For a while, the key to internet success was to perform the craziest stunts one could think of in the hope that it would lead to a viral video, but in one case, a YouTuber’s quest for that viral video led to his former pal, Jeff Wittek, being seriously injured.
Most people who have spent any time online will have likely heard of David Dobrik. The internet personality shot to fame around 2015 on Vine (RIP) before starting a vlogging channel on YouTube which quickly gained traction. His videos were mostly lighthearted fun that consisted of pranks, vlogs, and other such videos where he’d collaborate with other big-name YouTubers and celebrities like Josh Peck. As a result of this, his channel blew up with Dobrik surpassing 10 million subscribers in 2018.
David’s videos would also feature a group of friends he referred to as the ‘Vlog Squad.’ These were fellow YouTubers and friends of Dobrik who frequently helped make his videos. One of David’s friends who was a member of the Vlog Squad was Jeff Wittek.
Of course, nowadays David isn’t doing so well with numerous controversies surrounding former members of the Vlog Squad who have come out and spoken against him. Amongst the accusations of bullying and sexual assault, arguably one of the biggest controversies involving Dobrik is the lawsuit against him by Wittek.
So What happened to Jeff Wittek?
As we know, Wittek was a member of the Vlog Squad, he frequently appeared in David’s videos, but one video in particular resulted in a terrible accident that would change his life forever. Insane (and arguably stupid) stunts are pretty popular on YouTube and David was hoping to get in on the action by making his own video which involved swinging people around with an excavator. In the summer of 2020 Dobrik would record a video with the Vlog Squad in which they parked a construction vehicle in a lake and people would swing around from a rope attached to the end.
David was operating the huge excavator and when it came time to swing Wittek around, he reportedly swung him around far too quickly according to an article from TMZ. He then decided to stop swinging abruptly resulting in Wittek slamming into the side of the excavator, almost killing him.
While he survived, his injuries involved: a torn ligament in his leg as well as a broken foot and hip – he also shattered his skull in nine places and almost lost an eye. So it’s fair to say he was pretty banged up and while he kept silent at first, it’s clear that he now believes that Dobrik is directly responsible.
The fallout
After the incident, Wittek’s and Dobrik’s relationship deteriorated with the two ceasing contact shortly after everything went down. According to an article from Vanity Fair, he claims that the social media influencer didn’t make any effort to contact him while he was recovering in hospital, “I woke up from surgery. A day goes by, no text from him. Another day goes by, no text […] I gave this motherf***er so many chances. Even now, a week later, I still haven’t heard a peep.”
The relationship only continued to sour as the two have given their own differing views on what happened on that fateful summer day in 2020. On his podcast, Views, Dobrik claims that it was Wittek’s idea but that he still feels remorse for what happened, “any chance I would get, I would take that back…That’ll be the biggest regret of my life. My entire life. I really hope there’s not a moment that I regret as much as that one.” He also says “that day is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.” I’m not going to sit here and pick apart that statement but he talks about how the incident affected him a lot and he says “me” frequently, it’s certainly an interesting choice of language.
The lawsuit
In 2022 it was announced that Wittek was suing his former collaborator due to the injuries he received from the incident. The damage to his body also led to a loss of income for Wittek and on top of that, he had to pay for the expensive hospital bills. Dobrik is being sued for negligence and intentional tort (meaning he carried out a wrongful act while fully aware that his actions were wrong.) Wittek and his legal team are seeking $10 million in damages.
Two years later and the lawsuit hasn’t progressed much. Over on Reddit, fans of Wittek have been discussing the case with some theorizing that David is purposefully dragging his feet in order to “tire out” the opposition. So far it seems as though Wittek and his lawyers are still carrying on with the fight. Wittek has been pretty outspoken about how his injuries have impacted him since the incident, but it seems the thing that hurt the most was David’s uncaring attitude.
