On Tuesday, July 29, The hashtag #RIPShane was trending on Twitter. There are thousands of people paid their tribute and expressed their condolences to popular YouTuber Shane Dawson under #RIPShane hashtag. But it is nothing but a death hoax as Shane Dawson is not dead.
At the time of writing this article, there was nothing to substantiate that claim. So, why netizens are wishing Shane Dawson rest in peace?
Netizens started wishing Shane Dawson rest in peace after a entertainment gossip news portal TMZ shared a photo of Dawson on Twitter with a caption, which reads, “American Youtuber Shane Dawson dead at 32 #RIPShane.”
HOAX: YouTube star Shane Dawson is trending on Twitter with the claim that he had died. The hashtag #ripshane was tweeted by a fake TMZ account — it is unknown who started the hoax. Dawson is alive and well. pic.twitter.com/QUPvKr8A9U
— Brennan Prill ⚡︎ (@WxBrenn) July 27, 2020
According to multiple Twitter users, an account impersonating Dawson’s fiance, YouTuber Ryland Adams, had tweeted something similar to his death hoax.
While many seemed confused about what was happening on Twitter, many seemed in on the joke and began paying tribute to American YouTuber, Shane Dawson.
A Twitter user shared throwback photos of Shane Dawson and wrote a caption, “Shane Dawson, my unproblematic king. So devastated to hear about your passing, may you rest in peace. #RIPShane.”
Shane Dawson had recently shared a video titled ‘Taking Accountability’ addressing his use of blackface in past sketch comedy videos and pedophilia jokes, among other things.
He can be heard saying in the video, “I’m going to start with all the racism I put on to the internet as an adult, not a child. I was at least 20 when I started YouTube, and I made the decision to play stereotypes of Black people, or Asian people, or Mexicans, or pretty much every race. I made that decision. I said, ‘Oh this is funny,’ and I put that on the internet.”
“Blackface was something that I did a lot,” said Dawson, “There’s no excuse for it.” He reflected on his realization that his work made racist stereotypes more acceptable to his younger fans.
“I’m sorry that I added to the normalization of blackface or the normalization of saying the n-word. And my justification at the time for that was, ‘Oh, I was playing a character, and it was in comedy, and my Black friend was there, and that makes it okay.’ No, it’s not okay.”
He apologized for jokes about pedophilia and a fictional murder fantasy he spun about an unnamed woman on his podcast ‘Shane and Friends’.
One Twitter user wrote, “The internet is foul. You should all be f***ing ashamed. I literally almost puked seeing this hashtag. #RIPShane.”
Y’all have to know faking someone’s death isn’t okay… right? #ripshane pic.twitter.com/5y8t3ymJfJ
— Void is watching DreamTeam (@VoidExtra) July 27, 2020
“Y’all have to know faking someone’s death isn’t okay… right? #RIPShane,” wrote another Twitter user.
Another said, “The #RIPShane tag is f***ing foul. Imagine joking about someone being dead. The f*** is wrong with people. Sure the man did and said some s***, but you should never joke about someone being dead (especially someone who had mental health issues).”
A Twitter user wrote, “This is kind of messed up. Not going to lie. Yeah, he’s canceled but he’s also human. Like, come on. If you hate him. Just don’t follow him. Don’t ruin the guy’s life. #RIPShane.”
Another person wrote on Twitter, “I’m an outspoken critic of Shane Dawson but this #RIPShane tag is honestly horrible. Dislike Shane as much as you want but you should NEVER joke about or fake someone’s death. Having lost people close to me it makes my blood boil at some of the jokes being made.”