at shane for putting you in such an uncomfortable position, you couldn't have known it would come off like this."

Other commenters pointed to Dawson's past comments sexualizing Black, sharing videos in which the YouTuber commented on the teenager's "huge t---" and referred to her as "eleventeen."

Representatives for Rebecca Black did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

The re-circulated video follows a turbulent week for Dawson.

Critics unearthing past content have forced the YouTube star, who is often referred to as "The King" of the platform, to reckon with his history of controversial behavior. Over the course of his 12-year career, the 31-year-old has cracked jokes about pedophilia, made videos in blackface, used racial slurs, and, on one occasion, described thoughts of extreme violence against women.

On Friday, Dawson posted a video titled "Taking Accountability" to his channel of 22.5 million subscribers, apologizing for "putting racist content on the internet" and making "disgusting jokes." His behavior, he concluded, should have cost him "everything."

Critics, however, continued posting clips of Dawson's past content (most of which has been deleted from his channel). One Twitter user unearthed an old video of Dawson pretending to masturbate to a picture of 11-year-old Willow Smith — a clip that caught the attention of Smith's entire family.

"To Shane Dawson … I'm done with the excuses," Jada Pinkett Smith tweeted over the weekend.

"SHANE DAWSON I AM DISGUSTED BY YOU. YOU SEXUALIZING AN 11 YEAR OLD GIRL WHO HAPPENS TO BE MY SISTER!!!!!! IS THE FURTHEST THING FROM FUNNY AND NOT OKAY IN THE SLIGHTEST BIT," Jaden Smith added.

The online backlash has already cost Dawson business opportunities.

On Monday, Target confirmed to Insider it would no longer carry Dawson's two books titled "I Hate Myselfie: A Collection of Essays by Shane Dawson" and "It Gets Worse: A Collection of Essays."

"We're committed to creating an experience in which all guests feel welcomed and respected," the company said in a statement. "We're in the process of removing these books from our assortment."

As of Tuesday morning, Dawson has not addressed the collaboration video with Black on his social media.

Representatives for Shane Dawson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read more:

Nearly a decade after 'Friday,' Rebecca Black has emerged as a very different kind of pop muse

Target is removing Shane Dawson's books from stores after Willow Smith's family called him out for an old video where he appeared to sexualize her as a minor

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