Vlogger Sues David Dobrik For $10 Million After Coming 'An Inch From Death' During Video
Vlogger Jeff Wittek has sued YouTuber David Dobrik for $10 million after getting badly injured while filming a video.
Wittek alleges that he has faced a loss of wages and significant hospital bills due to the serious injuries he suffered while filming a stunt involving being swung around on a crane.
The stunt was part of an event Dobrik was putting on for influencers referred to as his 'Vlog Squad', where a series of people would be swung around on a rope attached to the crane's metal arm.
In the video of the incident things appear to be going well at first but then the crane begins to spin around too quickly.
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The crane is being operated by Dobrik, who slows it down and then stops, causing Wittek to slam into the crane's metal arm and dangle over the water.
Others watching the scene rush into the water to help the vlogger, who sustained serious injuries after slamming into the crane.
Wittek says he broke his hip and foot, shattered his skull in nine places and almost lost his left eye in the collision.
He also claims he had a brush with death, saying doctors explained to him that had his injuries been elsewhere on his body by just a few inches he could have been killed.
The lawsuit alleges that the initial idea behind the stunt was for the crane to pull people through the water while they rode on various objects, and that the 25-year-old Dobrik later suggested switching to swinging people around on a rope attached to the crane.
Dobrik previously said the stunt was Wittek's idea and that the 32-year-old asked him to keep that a secret.
Describing the botched stunt as 'the biggest regret of my life', Dobrik claims Wittek asked him to promise that 'no one ever knows that this was my idea'.
Last year, Wittek said he wouldn't be suing Dobrik over the stunt, describing himself as 'just not that type of guy'.
He had earlier said everyone involved in the stunt was being 'dumb' and suggested 'maybe it’s a good thing or it’s a bad thing that I’m loyal' for not suing Dobrik.
However, that stance appears to have changed as Wittek spoke on his podcast, Jeff FM, to explain his falling out with Dobrik.
He said: "I've been protecting this guy for so long and there's so much more to the story than just him not texting me for a week after I had such a drastic surgery where I could've been blind.
"Imagine you smash somebody's skull in, they take it on the chin, they don't sue you, they don't f*****g press charges.
"I nearly died I came an inch from death and an inch from going blind."
UNILAD has reached out to David Dobrik for comment.
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Joe Harker