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‘Shane Dawson died’: Disgraced YouTuber trolled as death rumor trends, Internet says ‘bullying is never acceptable’

Although ‘Shane Dawson died’ is trending on the social media platform, it seems to have nothing to do with the YouTuber himself

Trending on Twitter is always a double-edged sword, seeing that often people trend for all the wrong reasons. With some questionable trend style doing the rounds, no one is safe from getting thrust back into the spotlight, whether they like it or not. The latest person to be subjected to the same is YouTuber Shane Dawson, seeing that the 'Shane Dawson died' is currently trending. 

The trend — which follows the format where a user tweets about a death or a RIP hashtag but uses it to plug something entirely different — has resulted in the defamed YouTuber trending with people using the hashtag to promote a variety of things. 

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Roughly a day ago, K-pop stans had #RIPAddisonRae trending, even though the TikTok star was alive, using it as a plug to promote artists and fan cams. This time around, many are flooding the hashtag with a variety of different plugs, none of which has anything to do with Dawson himself, capitalizing on the fact that using the same in resulting in views, likes and retweets.

"Shane dawson is trending so i'll post my favorite pic of him" tweeted a user while sharing a meme. "Can't believe shane dawson died rest in peace" added another, using a photo of the late Prince Phillip. "Shane dawson d!3d? anyway look at yumihisu" tweeted a user, along with an anime-based image. "Shane Dawson found lifeless with cat scratches found all over him #RIPSHANEDAWSON" tweeted an account that could be mistaken upon first sight as TMZ, due to their display photo.

"Omg shane dawson died.... anyways check out these pictures of blackwatch genji" tweeted another, along with images from the game Overwatch. 

YouTuber and streamer Keemstar also weighed in. "Shane Dawson Died is Trending! this is most likely False Kpop spam. I just Text Shane to see if he’s alive. No response yet," he tweeted, implying that he had texted the former social media star.

A few netizens have spoken about the hashtag, seeing that it is not only misinformation but a cruel prank as well. While the online community has long 'canceled' Dawson, many pointed out that making jokes about death itself is not funny. "Okay real moment: Please stop dehumanizing people. Shane Dawson is Dead? No he isn't. Stop spreading rumors like that. He's a human just like y'all are," pointed out a user. 

"The fact that people are celebrating or making fun of 'shane dawson is dead' is soo stupid. This is why I hate cancel culture so much. I dont care how horrible a person was, that is his problem. Bullying is NEVER ACCEPTABLE," added another. "I hope Shane Dawson doesn't see all these tweets about people downplaying the idea of him dying because that's f**ked up. I don't like him at all but he does not deserve to have this many people joking about his "death"," explained a user

"Making jokes about a death of people (shane dawson) including is incredibly insensitive, especially as someone who identified with poor mental health and past attempts of SH SI do better internet" petitioned a user. 

Dawson himself has not posted anything as of now or addressed the rumors. His last tweet was dated June 27, 2020, when he posted his apology video, titled 'Taking Accountability'.