Featured Image Credit: @jeff/Instagram, Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
Topics: Celebrity, Health, Mental Health, Snapchat, YouTube
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Celebrity, Health, Mental Health, Snapchat, YouTube
Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
YouTuber Jeff Wittek has spoken out about still undergoing surgery treatments for injuries sustained as part of one of David Dobrik's vlogs.
The 32-year-old took part in an event hosted by Dobrik - a YouTuber best known for his prank videos - back in June 2020. The event saw several influencers - known as the 'Vlog Squad' - swung round on a rope attached to a crane over water, however, when it came to Wittek's turn, he ended up sustaining some serious injuries and he's been dealing with the consequences ever since.
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In the since-deleted video originally posted to social media back in 2021, Wittek could be seen hanging from the rope and being swung round by the crane operated by Dobrik.
All seemed to be going okay until the crane started going faster and faster, Wittek spinning round very quickly, before the crane then slowed down and stopped, but in such a way Wittek slammed into the crane's metal arm.
Wittek sustained some severe injuries - torn ligaments in his leg, a broken foot, hip, shattered skull 'in nine places' and shattered eye socket, as per one of his YouTube videos. He later sued Dobrik for $10 million, alleging he'd faced a loss of wages and significant hospital bills.
And he's since spoken out about how he's been doing several years on.
While Dobrik has signed a deal with Snapchat which means he exclusively posts his content to the streaming site, as per Fortune, Wittek has still been undergoing treatment for the injuries he sustained in the 2020 incident.
Taking to X earlier today (21 May), Wittek tweeted: "Yooo @Snapchat you’re paying a guy that smashed my skull in for a prank and left me with lifelong injuries. He also filmed and organized multiple sexual assaults. That’s why I stopped posting. I don’t want blood money."
"Hi! Can you please send us a DM so we can try to help?" Snapchat's X account replied.
Wittek responded: "His name is @DavidDobrik and he’s traveling the world partying on your dime. While I have another surgery next month."
Wittek's mention of Dobrik filming 'sexual assaults' refers to a woman coming forward in 2021 to accuse a member of the 'Vlog Squad' of rape.
The woman claimed Dobrik recorded her as she entered a room and was involved with a threesome in 2018, saying she was too drunk to give consent and that subsequently she'd been raped.
Dobrik later released a video onto YouTube saying he 'fully believe[d] the woman who came out against [name] and said she was sexually assaulted and raped by him'.
While arguing he got approval from her to post the video at the time, he added he 'should have never posted' it and apologised.
Insider reported at the time, as quoted by NBC News, the incident was not reported to authorities and no charges were filed against the specific team member accused of rape.
UNILAD has contacted Snapchat and David Dobrik's representatives for comment.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org