James Charles vs Shane Dawson apology videos prove one of them actually gets it

I watched both their comeback attempts back in 2020 and it was night and day. James Charles made that 10 minute apology with the soft piano music and it felt like he was reading off a script his PR team wrote. Shane Dawson sat there for 45 minutes barely editing anything, just talking about his mistakes and even naming the specific people he hurt like Ryland and Trisha. Which canceled creator do you think actually changed their behavior after the apology?

3 comments

3 Comments

mia74815d ago

Its funny how @annas87 mentioned the whole vibe change thing because that actually ties into something bigger I notice everywhere. People always focus on the performance of an apology instead of the actual pattern of behavior that follows. Like in regular life you get people who cry and say all the right words but then you catch them doing the same shady stuff a month later. Meanwhile someone who just quietly fixes their mess and moves on gets called cold or fake because they didnt put on a show. I think thats why James Charles apology seemed so polished, it was designed to tick boxes for the algorithm and public relations, not necessarily to show real growth. Shane was a mess but at least his mess looked like a human trying to figure stuff out, even if he stumbled back later.

avery_lopez13d ago

That thing you said about "pattern of behavior" instead of the apology performance is so true. Like with James Charles, he checked every box with the charity donations and the break, but he still kept making the same type of petty drama with other creators after. Shane's mess was at least consistent, he made dark jokes for years, apologized, then went right back to making the same jokes about dead people. At the end of the day, neither of them really changed their core behavior, just the way they delivered the apology.

annas8716d ago

People always say Shane's 45 minute unedited ramble was more real but honestly it was just him being messy and vague. James Charles actually had a clear apology with proper steps like donating to charity and stepping back from YouTube for months. Shane said he hurt Ryland and Trisha but he never actually stopped making the same dark humor jokes or uploading gross content like the Jeffree Star conspiracy videos. James Charles at least deleted his old videos and changed his whole brand strategy to be more about makeup tutorials. Shane just made a few weepy videos then went back to his usual clickbait drama within a year. James Charles whole vibe change felt more like genuine effort to me even if the piano music was cringey.